Issues and challenges of joint management body in high-rise residential facilities management: the developers

Abstract

High demand for housing and land scarcity in the town area has increased the provision of High-rise Residential Buildings (HrRB). HrRB has different owners but shares the same land and common facilities. Its common facilities are generally prone to damages either from “wear and tear” or vandalism. Therefore, Thus, maintenance works of HrRB and its common facilities should be done properly and periodically by experienced property management company. By the introduction of new laws and implementation thereof, Joint Management Body (JMB) was established to govern the rights and obligations of three parties’ i.e., purchasers, developer, and facilities manager. The residents constantly point fingers to property management if there is dissatisfaction on the damage restoration and maintenance work done. In fact, strata management issues were brought to court by owners for adjudication, such as ACN Infra Sdn Bhd v Perbadanan Pengurusan Kondominium Subang Indera [2020] 3 AMR 741, duties of management corporation in repairing defects were debated. In another case of Muhamad Nazri Muhamad v. JMB Menara Rajawali & Anor Civil Appeal No: W-02(NCVC)(A)-205710/2018, owners disputed whether the management body could charge a different rate of maintenance charges for different properties in HrRB. Hence, this paper intends to address the issues and challenges related to property management. This research is based on a questionnaire survey from the developer’s perspective. An Average Index analysis was used to rank the level of significance issues, challenges, and major roles of JMB. The key roles of developers in JMB under Strata Property Management were highlighted in order to ensure the common facilities for HrRB more manageable in its damage recovery.