Strata & Building Management
The by-laws you agreed to without reading
The prescribed by-laws sit in the Third Schedule to the 2015 Regulations, brought in by regulations 5 and 28, and run to eight parts — from the management body's powers and the proprietor's duties to vehicles, refuse, renovations, and defects affecting support or shelter.
Quick summary
Quick answer
Best for
Risk level
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. |
The rules you already agreed to
This post works through every strata scheme starts with a prescribed set of by-laws. Most disputes are already answered in them. High-rise living puts households metres apart with shared structure that conducts sound and vibration. By-laws, not goodwill, do the work.
Where they come from and who they bind
Regulations 5 and 28 of the Strata Management (Maintenance and Management) Regulations 2015 bring the prescribed by-laws in the Third Schedule into effect. They apply to all development areas, subdivided buildings and common property — which means they are already binding on your scheme whether or not anyone has ever circulated a copy. Nothing has to be voted on for them to operate; they are the baseline, and any additional by-law your scheme makes sits on top of them rather than replacing them.
What Parts 2 and 3 actually do
Part 2 sets out the management body's functions and powers: maintaining common property, providing amenities, dealing with defaulters, and imposing fines. Part 3 is the one owners should read first, because it is about them — paying charges, permitting access for repairs, avoiding nuisance, pest control, drying laundry, and complying with the by-laws generally. A large share of the complaints that reach a committee are answered directly by a paragraph in Part 3, and quoting the paragraph tends to end the conversation faster than arguing about reasonableness.
Parts 4 to 8: the practical ones
Part 4 covers the common property, including security identification, rules on fire fighting equipment and protection of gardens and lawns. Part 5 covers vehicles — parking, wheel clamping, towing of improperly parked vehicles and vehicle alarms. Part 6 covers refuse control, including proper garbage disposal and the prohibition on dumping rubbish on common property. Part 7 covers renovations: prior written approval, building deposits, hacking and drilling restrictions, and tapping water or electricity. Part 8 deals with defects to parcels affecting support or shelter and the proceedings the management body can take to rectify them.
What additional by-laws can add
On top of the prescribed set, ss.32(3) for a joint management body and 70(2) for a management corporation define the scope of additional by-laws a scheme may make: safety and security, restricted common property, pets, parking, floor coverings, refuse control, behaviour, architectural and landscaping guidelines, and the imposition of fines. That list is the outer boundary. A rule that does not fall within one of those categories is not something an additional by-law can validly do, however sensible it might seem at a meeting.
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
Every strata scheme starts with the same prescribed by-laws, and they apply to all development areas, subdivided buildings and common property. Part 2 covers the management body's functions including dealing with defaulters and imposing fines. Part 3 covers the proprietor: paying charges, permitting access for repairs, avoiding nuisance, pest control, drying laundry, complying with by-laws. Parts 4 to 8 cover common property, vehicles, refuse, renovations, and defects affecting support or shelter.
1
2
3
4
5
| 1 | Get a copy of the Third Schedule to the 2015 Regulations and read Part 3 first — it is about your own duties. |
|---|---|
| 2 | Before disputing a management instruction, check whether a prescribed by-law already answers it. |
| 3 | Check any scheme rule against the list of permitted subjects in s.32(3) or s.70(2). |
| 4 | For renovation questions, go to Part 7 before you ask the committee. |
| 5 | For vehicle and parking questions, go to Part 5. |
Common questions
Where are the prescribed by-laws?
In the Third Schedule to the Strata Management (Maintenance and Management) Regulations 2015, brought into effect by regulations 5 and 28.
Do they apply if our scheme never adopted them?
Yes. They apply to all development areas, subdivided buildings and common property, and do not depend on adoption by your scheme.
What do the prescribed by-laws cover?
Eight parts: preliminary; the management corporation; the proprietor; the common property; vehicles; refuse control; renovations; and defects to parcels affecting support or shelter.
What subjects can additional by-laws deal with?
Under ss.32(3) and 70(2): safety and security, restricted common property, pets, parking, floor coverings, refuse control, behaviour, architectural and landscaping guidelines, and the imposition of fines.
Lewis Chong
REN 69566 · IQI GlobalProperty advisor helping KL, JB, and Penang buyers make data-backed property decisions.
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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.
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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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Get a copy of the Third Schedule to the 2015 Regulations and read Part 3 first — it is about your own duties.
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Before disputing a management instruction, check whether a prescribed by-law already answers it.
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Check any scheme rule against the list of permitted subjects in s.32(3) or s.70(2).
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For renovation questions, go to Part 7 before you ask the committee.