Property management: Ask the experts — Expenses and renovations

Q: Does a unit holder (a resident of a condominium) have the right to view the accounts and the invoices of expenses incurred for the property anytime or can the unit holder only see the audited accounts during the AGM?

Paragraph 7(6)(b) Second Schedule of the Strata Management Act 2013 states that a purchaser/proprietor may make a request to the Management Committee to inspect the books of accounts at a fee not exceeding RM50 for each inspection. Other than that, the proprietor also has the right to view the audited report during the AGM.

Q: What steps can the Management Corporation (MC) take if some unit owners carry out renovations without informing the MC?

Pursuant to Subparagraph 27 (1) in the Third Schedule of the Strata Management (Maintenance and Management) Regulations 2015, a proprietor shall not carry out any renovation works to his or her parcel without obtaining prior written approval from the MC and where necessary, from the appropriate authorities.

Subparagraph 16 (1) of the Regulations 2015 also states that every proprietor shall at all times comply with these by-laws or any additional by-laws made under the Act.

Subparagraph 16 (3) further states that in the event of a breach of any of these by-laws or additional by-laws by a proprietor, he shall at his own costs immediately remedy or make good the breach to the satisfaction of the MC such as damage to the common property as a result of the renovation.

In addition, the MC may, by a resolution at a general meeting, impose a fine as determined by a general meeting against any person who is in breach of any of these by-laws or any additional by-laws made under the Act as provided under Subparagraph 7 (1) of the Regulations 2015.

In the current case, the unit owners’ omission of informing the MC on the renovation is a breach of the by-laws. Under the above mentioned Subparagraph 7 (1), the MC may impose a fine on them as approved during the general meeting.

Apart from the above, pursuant to Subparagraph 17 (1) of the same schedule, the MC may refuse the contractors employed by those owners access to the condominium area for security purposes.

Chris Tan,
Managing partner and founder of Chur Associates; EdgeProp Malaysia’s Best Managed Property Awards 2019 judge and EdgeProp.my Symposium on Excellent Property Management 2019 speaker

Go to https://professional.nipponpaint.com.my/hasslefreemaintenance for hassle-free maintenance 

If you have any questions regarding property management, [email protected]. Questions will be answered at the discretion of the editor and the respective experts.

Disclaimer: The answers are only proposed solutions by the expert based on the limited information given in the questions.

This story first appeared in the EdgeProp.my pullout on July 19, 2019. You can access back issues here.