Strata & Building Management
External wall and roof leaks
External walls and the roof are common property because they are not comprised within any parcel. The management body must keep common property in a state of good and serviceable repair under s.21(1)(a) for a JMB, s.59(1)(a) for an MC.
Quick summary
Quick answer
Best for
Risk level
Buyer action
| Best for | Owners dealing with a leak, a crack or a repair bill and needing to know whose cost it legally is. |
|---|---|
| Risk level | Medium-High |
| 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. |
Before you pay for the repair
What follows takes apart owners often repair common property at their own cost because nobody told them it was common property. Get the boundary right and the cost question answers itself; get it wrong and you fund someone else's asset.
Why the external wall is not yours
Common property is defined by exclusion: so much of the lot as is not comprised in any parcel, accessory parcel or provisional block shown on the strata plan (s.4, Act 318), and correspondingly under s.2 of Act 757. Your parcel stops at the centre line of the wall under s.13(3) of Act 318, and the external face of the building is not inside any parcel at all. The roof is in the same position. So both are common property, and their condition is the management body's responsibility rather than a matter for the owner of whichever unit happens to sit behind them.
The duty is statutory, not discretionary
The management body must properly maintain and manage the common property and keep it in a state of good and serviceable repair. For a joint management body that duty sits in s.21(1)(a); for a management corporation it sits in s.59(1)(a) of Act 757. This is not a budget preference or a service standard the committee sets — it is an obligation the Act imposes, and it does not become optional because the sinking fund is thin or because the works are expensive.
Where the line falls back on you
One important exception. By-law 5(5) of the Third Schedule to the 2015 Regulations puts windows and doors located on the boundary of a parcel, which are not designated as common property, inside the parcel — with the proprietor responsible for their repair, maintenance and cleanliness. So water entering through a failed window seal is yours; water tracking down inside the external wall and appearing beside the window is not. Establishing which of the two you have is the practical question, and it is a question the management body should be inspecting rather than assuming.
How to raise it so it gets done
Put the request in writing, describe the location precisely, attach dated photographs, and cite the maintenance duty — s.21(1)(a) or s.59(1)(a) as applicable. Ask for an inspection date rather than a general assurance. If the response is that you should repair it yourself, ask in writing for the basis on which the element is said to be inside your parcel, and check that answer against s.13(3) of Act 318 and by-law 5(5). If the building is running an inter-floor leakage process alongside this, keep the two records separate — the leakage procedure has its own forms and deadlines.
Verify this against your own building
Photograph and date everything before repairs begin, and put every request to management in writing. In a leak or defect dispute the contemporaneous record is usually worth more than the argument.
Buyer checklist
If the water is coming through an external wall or the roof, it is not your repair. Those elements fall outside every parcel on the strata plan, which makes them common property under s.4 of Act 318 and s.2 of Act 757, and the management body carries a statutory duty to maintain them. Your own windows and doors on the boundary are the exception — by-law 5(5) puts those inside your parcel.
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| 1 | Photograph the damp area with a visible date before repainting or repairing anything. |
|---|---|
| 2 | Establish whether the water is entering through your own window or door — by-law 5(5) puts those on you. |
| 3 | Put the request in writing citing s.21(1)(a) for a JMB or s.59(1)(a) for a management corporation. |
| 4 | Ask for an inspection date, not a general assurance. |
| 5 | If told to repair it yourself, ask in writing for the basis, and check it against s.13(3) of Act 318. |
Common questions
Who repairs a leaking external wall?
The management body. External walls are common property, and it must keep common property in good and serviceable repair — s.21(1)(a) for a JMB, s.59(1)(a) for an MC.
Is the roof my problem if I am on the top floor?
No. The roof is not comprised within any parcel, so it is common property and the management body's maintenance duty applies.
What if the leak is at my window?
By-law 5(5) of the Third Schedule to the 2015 Regulations puts windows and doors on the parcel boundary, not designated common property, inside the parcel, with the proprietor responsible for repair and maintenance.
Management says the sinking fund cannot afford it. Does that change the duty?
No. The obligation to keep common property in good and serviceable repair is statutory; funding difficulty is a reason to raise contributions at a general meeting, not a defence to the duty.
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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Photograph the damp area with a visible date before repainting or repairing anything.
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Establish whether the water is entering through your own window or door — by-law 5(5) puts those on you.
Send
Put the request in writing citing s.21(1)(a) for a JMB or s.59(1)(a) for a management corporation.
Send
Ask for an inspection date, not a general assurance.