Strata & Building Management
Wheel clamps and release fees
The authority to clamp, immobilise and charge a release fee comes from by-law 14 of the Third Schedule to the 2015 Regulations, prescribed under s.150. Additional by-laws made under s.32(3) or s.70(2) may regulate parking and impose fines, capped at RM200.
Quick summary
Quick answer
Best for
Risk level
Buyer action
| Best for | Buyers checking what parking they are actually getting, and owners in a dispute over a bay. |
|---|---|
| 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. |
What you actually bought
What follows takes apart a by-law is not a licence to detain property. Know the line before you pay a release fee or before you cut a clamp off. A car park bay can be three different legal things, and each one gives you a different set of rights.
Where the clamping power actually comes from
This is worth getting right because the wrong schedule is often cited. The Third Schedule to Act 757 does not deal with parking at all — it prescribes the Warrant of Attachment, Form A and Form B, used to seize movable property for outstanding charges. The specific authority to clamp, immobilise and charge a release fee is in by-law 14 of the Third Schedule to the Strata Management (Maintenance and Management) Regulations 2015, which is prescribed under s.150 of the Act. If someone tells you clamping is authorised by the Third Schedule, ask which Third Schedule they mean.
Parking rules and the RM200 fine cap
Separately from by-law 14, a management body may make additional by-laws regulating parking — s.32(3) for a joint management body, s.70(2) for a management corporation — and may impose fines under those by-laws up to RM200. That figure is the ceiling. A parking penalty of five hundred ringgit does not become lawful because it appears on a notice board or because the committee voted for it; the cap is the cap, and anything above it is a demand rather than an enforceable fine.
What to check before you pay
Three things, in order. First, ask which provision the clamp was applied under — by-law 14 of the Third Schedule to the 2015 Regulations is the answer you should get. Second, ask for the additional by-law that governs parking in your scheme and the special resolution that made it, since ss.32(3) and 70(2) require it to be made at a general meeting. Third, check the release fee and any fine against the RM200 cap. If all three hold up, pay and take it up at the next general meeting instead. If they do not, put the objection in writing before you pay, not after.
Verify this against your own building
Get the strata plan and your SPA schedule and confirm in writing which bays are accessory parcels tied to your unit. Do this before you pay, not when you try to sell.
Buyer checklist
There is a specific legal basis, and it is not the Third Schedule to Act 757 — that schedule prescribes the Warrant of Attachment used to seize movable property for arrears. The clamping power sits in by-law 14 of the Third Schedule to the Strata Management (Maintenance and Management) Regulations 2015. Separately, additional by-laws under s.32(3) or s.70(2) may regulate parking and impose fines of up to RM200.
1
2
3
4
5
| 1 | Ask which provision the clamp was applied under — the answer should be by-law 14 of the Third Schedule to the 2015 Regulations. |
|---|---|
| 2 | Do not accept the Third Schedule to Act 757 as the basis — that schedule prescribes the Warrant of Attachment, not parking. |
| 3 | Request the additional by-law regulating parking and the special resolution that made it (ss.32(3), 70(2)). |
| 4 | Check any fine against the RM200 cap that applies to by-law fines. |
| 5 | If the basis does not hold, object in writing before paying the release fee. |
Common questions
Is it legal for management to clamp my car?
There is a specific basis: by-law 14 of the Third Schedule to the Strata Management (Maintenance and Management) Regulations 2015, prescribed under s.150, provides the authority to clamp, immobilise and charge release fees.
Is the Third Schedule to Act 757 the parking schedule?
No. The Third Schedule to Act 757 prescribes the Warrant of Attachment, Forms A and B, used to seize movable property for outstanding charges.
How much can they fine me for a parking breach?
Fines imposed under additional by-laws made under s.32(3) or s.70(2) are capped at RM200.
Can the committee create parking rules on its own?
Additional by-laws regulating parking must be made by special resolution at a general meeting under s.32(3) for a JMB or s.70(2) for a management corporation.
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.
Prefer Lewis to contact you?
Tell Lewis your budget and area — get a hand-picked 3-project shortlist with price, rental and risk notes on WhatsApp.
Prefer to chat directly? WhatsApp Lewis
Decision check
Want Lewis to apply this to your shortlist?
Send your budget, preferred area, purpose and timeline. Lewis can turn the news into a practical project comparison.
Send
Ask which provision the clamp was applied under — the answer should be by-law 14 of the Third Schedule to the 2015 Regulations.
Send
Do not accept the Third Schedule to Act 757 as the basis — that schedule prescribes the Warrant of Attachment, not parking.
Send
Request the additional by-law regulating parking and the special resolution that made it (ss.32(3), 70(2)).
Send
Check any fine against the RM200 cap that applies to by-law fines.