Strata & Building Management
What building records you have a legal right to see — and the deadline to get them
Owners may inspect the books of accounts and obtain a certificate of the fund balances — s.31 for a JMB, s.73 for a management corporation. Refusing inspection or failing to maintain or audit accounts is an offence under ss.26(5) and 62(5), with committee members personally liable up to RM250,000 or three years.
Quick summary
Quick answer
Best for
Risk level
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. |
Where the power sits
The question here is accounts, registers, contracts and minutes are not management's private property. Refusal is an offence, not a policy. Procedure is not bureaucracy here; it is the only thing standing between your money and a small unaccountable group.
What you can ask to see
Owners may inspect the books of accounts, and may obtain a certificate of the state of the funds — section 31 for a joint management body, section 73 for a management corporation. The certificate is the more useful of the two in practice, because it puts the balances into a formal document signed by the body rather than described verbally at a meeting. If you are a buyer doing due diligence rather than an existing owner, it is also the document a conveyancing lawyer will want to see.
Refusal is an offence, and it is personal
This is the part that changes behaviour. Failing to maintain or audit the accounts, or failing to permit inspection, is an offence under s.26(5) for a joint management body and s.62(5) for a management corporation — and committee members are personally liable, to a fine of up to two hundred and fifty thousand ringgit, imprisonment of up to three years, or both. Separately, refusing to issue the s.31 certificate is an offence under regulation 19(2) of the 2015 Regulations, carrying a fine of up to fifty thousand ringgit, imprisonment of up to three years, or both.
If they still will not produce them
Take it to the Strata Management Tribunal. Part 1 of the Fourth Schedule includes a head of claim to compel a developer, joint management body, management corporation or subsidiary management corporation to supply information or documents. File that together with whatever substantive complaint the documents relate to — the document order is usually what makes the substantive claim provable, so bringing them together saves a round trip.
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
Three levers. Inspection of the books of accounts. A certificate of the state of the funds under s.31 for a joint management body or s.73 for a management corporation. And, if either is refused, the offences in ss.26(5) and 62(5) — committee members personally liable to a fine up to RM250,000, imprisonment up to three years, or both. Refusing to issue a s.31 certificate carries its own penalty under regulation 19(2): up to RM50,000, three years, or both.
1
2
3
4
5
| 1 | Put the request in writing and name the section — s.31 for a JMB, s.73 for a management corporation. |
|---|---|
| 2 | Ask for the certificate of the fund balances, not just a verbal update at a meeting. |
| 3 | If inspection is refused, cite s.26(5) or s.62(5) and note committee members are personally liable. |
| 4 | If the s.31 certificate is refused, cite regulation 19(2) of the 2015 Regulations. |
| 5 | If nothing is produced, file at the tribunal under the Fourth Schedule head compelling supply of documents. |
Common questions
Do I have a right to see the building's accounts?
Yes. Owners may inspect the books of accounts and obtain a certificate of the state of the funds — s.31 for a joint management body, s.73 for a management corporation.
What happens if the committee refuses?
Failing to permit inspection, or to maintain or audit the accounts, is an offence under s.26(5) for a JMB and s.62(5) for an MC, with committee members personally liable to a fine up to RM250,000, imprisonment up to three years, or both.
Is there a separate penalty for refusing the certificate?
Yes. Regulation 19(2) of the 2015 Regulations makes refusing to issue the s.31 certificate an offence carrying a fine up to RM50,000, imprisonment up to three years, or both.
Can the tribunal order them to hand over documents?
Yes. Part 1 of the Fourth Schedule includes a claim to compel a developer, JMB, MC or subsidiary MC to supply information or documents.
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
Put the request in writing and name the section — s.31 for a JMB, s.73 for a management corporation.
Send
Ask for the certificate of the fund balances, not just a verbal update at a meeting.
Send
If inspection is refused, cite s.26(5) or s.62(5) and note committee members are personally liable.
Send
If the s.31 certificate is refused, cite regulation 19(2) of the 2015 Regulations.