Strata & Building Management
Skipping the AGM costs you money — here is exactly what gets decided there
One meeting a year sets the charge rate, approves the accounts, elects the committee and can change the by-laws. Notice must reach you at least 14 days beforehand with the audited accounts attached — and after thirty minutes, whoever is in the room becomes the quorum.
Quick summary
Quick answer
Best for
Risk level
Buyer action
| Best for | Owners who want a say in how their building is run, and anyone deciding whether to stand for the committee. |
|---|---|
| Risk level | 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. |
Control, not paperwork
This post works through the charge rate, the budget, the committee and the contracts are all set at one meeting most owners never attend. Most owners find out how governance works only after a decision they dislike has already passed.
What is actually decided in that room
Four things that shape your ownership. The rate of charges, determined by the joint management body or the management corporation at a general meeting. The sinking fund contribution, which can be set above the ten per cent statutory floor by ordinary resolution. The audited accounts, which must be laid before each annual general meeting under paragraph 7(7) of the Second Schedule. And the committee, elected at that meeting, which will approve the contracts and the spending for the coming term. Additional by-laws can also be made or amended there, though those need a special resolution rather than a simple majority.
The notice you are entitled to
Paragraph 12(1) of the Second Schedule requires at least fourteen days' written notice to every proprietor. Paragraphs 12(1) and 12(3)(b) require a copy of the audited accounts and the auditor's report to accompany that notice. The fourteen days exist so that owners arrive having read the numbers. If the notice arrives late, or without the accounts, say so in writing before the meeting rather than after — a resolution passed on papers owners never received carries a procedural problem with it.
Why turning up matters more than it looks
Paragraph 15(1) sets quorum at one half of the proprietors entitled to vote. Very few schemes reach it. Paragraph 15(2) then provides that if a quorum is not present within half an hour after the appointed time, those entitled to vote who are present shall constitute a quorum. In practice the meeting starts thirty minutes late and proceeds with whoever is in the room — and their votes bind every owner who stayed home. That is not a defect in the Act; it is the alternative to a building that can never lawfully decide anything. But it does mean attendance is leverage.
Verify this against your own building
Check your own scheme's by-laws and the notice actually issued for your meeting — deadlines and quorum rules are statutory, but schemes add valid variations. Where a decision looks irregular, put the objection in writing before the meeting, not after.
Buyer checklist
The AGM is where your holding cost is set. The charge rate is determined by the body at a general meeting, the sinking fund rate can be raised there by ordinary resolution, the audited accounts are laid there, and the committee that will run the building for the next term is elected there. Paragraph 12(1) of the Second Schedule gives you at least fourteen days' notice with the accounts attached; paragraph 15(2) means the meeting proceeds after thirty minutes with whoever turned up.
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| 1 | Check the notice arrived at least fourteen days before the meeting, with the audited accounts and auditor's report attached. |
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| 2 | Read the accounts before you go — collection rate, arrears, sinking fund balance, largest expense line. |
| 3 | Arrive on time; after thirty minutes those present become the quorum under paragraph 15(2). |
| 4 | If you cannot attend, deposit a proxy at the registered address at least forty-eight hours before. |
| 5 | Give your proxy to someone not already holding another owner's — one proxy per person per meeting. |
Common questions
What actually gets decided at the AGM?
The rate of charges, the sinking fund contribution, approval of the audited accounts, and the election of the management committee. Additional by-laws can also be made or amended, by special resolution.
How much notice must I get?
At least fourteen days' written notice under paragraph 12(1) of the Second Schedule, with the audited accounts and auditor's report attached under paragraph 12(3)(b).
What if hardly anyone turns up?
Paragraph 15(2) provides that if a quorum is not present within half an hour after the appointed time, those entitled to vote who are present constitute the quorum — and their decisions bind the scheme.
I cannot attend. What are my options?
Deposit a proxy at the registered address at least forty-eight hours before the meeting. Remember a person may act as proxy for only one proprietor at any one general meeting.
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.
Strata AGMs and Proxies: Your Vote as a Foreign Owner
A grounded look at how JMB/MC governance decides your maintenance fees and building quality, and how to exercise your vote by proxy from Singapore — written for Singaporeans weighing Malaysian property in 2026.
Lewis Conclusion
I judge a building's future by its AGM attendance sheet as much as its gym. Buildings where absent owners send informed proxies keep their fees honest and their sinking funds real; buildings where nobody votes get exactly the management they didn't vote for.
Quorum, proxies and adjournment
Quorum for a general meeting is one half of the proprietors entitled to vote, in person or by proxy (Second Schedule para 15(1)) — but if it is not met within half an hour, those present become the quorum (para 15(2)). Proxies must be deposited 48 hours ahead and one person may hold only one proxy (paras 18(5), 18(4)).
Lewis Conclusion
Paragraph 15(2) is the rule that decides who runs your building. Thirty minutes after the appointed time, whoever bothered to show up is the quorum — and their votes bind everyone who did not. If you cannot attend, the 48-hour proxy deadline is the only thing standing between your vote and irrelevance.
Your motion was rejected for being late: was that lawful?
A proprietor's motion must be deposited in writing at the registered office of the management corporation not less than seven days before the meeting — Second Schedule paragraph 13(1). Meet that deadline and the motion goes on the agenda; miss it and rejection is lawful.
Lewis Conclusion
If you want something changed at your building, the work happens seven days before the meeting, not at it. Draft the motion, deposit it at the registered office, and keep proof of the date — that receipt is what makes a refusal challengeable.
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Check the notice arrived at least fourteen days before the meeting, with the audited accounts and auditor's report attached.
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Read the accounts before you go — collection rate, arrears, sinking fund balance, largest expense line.
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Arrive on time; after thirty minutes those present become the quorum under paragraph 15(2).
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If you cannot attend, deposit a proxy at the registered address at least forty-eight hours before.