Public Works Department, Taipei City Government

Historical Development of the Public Works Department

The Department was formerly known as the Civil Engineering Section, Taipei City Hall, and renamed as the Taipei City Construction Bureau in October 1945. In 1946, the various entities were reorganized into the Public Works Department and divided into four sections, the Water Source Survey Team, Engineering Team, Sewerage Survey Team, and Park Management Division. The Water Source Survey Team was founded in 1950 and dissolved upon completion of the project in 1953. The Engineering Team and Sewerage Survey Team were consolidated and re-formed into the Public Works Office in October 1963. The sections under the Department include the 1st Section in charge of the general affairs, the 2nd Section in charge of civil engineering, the 3rd Section in charge of urban planning, and the 4th Section in charge of the construction of public buildings. The Construction Management Section was established in November 1951 with an authorized complement of 65 people. The City Government changed the Department into a public works department of a municipality per the Executive Yuan’s order Tai-56-Ren-Zi No. 4156.

1. In August 1967, the Executive Yuan approved the establishment of the Public Works Department with three sections, one division and two offices.
2. In November 1967 the Public Works Department set up the New Construction Office to help stimulate municipal construction. The office formally opened in March 1968.
3. The Public Works Department set up a Maintenance Office and closed the original Public Works Bureau and Park Administration office in June 1968.
4. The Public Works Department set up the Parks and Street Lights Office in June 1970.
5. In order to integrate functions and complete the organization, the Public Works Department was re-organized and a fourth section added; the Public Works Department also set up the Sewerage Systems Office in January 1977.
6. In order to strengthen its organization, the Public Works Department incorporated the Building Violations Enforcement office into the Building Administration Office in April 1978.
7. In response to a call for the restructuring of professional teamwork, in August 2006 the Public Works Department's Maintenance Office transferred its road duties to the New Construction Office and the Parks and Street Lights Office transferred riverside parks management to the Maintenance Office, which was renamed the Hydraulic Engineering Office. Based on revised construction regulations, the Building Administration Office was incorporated into the Department of Urban Development. In the same year, the Public Works Department changed its internal organization to five sections and six offices and changed the title of the first three sections to the Civil Engineering & Architecture Division, the Hydraulic Division and the Parks Division. The Public Works Department added two more units, the Procurement Administration Division and the Quality Control Division.
8. In view of similar attributes between the "Taipei City Geotechnical Engineering Office" and various units governed by the Public Works Department, such as the New Construction Office, Hydraulic Engineering Office, Parks & Street Lights Office and Sewerage Systems Office. The Taipei City Geotechnical Engineering Office under the Department of Economic Development, Taipei City Government, was transferred to the Public Works Department in January 2012 and renamed as the "Geotechnical Engineering Office, Public Works Department, Taipei City Government". Following the transference of the Geotechnical Engineering Office, the "Parks Division" of the Public Works Department was renamed as the "Parks and Geotechnical Division", which additionally supervises the slopeland administration affairs; Moreover, the “Quality Control Division” of the Public Works Department was renamed as the "Quality Control and Labor Safety Division", which additionally administers and implements the occupational safety & health affairs. Besides, according to the frame of a government, the official business of Administrative Services was adjusted and the sequence of the Administrative Services was shifted behind the Systems Administration. As a result, the number of employees serving in the Public Works Department increased from 179 to 184 by adding 1 Technical Specialist, 1 Sub-section Chief and 3 Associate Technical Specialists.
9. The motion for the amendments to the articles of association and table of organization of the Department was passed after the 3rd reading at the 11th meeting of the 5th Regular Conference of the 13th Taipei City Council convened on July 1, 2021, to adjust the Department from an administration authority into an engineering authority. Furthermore, the motion for the amendments to the articles of association and table of organization of the New Construction Office under the Department was also passed per resolution made by the 2131st meeting of the City Council on March 2, 2021. Both motions are effective as of September 1, 2021. In response to the inclusion of the Taipei City Road & Pipeline Information Center and the Unified Bidding Center into the Department’s organization, the Department established two internal units, namely the “Road Excavation Administration Center” and the “Unified Bidding Center”. As a result, the Department now consists of 5 divisions, 2 centers and 6 offices instead of the initial 5 divisions and 6 offices. Moreover, in response to the change of the Labor Safety and Health Act into the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Department’s “Quality Control and Labor Safety Division” was changed into the “Quality Control and Occupational Safety Division”. The Department’s authorized complement was initially 184 people. However, as 22 people were included upon consolidation of the Road Excavation Management Section of the New Construction Office, the authorized complement was amended to 206 people.