The Public Works Department was founded in 1891, but the structure of the department at that time is reportedly unclear. The first Director of Public Works was
Francis Alfred Cooper, from 1891 to 1897. . The name of
William Chatham, then Director of Public Works appears at the bottom, and that of civil engineer
Daniel Jaffé at the bottom left corner. One of its sub-departments was the
Architectural Office. The Architectural Office existed by 1939, and following the disruption in operations during the
Japanese occupation, the unit was kept busy in the postwar years by rebuilding work. The 1948 annual report of the Public Works Department reported that 274 government buildings were repaired that year. During the 1960s the Architectural Office was heavily involved in the
resettlement housing programmes, but these duties were divested to the
Hong Kong Housing Authority upon its 1973 establishment. In 1982 the department was defederalised and became separate departments in the Lands and Works Branch, headed by the Secretary for Lands and Works, and later in 1989 the
Works Branch, headed by the
Secretary for Works, after the lands portfolio was reassigned to the
Planning, Environment and Lands Branch.{{cite web|url=https://www.ombudsman.hk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/2020-3-5-DI426_Report-Full-Set_TC.pdf ==See also==