Property Management and Building Maintenance
This domain tests strata management under the Strata Management Act 2013, maintenance funding, building services and statutory safety. Questions often turn on who is responsible, how charges are apportioned and what must be inspected.
Strata governance
Before strata titles are issued, the developer establishes a Joint Management Body; after registration, the Management Corporation takes over. The body maintains common property, insures the building, keeps accounts, convenes annual general meetings and levies maintenance charges and sinking fund contributions. Voting and charge apportionment follow share units, not floor area. The sinking fund is a separate long-term fund, and the Act requires a contribution of at least 10% of the maintenance charges. The Commissioner of Buildings supervises buildings without strata titles under the Local Government Act 1976.
Maintenance
Planned preventive maintenance is scheduled from an asset register and condition survey; reactive maintenance responds to breakdowns. Life-cycle costing compares capital and operating costs over the asset's life. Lifts, fire systems and electrical installations require statutory inspection and maintenance by competent persons. The 24-month defects liability period under the Housing Development Act is separate from the Management Corporation's long-term maintenance duty.
Worked example
A scheme has a monthly maintenance budget of RM1.2 million and 100,000 share units. An owner holds 120 share units. Monthly charge = 1,200,000 x 120/100,000 = RM1,440. The sinking fund is 10% of that, RM144, collected separately. Reasoning: the budget is spread by share units, and the sinking fund is not spent on routine cleaning.
Traps
- Apportioning charges by built-up area instead of share units.
- Treating the sinking fund as a surplus for daily repairs.
- Confusing the Joint Management Body and Management Corporation phases.
- Ignoring statutory lift and fire inspections.