Strata & Building Management
How your building makes new house rules — and the limits on what they can say
Additional by-laws are made or amended only by special resolution — s.32(3) for a JMB, s.70(2) for an MC, s.71(2) for a subsidiary MC on limited common property. A special resolution under s.2 needs at least 21 days' written notice and not less than three-quarters of the valid votes cast.
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Buyer action
| Best for | Residents in a neighbour dispute, and buyers weighing high-rise living against landed on quality-of-life grounds. |
|---|---|
| Risk level | Low-Medium |
| Buyer action | Send Lewis your building name, the charge you pay and what you are trying to decide, and he will tell you what to check first. |
Living close together
This post works through additional by-laws need a specific majority at a general meeting, and cannot contradict the Act. Many building rules fail both tests. Every strata scheme starts with a prescribed set of by-laws, and most disputes are already answered inside them.
Which body, which section
A joint management body makes or amends additional by-laws by special resolution under s.32(3). A management corporation does the same under s.70(2). A subsidiary management corporation makes or amends additional by-laws relating to limited common property by special resolution of the subsidiary management corporation under s.71(2). During the developer's management period the route is different: s.32(2) allows additional by-laws to be made or amended with the approval of the Commissioner of Buildings rather than by a resolution of owners who do not yet have a body.
What a special resolution actually requires
Section 2 of Act 757 defines it, and both limbs matter. The resolution must be proposed at a general meeting of which at least twenty-one days' written notice has been given. And it must be passed by a majority of not less than three-quarters of the valid votes cast at that meeting, either on a show of hands or on a poll if a poll is demanded. Twenty-one days is longer than the fourteen days required for an ordinary general meeting notice, which is itself a signal of how the Act treats by-law changes.
How to check a rule was properly made
Ask for three documents and the question resolves itself. The notice of the meeting, so you can count the twenty-one days. The minutes, so you can see the resolution as proposed. And the voting record, so you can see whether three-quarters of the valid votes cast supported it. If any of the three is missing, the rule may still be sensible, but it is not an additional by-law in the sense the Act uses that term — and it cannot be enforced as one.
Verify this against your own building
Get a copy of your scheme's additional by-laws and the resolution that passed them. A rule that cannot be traced to a properly passed resolution is a request, not an obligation.
Buyer checklist
Two numbers define a valid additional by-law: 21 days' written notice of the general meeting, and a majority of not less than three-quarters of the valid votes cast, whether on a show of hands or on a poll. That is the s.2 definition of a special resolution. During the developer's management period, s.32(2) allows additional by-laws to be made or amended instead with the approval of the Commissioner of Buildings.
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| 1 | Ask for the notice of the meeting and count that at least 21 days were given. |
|---|---|
| 2 | Ask for the minutes showing the resolution as proposed. |
| 3 | Ask for the voting record and check three-quarters of the valid votes cast supported it. |
| 4 | Check which section applies: s.32(3) for a JMB, s.70(2) for an MC, s.71(2) for a subsidiary MC. |
| 5 | If the building is still developer-managed, ask instead for the Commissioner's approval under s.32(2). |
Common questions
What majority is needed to pass an additional by-law?
A special resolution: not less than three-quarters of the valid votes cast at a general meeting, on a show of hands or on a poll — the s.2 definition in Act 757.
How much notice must be given?
At least twenty-one days' written notice of the general meeting at which the special resolution is proposed.
Can the committee pass a by-law on its own?
No. Additional by-laws are made or amended by special resolution at a general meeting — s.32(3) for a JMB, s.70(2) for an MC, s.71(2) for a subsidiary MC on limited common property.
What about during the developer's management period?
Section 32(2) allows additional by-laws to be made or amended with the approval of the Commissioner of Buildings.
Lewis Chong
REN 69566 · IQI GlobalProperty advisor helping KL, JB, and Penang buyers make data-backed property decisions.
Related reading
Use one buyer framework across different news.
How your maintenance charge is actually calculated — share units, not floor area
Malaysian maintenance charges are apportioned by allocated share units under the Strata Management Act 2013, not by floor area — s.8(1) sends the computation to the First Schedule, and s.12(3), s.25(3) and s.60(3) apply it through the developer, JMB and MC periods. Here is how to read your own bill and when a different rate is lawful.
Lewis Conclusion
If you only remember one thing: ask for your share unit figure, not your square footage. It is the number that sets your bill and your vote for as long as you own the unit, and it is printed on documents you are entitled to see.
The sinking fund explained
The sinking fund is a statutory capital reserve set at a minimum of 10% of the maintenance charge under ss.12(4), 25(4), 52(3), 61(3) and 68(3) of Act 757. It may only be spent on capital items — painting, replacing fixtures, upgrading common property — and a general meeting may raise the rate but never drop it below 10%.
Lewis Conclusion
Ask two questions before you buy into any high-rise: what is the sinking fund balance, and when were the lifts, the roof and the external paint last done. If the balance is small and those items are old, the shortfall is coming to you as a special levy — it is only a question of which year.
What actually happens if you stop paying maintenance charges
Stopping payment of maintenance charges triggers a statutory sequence, not a negotiation: a Form 11 notice from a JMB (s.34(1)) or Form 20 from a management corporation (s.78(1)) giving not less than 14 days, interest capped at 10% per annum, then a debt claim, a warrant of attachment over your movable property, or criminal prosecution.
Lewis Conclusion
Withholding charges is the one protest that cannot work, because arrears also disqualify you from the committee and from voting — the exact levers you would need to fix whatever you are protesting about. Pay under protest, then fight it at the tribunal or the AGM where you still have standing.
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Ask for the notice of the meeting and count that at least 21 days were given.
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Ask for the minutes showing the resolution as proposed.
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Ask for the voting record and check three-quarters of the valid votes cast supported it.
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Check which section applies: s.32(3) for a JMB, s.70(2) for an MC, s.71(2) for a subsidiary MC.