I LIKE to highlight the rather difficult and controversial issue of
the management (and maintenance) of stratified properties, particularly
flats, apartments and condominiums, in the context of the proposed
Strata Management Act, 2012 which is expected to be tabled during the
upcoming session of Parliament.
The Building Management
Association of Malaysia (BMAM) is the only multi-stakeholder
organisation (established in 2009) representing the collective interests
of chambers of commerce, developers, engineers, architects, shopping
and high-rise complex managers, management corporations (MCs), joint
management bodies (JMBs) and managing agents.
However, BMAM was
not nvited to participate in the workshops and discussions held by the
National Land Council and the Housing and Local Government Ministry when
the draft Bill was deliberated, although the implementation of the Act
will have consequences that will directly affect BMAM stakeholder-member
organisations.
According to the information available to us, the
Bill states that only licenced valuers who have been admitted as
Property Managers pursuant to Section 21(1)(a) of the Valuers,
Appraisers and Estate Agents Act, 1981 (VAEA Act) to manage and maintain
stratified (or subdivided) buildings as managing agents.
No such
restrictions exist in the current laws that regulate building
management, namely the Strata Titles Act, 1985 (ST Act) and the Building
and Common Property (Maintenance and Management) Act, 2007 (BCPMM Act).
Building management is a multi-disciplinary occupation and cannot be exclusive to the valuers alone.
The
JMBs and MCs want to have the independence and opportunity to appoint
any fit and proper person, or appropriate entity, as managing agent on a
“willing seller-willing buyer” basis on mutually agreed terms and
conditions.
The Bill, by restricting building management and
maintenance to valuers, would create a monopoly, and is inconsistent
with the spirit of the Competition Act, 2010, which clearly discourages
the creation of monopolies.
Though building owners (JMBs and MCs)
and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) have been exempted from this
ruling, most JMBs and MCs, led by volunteers, do not have the time,
skill, expertise or experience to manage and maintain their buildings,
and neither can they afford to appoint a registered property manager as a
managing agent.
JMBs and MCs would be required to pay a
management fee in compliance with their Fee Schedule, excluding other
operating costs such as staff salaries, electricity, water, cleaning,
security, etc.
We will soon see the mushrooming of more urban
stratified slums and ghettos, thereby defeating the objectives of the
Government’s squatter resettlement programmes and public housing
projects.
The fiduciary responsibilities of the MCs and JMBs have
been clearly stated in the ST Act and the BCPMM Act on the management
of the Building Maintenance Fund and the Sinking Fund.
The
managing agent appointed by the JMB or MC to manage and maintain the
subject properties is only required to perform these functions for and
on behalf of the JMB or MC. A registered property manager is therefore
not required.
The MCs and JMBs only need building and facilities management for their common properties.
Since
common properties and facilities cannot be sold, and most residential
building owners do not lease their common properties to third parties as
they would need them for their own use.
Many non-valuer managing agents have several years of experience in building and facilities management.
They
have also been admitted as members and registered building managers by
BMAM upon satisfying the required admission criteria.
They are
qualified and skilled in building management, operations and facilities
maintenance, and have also subscribed to a professional building
management liability insurance policy entered into between a local
insurance company and BMAM.
Any attempt by the ST Act to split
managing agents as valuers and non-valuers will be detrimental to the
growth and development of the building management industry in Malaysia.
It
will result in the loss of valuable management talent in the industry.
It will also have serious social implications on the upward career
mobility of qualified and experienced local building managers, many of
whom are bumiputras.
The Commissioner of Buildings (COB) should be the sole regulatory body to supervise and oversee the management and maintenance of stratified buildings in Malaysia.
The
involvement of third parties, who have no ownership interests in the
properties, will not only erode the COB’s authority but may also result
in unnecessary layering, additional costs (with no proportionate
increase in service quality), corruption, rent seeking and abuse of
power.
PROF S. VENKATESWARAN
Secretary-general
Building Management Association of Malaysia
黃偉益（右）和孫意志呼吁高樓住宅管理層和居民，踴躍參加明年1月13日舉辦的分層地契管理法案及分層地契法令講座。（圖：星洲日報）
