A BODY known as a Joint Management Body (JMB) is established under section 17 of the Strata Management Act 2013 (SMA) upon convening of the first annual general meeting of the JMB by the developer.
The term “developer” means any person or body of persons, by whatever name described, who develops any land for the purpose of residential, commercial or industrial use, or a combination of such uses.
The first annual general meeting of the JMB will be convened not later than 12 months from the date of delivery of vacant possession of a parcel to a purchaser. A parcel is one of the individual units in a building intended for subdivision which is to be held under a separate strata title. A purchaser is a person or body who has acquired an interest as a purchaser in the parcel.
The JMB is a body corporate having perpetual succession and a common seal. It comprises the developer and the purchasers and is responsible for the maintenance and management of the building and common property in a strata development project. The duties and powers of a JMB are set out in section 21 of the SMA.
A JMB will elect a joint management committee (JMC), which will perform the JMB’s duties and conduct its business, and for that purpose, exercise any of the powers of the JMB.
The provisions for the JMB which governs the constitution, quorum, meetings and proceedings of the JMC are found in the Second Schedule of the SMA. Every JMB will have a JMC. The JMC will consist of the number of persons determined by the JMB in a general meeting, but not fewer than three and not more than fourteen natural persons.
There are various duties to be performed by a JMB. The key aspects thereof, which are extracted from the SMA, are reproduced or summarised below:
a) To properly maintain and manage the building or land intended for subdivision into parcels and the common property, and keep it in a state of good and serviceable repair;
b) to determine and impose the charges to be deposited into the maintenance account for the purpose of the proper maintenance and management of the buildings or land intended for subdivision into parcels and the common property;
c) to determine and impose the contribution to the sinking fund to be deposited into the sinking fund account;
d) to effect insurance according to the SMA or to insure against such other risks as the parcel owners may by special resolution direct;
e) to comply with any notice or order given or made by the local authority or any competent public authority in respect of the common property;
f) to prepare and maintain a register of all parcel owners of the buildings or land intended for subdivision into parcels;
g) to ensure that the accounts required to be maintained by the JMB under the SMA are audited, and to provide audited financial statements for the information to its members;
h) to enforce the by-laws; and
i) to do such other things as may be expedient or necessary for the proper maintenance and management of the buildings or land intended for subdivision into parcels and the common property.
The powers of a JMB which are reproduced or summarised below are extracted from the SMA:
a) To collect the charges from the parcel owners in proportion to the allocated share units of their respective parcels;
b) to collect the contribution to the sinking fund from the parcel owners;
c) to authorise expenditure for the carrying out of the maintenance and management of the buildings or land intended for subdivision into parcels and the common property;
d) to recover from any parcel owner any sum expended by the JMB in respect of that parcel in complying with any such notice or order given by the local authority or any other competent public authority;
e) to purchase, hire or otherwise acquire movable property for use by the parcel owners in connection with their enjoyment of the common property;
f) to employ or arrange and secure the services of any person or agent to undertake the maintenance and management of the common property of the building or land intended for subdivision into parcels;
g) to make additional by-laws for the proper maintenance and management of the buildings or land intended for subdivision into parcels and the common property; and
h) to do all things reasonably necessary for the performance of its duties under the SMA and the enforcement of the by-laws.
The writer is a member of the Malaysian Bar and practices at Amir Toh Francis & Partners. For feedback, email cphchambers @gmail.com
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