Rules of the Catholic Cemeteries

TABLE OF FEES

(A) Fees to be approved by the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Items

Scale (HK$)

1. Use of Exhumable Burial Lot (Extendable for one term only) for 10 years
(Same charge for adult and child. Upon expiry of 10 years, may apply for extension of one final term of 6 years. No pre- arrangement for extension is entertained.)

$16.700.00

2. Use of Exhumable Burial Lot (Extendable for one term only) for an extended term of 6 years
(Same charge for adult and child. Upon expiry of the extended term of 6 years, the right of use of the lot would be terminated, and arrangement for exhumation and relocation of the human remains must be completed by then.)
$5,900.000
3. Permanent Use of Ossuary Niche or Urn Niche

$3,600.00

4. Co-burial (applicable to permanent burial lots, permanent urn burial lots and urn niches for one subsequent burial / depository)
(a) co-burial of human remains (coffin burial) in a permanent burial lot

$8,300.00

(b) co-burial of exhumed human remains or ashes in a permanent burial lot or a permanent urn burial lot

$4,200.00

(c) co-burial of ashes in an urn niche
(This includes sealing slab, black/white photograph, inscription details in black paint.)

$2,500.00

5. Storage fee in a designated depository for exhumed human remains for one year or part thereof

$600.00

(The Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has
approved the above Table of Fees with effect from 1st January 2010.) 

*The superintendent may reduce any of the fees in Schedule II if it is recommended by the parish priest that the applicant is financially handicapped.

(B) Administration Fees of the Catholic Cemeteries
Items

Scale (HK$)

1. Supply and Installation of Niche Sealing Slab (This includes sealing slab, black/white photograph, inscription details in black paint.)

$1,400.00

2. Exhumation of human remains/ exhumed human remains/ ashes including digging, clearing, and backfilling of grave in:
(The fee is not refundable even when, upon digging, the human remains are discovered to be unsuitable for exhumation.)
(a) Permanent / Exhumable Burial Lot

$5,000.00

(b) Permanent Urn Burial Lot

$3,500.00

(c) Re-opening Permanent / Exhumable Burial Lot (for re-exhumation of human remains)

$2,500.00

3. Exportation of encoffined human remains or exhumed human remains or ashes out of the cemetery

$700.00

4. Cement paving of Burial Lot / Urn Burial Lot

$2,000.00

5. Demolition of existing grave, digging and clearing in Permanent / Exhumable Burial Lot
(Price negotiable for existing gravestone exceeding standard dimensions.)

$5,500.00

6.Demolition of existing grave, digging and clearing in Permanent Urn Burial Lot
(Price negotiable for existing gravestone exceeding standard dimensions.)

$4,000.00

7. Issue of Work Permit for Appointed Approved Contractor to carry out construction, repair, maintenance and other works in the Catholic Cemetery (for each grave /niche)

$400.00

8. Appointed Approved Contractor’s deposit
(for each grave /niche)

$5,000.00

9. Additional Appointed Approved Contractor’s deposit for each extension $5,000.00

(The Diocesan Board of Catholic Cemeteries revised Part (B) Administration Fees and Part (C)
Miscellaneous Fees of the Table of Fees on 9 May 2011 to take effect from 1st January 2012.)

SCHEDULE II (Cont’d)
(C) Miscellaneous Fees of the Catholic Cemeteries
Items

Scale (HK$)

1. Marble box for exhumed human remains

$1,200.00

2. Marble urn for ashes

$600.00

3. Marble flower vase

$150.00

4. Certified record copy or re-issuance of document

$150.00

5. Niche sealing slab inscription pasted with gold foil
Single Person

$500.00

Two Persons

$750.00

6. Niche sealing slab inscription re-painting in black paint
Single Person

$400.00

Two Persons

$600.00

7. Niche coloured enamel photograph
3″ x 4″ Single person

$400.00

4″ x 6″ Two persons

$600.00

8. Renewal of Niche enamel photograph in the Catholic Cemeteries (provided that the condition of the existing niche sealing slab permits.)
(A) in Cheung Sha Wan / Chai Wan / Happy Valley / Sai Kung
Coloured enamel photograph 3″ x 4″ Single person
4″ x 6″ Two persons

$650.00
$800.00

Black & White enamel photograph 3″ x 4″ Single person
4″ x 6″ Two persons

$350.00
$450.00

(B) in Cheung Chau
Coloured enamel photograph 3″ x 4″ Single person
4″ x 6″ Two persons

$750.00
$900.00

Black & White enamel photograph 3″ x 4″ Single person
4″ x 6″ Two persons

$500.00
$550.00

 

Catholic Cemeteries

Administration: The above Cemeteries are under the supervision of the Diocesan Board of Catholic Cemeteries through a Superintendent appointed by the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church in Hong Kong.

