Strata & Building Management
Noise from the unit above: the escalation ladder that actually works
The prescribed by-laws already cover noise: by-law 8(8) bars using a parcel so as to cause nuisance or danger, by-law 10 bans offensive behaviour and requires electronic or musical sound to be kept at low volume after 11:00 p.m., and by-law 24 restricts children creating noise on common property.
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. |
Before you knock on the door
What follows takes apart management, COB, tribunal, local authority, police, civil court — each can do something different, and order matters. Escalation order matters: the same complaint succeeds or dies depending on where you take it first.
Four by-laws already cover this
The Third Schedule to the 2015 Regulations deals with noise from several directions. By-law 8(8) prohibits a proprietor from using their parcel in a manner that causes nuisance or danger to other proprietors — the general provision. By-law 10 is the specific one, banning language or behaviour that causes offence, embarrassment or nuisance, and requiring electronic or musical sounds to be kept at a low volume after 11:00 p.m. By-law 14 prohibits keeping animals that cause annoyance, nuisance or a hazard to health or safety. By-law 24 restricts children on the common property from creating noise or nuisance.
What the management body can actually do
Four responses, escalating. Under by-law 7 it may impose a fine determined by a resolution at a general meeting. Under by-law 16(2) it may require a persistent offender, who has been cautioned, to leave the common property immediately. Under by-laws 16(3) and 16(4) it may require the proprietor to remedy the breach and, failing that, recover any repair costs it incurs as a debt. And where an animal is the source, by-law 14(2) allows it to order removal within three days, or remove the animal forcibly at the owner's cost.
How to write the complaint so it moves
Name the by-law, give dates and times, and say what you want done. A complaint that reads 'the unit above is unbearable' asks the committee to arbitrate a matter of taste. A complaint that reads 'on these five dates, at these times after 11:00 p.m., amplified music was audible in my unit, contrary to by-law 10; please issue a written caution under by-law 16(2)' asks them to apply a rule and gives them the wording to use. The second gets a response; the first gets sympathy.
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
You do not need a new house rule — the Third Schedule already has four. By-law 8(8) prohibits using a parcel in a way that causes nuisance or danger to other proprietors. By-law 10 bans language or behaviour causing offence, embarrassment or nuisance, and expressly requires electronic or musical sounds to be kept at low volume after 11:00 p.m. By-law 14 covers animals causing annoyance. By-law 24 restricts children creating noise or nuisance on the common property.
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| 1 | Identify which by-law applies — 8(8) for general nuisance, 10 for noise and behaviour, 14 for animals, 24 for children on common property. |
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| 2 | Note the 11:00 p.m. threshold in by-law 10 for electronic and musical sound. |
| 3 | Log dates, times and duration before you complain. |
| 4 | Ask for a specific step: a written caution under by-law 16(2), or a fine under by-law 7. |
| 5 | If an animal is the source, note by-law 14(2) allows removal within three days or forcible removal at the owner's cost. |
Common questions
Is there a quiet time in the prescribed by-laws?
By-law 10 requires electronic or musical sounds to be kept at a low volume after 11:00 p.m.
Which by-law covers noise generally?
By-law 8(8) prohibits using a parcel in a manner causing nuisance or danger to other proprietors, and by-law 10 bans behaviour causing offence, embarrassment or nuisance.
Can management fine a noisy neighbour?
Under by-law 7 it may impose a fine determined by a resolution at a general meeting.
What if the person keeps doing it?
By-law 16(2) allows the management body to require a persistent offender who has been cautioned to leave the common property immediately, and by-laws 16(3) and 16(4) allow it to require rectification and recover repair costs as a debt.
What about a barking dog?
By-law 14 prohibits keeping animals causing annoyance, nuisance or a health or safety hazard, and by-law 14(2) allows an order to remove the animal within three days, or forcible removal at the owner's cost.
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.
What evidence a noise complaint needs before anyone will act on it
The prescribed by-laws already specify noise standards — by-law 8(8) prohibits use causing nuisance or danger, by-law 10 requires electronic or musical sound to be kept at low volume after 11:00 p.m., and by-law 24 restricts children creating noise on common property. There is no decibel standard in the Act or regulations. Enforcement relies on documented evidence: dated logs with times, second-party corroboration, written complaints to management, and their replies.
Lewis Conclusion
Start a dated log on the first incident. The record itself is usually more persuasive than argument. By the time you have six dates, three times of day, durations, and a second witness, the management body will move, or you will have the evidence the tribunal needs.
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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Decision check
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Identify which by-law applies — 8(8) for general nuisance, 10 for noise and behaviour, 14 for animals, 24 for children on common property.
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Note the 11:00 p.m. threshold in by-law 10 for electronic and musical sound.
Send
Log dates, times and duration before you complain.
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Ask for a specific step: a written caution under by-law 16(2), or a fine under by-law 7.