Strata & Building Management
The developer must call the first JMB meeting by a statutory deadline — what if they don't?
A developer must convene the first JMB meeting not later than 12 months from delivery of vacant possession (s.17(1)(b) with s.18(1)). Failing to do so is an offence carrying a fine of up to RM250,000, imprisonment of up to three years, or both, under s.18(2).
Quick summary
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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. |
Who actually decides
This post works through this is an offence, not a delay. Knowing the deadline and the penalty is what gets an unresponsive developer moving. A strata scheme is a compulsory democracy: the voters are the payers, and turnout decides your cost of ownership.
Twelve months, and the clock starts at vacant possession
Section 17(1)(b), read with s.18(1), requires the developer to convene the first meeting of the joint management body not later than twelve months from the date of delivery of vacant possession of a parcel to a purchaser. For buildings where vacant possession was delivered before the Act commenced, s.17(1)(a) sets the same twelve months running from the commencement date instead. The trigger is delivery of vacant possession — not completion, not the certificate of completion and compliance, and not the date the developer feels the building is settled enough.
The penalty is not nominal
Section 18(2) makes failure to convene that meeting an offence. On conviction the developer is liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty thousand ringgit, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or to both. That is a serious provision by any standard, and it exists because the first JMB meeting is the moment control over the maintenance money passes out of the developer's hands. A developer that has not convened after twelve months is not merely slow.
The one lawful reason there is no JMB
Section 17(5) provides that if the management corporation comes into existence before the first JMB meeting is convened, the meeting is not required and no joint management body shall be established. This happens where strata titles issue early enough that the scheme moves straight to a management corporation. So before you accuse anyone of breach, ask a narrower question: have the strata titles been issued and has the management corporation come into existence? If yes, s.17(5) is the answer and your attention should shift to the MC's own first AGM deadline instead.
What to do when the twelve months pass
Put it in writing to the developer, citing s.17(1)(b) and s.18(1), and ask for the date of the first meeting or the basis on which s.17(5) applies. Copy the Commissioner of Buildings. Keep the reply. If the meeting is then convened, note that s.18(3) requires the developer to give written notice of not less than fourteen days before it — a meeting called at short notice is a meeting most owners cannot attend, and that is worth objecting to in advance rather than afterwards.
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 deadline is 12 months from delivery of vacant possession of a parcel to a purchaser, and the penalty for missing it is a fine not exceeding RM250,000, imprisonment not exceeding three years, or both. The one lawful reason for no JMB is s.17(5): if the management corporation comes into existence before that first meeting is convened, no JMB is established at all.
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| 1 | Record the exact date you were delivered vacant possession — the twelve months runs from there. |
|---|---|
| 2 | At month twelve, write to the developer citing s.17(1)(b) and s.18(1) and copy the Commissioner of Buildings. |
| 3 | Ask specifically whether the management corporation has come into existence, which would engage s.17(5). |
| 4 | When notice of the first meeting arrives, check it gives at least fourteen days as s.18(3) requires. |
| 5 | Keep every written reply — the sequence of dates is what makes any later complaint stand up. |
Common questions
When must the developer call the first JMB meeting?
Not later than twelve months from the date of delivery of vacant possession of a parcel to a purchaser — s.17(1)(b) read with s.18(1). Where vacant possession preceded the Act, twelve months runs from the Act's commencement under s.17(1)(a).
What happens if the developer does not call it?
It is an offence under s.18(2), carrying on conviction a fine not exceeding RM250,000, imprisonment not exceeding three years, or both.
Our building has no JMB at all. Is that always a breach?
Not always. Under s.17(5), if the management corporation came into existence before the first JMB meeting was convened, no JMB is established and no meeting is required.
How much notice must be given for that first meeting?
Not less than fourteen days' written notice, under s.18(3).
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.
JMB to MC handover: what must actually be transferred, and how to check it was
Handover to a JMB happens on Form 4 under regulation 11 before the developer's management period expires (s.15(1)); handover to a management corporation happens on Form 13 under regulation 22 by the end of the preliminary management period (s.55(1)). Both carry a detailed list of money, assets, records and documents.
Lewis Conclusion
Print the s.15(3) and s.55(3) lists and tick them off item by item at the handover meeting. The documents nobody asks for — as-built locations of pipes and cables, warranties and manuals, the register of parcel owners, the original insurance policies — are exactly the ones that cost a building money to reconstruct five years later.
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.
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Record the exact date you were delivered vacant possession — the twelve months runs from there.
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At month twelve, write to the developer citing s.17(1)(b) and s.18(1) and copy the Commissioner of Buildings.
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Ask specifically whether the management corporation has come into existence, which would engage s.17(5).
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When notice of the first meeting arrives, check it gives at least fourteen days as s.18(3) requires.