Use: The above cemeteries are reserved for Catholics only.

Sites: Only temporary graves of ten years’ duration are available for allocation in the Cheung Sha Wan, Chai Wan, Saikung and Cheung Chau.
With the exception of Happy Valley, all the Cemeteries aforelisted offer also permanent Ossuary niche for exhumed or Cremated human remains.
Permanent sites are tenable for the duration of the Government Lease and its renewal, not transferable.
On the expiry of a ten-year term, the human remains in the exhumable lot allocated, shall be disinterred and removed. The allocation of a ten-year exhumable lot may be extended for one further and final term of six years at an increased premium.
Ossuary nuches are tenable for the duration of the Government lease and its renewal. They are reserved only for the interment of the remains after exhumation and of ashes after cremation.
The remains thus exhumed will be placed and kept in separate and numbered urns and reinterred in a special site in one of the Catholic cemeteries.

Exhumations: General exhumation shall take place ten years after the burial at the direction and upon instructions of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, and due notice thereof shall be given in the Chinese and English press.
The remains thus exhumed will be placed and kept in separate and numbered urns and reinterred in a special site in one of the Catholic cemeteries.
Persons desiring to exhume the remains of their deceased relatives are to arrange with the Sexton in charge of the Cemetery concerned.
In case a grave lot is seriously damanged, collapsed or Superintendent may, after having proceeded according to what is prescribed in paragraph Chapter 6, Exhumation and Relocation, paragraph 27. Authorize the remains in that said grave to be exhumed and be put up at the Ossuary. The said lot will then be reverted to the Diocese for further allocation.

Monuments: The Monument for a new grave may be built three months after burial, at the completion of the cement pavement. The request should be made through a Contractor, who has to apply for an official licence and submit the design for approval. The Contractor may not start the work until approval has been granted. Relatives should wait a bit before contacting the Contractor, as the cement pavement will take some time to complete. They should not contact any personnel in the cemetery and entrust them with the construction of the monument immediately before or after the burial.

Repair or reconstruction procedures are the same as above, but applications may be submitted at any time.
Notes:

  1. The structure of any grave should not exceed 1500 mm in height, 900 mm in width and 1800 mm in length.
  2. The structure of any lot allocated for burial of exhumed remains should not exceed 1200 mm in height, 600 mm in width and 900 mm in length.
  3. The lot number of the grave allocated by the Cemetery should be clearly engraved on the grave.
  4. The design of the grave should be submitted to the Superintendent for approval prior to the construction of the grave/monument.
  5. A grave monument, headstone or tablet should be so designed and constructed that no water can be accumulated on and near the said grave at any time.
  6. Licence fee for contractor carrying out construction, repair and manintenance work in the Catholic Cemeteries (for each grave): $200.00
  7. Contractor’s deposit (for each grave): $2,000.00
    (As soon as the approval of the superintendent for the construction, repair, or maintenance work of the grave lot in question is granted, the Contractor is required to lodge this deposit. An official licence will be issued, which will be valid for a period of 60 days from the date of issuance. Upon completion of the work, which should be made to the satisfaction of the employer and of the Superintendent, this amount of the deposit will be reimbursed to the Contractor, The Superintendent, however, reserves the right to retain all or part of the said Deposit Fee to carry out any required work if in his judgment it is determined that the said Contractor has not fulfilled the terms and conditions in accordance with the licence.)
    Any work in the cemetery (e.g., exhumation, exportation, additional interment, construction of monument or repair) is to be done at the request of the legal trustee, namely, the person retaining an official receipt. If any such document should be lost, then before any work may begin, the person concerned must first of all make a sworn statement at a District Office to the effect that he is prepared to bear all the legal responsibilities therein, and then obtain a duplicate copy of the lost document from the respective Sexton.