SINGAPORE — After a review lasting close to five years, changes to the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act (BMSMA) — which will, among other things, tighten the use of proxies at annual general meetings of strata-titled properties to obtain management control — are yet to be finalised.
SINGAPORE — After a review lasting close to five years, changes to the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act (BMSMA) — which will, among other things, tighten the use of proxies at annual general meetings of strata-titled properties to obtain management control — are yet to be finalised.
Yesterday, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) announced the third and final round of public consultation that will run until Feb 21. New suggestions include prohibiting the appointed treasurer of the building’s managing body, the Management Corporation Strata Title (MCST), from concurrently holding office as chairperson or secretary.
It would also be an offence for any person holding on to the documents of the MCST to not hand them over after being notified to do so, BCA said in yesterday’s statement.
These add to suggestions brought up in previous public consultations, which include setting a cap on the number of proxies one can hold in any strata-titled development.
In response to TODAY’s query on the need for multiple public consultations over close to five years, a BCA spokesperson said that the review of the Act has to be “comprehensive and robust” given the wide impact it has on strata-titled developments in Singapore.
“These proposed amendments are in response to feedback and suggestions received by BCA through the earlier consultations and various channels such as forum letters, written correspondence and emails. We have also sought the views of stakeholders such as the industry associations, developers, lawyers, academics, managing agents, subsidiary proprietors and council members of MCSTs,” the spokesperson said.
“We have carefully considered all feedback and suggestions in the collation of these proposed amendments to the BMSMA. This final round of public consultation seeks further feedback on the consolidated list of amendments before finalising the changes to the legislation.”
The first round of public consultation — held in 2012 — gathered more than 2,000 responses through an online survey, face-to-face interviews, a town hall session, written correspondences and emails. A 10-member panel, which included representatives from industry associations, developers and managing agents, was then set up to review the suggestions.
One year later in 2013, the BCA laid out 37 recommendations in its second round of public consultation, including the proposal to give MCSTs of strata properties more control to deal with errant occupants.
“The objectives of the key amendments in the draft Bill are to enhance governance and transparency over how strata-titled developments are run, as well as to provide better clarity to some of the provisions,” BCA said yesterday.
The BMSMA provides a legal framework for the management and maintenance of strata-titled developments, which include condominiums. Introduced in 2005, the Act aims to facilitate self-regulation among stakeholders for the maintenance and upkeep of such properties.
The effective date of the amendments will be announced when the draft Bill is tabled and read in Parliament, BCA said.
The review of the Act came after several reports and letters from the public on issues such as the abuse of power by certain management council members, as well as the inability of MCSTs to take on errant occupants in the building.
In a report by The Sunday Times in 2013 covering the dispute between condominium owners of The Sail@Marina Bay and its developer over damaged fixtures, it noted that 75 per cent of the vote share present at the condo’s Extraordinary General Meeting was represented by a proxy.
The report also quoted a resident who alleged that three council members — believed to be property agents subletting units in the development as serviced apartments — held more than 60 per cent of proxy votes in an Annual General Meeting.
In 2014, amid media reports of errant retailers in Sim Lim Square, the building’s MCST wrote a letter to TODAY saying that its hands were tied under the law when it came to setting by-laws to dictate that tenants run their businesses fairly. Its comments were in response to watchdog Consumers Association of Singapore’s suggestions to do so as a way to alleviate the problem of errant retailers.
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