Strata rules under review
Straits Times: Fri, Apr 27
THE Building and Construction
Authority (BCA) is conducting a
public consultation on the review
of an Act which governs the
management and maintenance
of strata properties.
The BCA said in a statement
yesterday that it will be getting
public feedback for the Building
Maintenance and Strata
Management Act (BMSMA) as
part of its ongoing process of
conducting regular reviews of its
rules and regulations.
'It is aimed at improving existing
provisions in the BMSMA for
better transparency and
governance, as well as removing
ambiguities to provide greater
clarity to existing provisions,' it
said.
Some of the broad areas the
BCA is seeking feedback on are
the usage of management funds,
by-laws and proceedings of
general meetings, which are
some areas that it has received
suggestions on over the years.
This is also the first time a review
is being carried out since the
BMSMA came into operation in
April 2005.
The public consultation will be
carried out by an independent
third party - consulting firm Frost
& Sullivan - and will include an
online survey as well as face-to-
face interviews. The exercise will
start today and close on May 25.
Some of the questions involved
determine if those surveyed are
aware of the by-laws governing
their estate and how involved
they are in council or general
meetings of their estate's
management corporation.
They also include questions
asking if there should be a
restriction on the number of
proxies a person can hold at a
general meeting and whether
council members should be paid
an honorarium in recognition of
the services rendered as
volunteers during their one-year
tenure.
The BCA said that relevant input
and feedback arising from the
consultation exercise will be
taken into consideration in the
review, which is expected to be
completed by the end of this
year.
The act provides a legal
framework for the management
and maintenance of strata
properties, and spells out the
duties and obligations among the
different stakeholders, such as
subsidiary proprietors,
management councils and
managing agents.
Its provisions empower the
management corporations of
strata properties to make
decisions relating to the
maintenance and management
of their properties.
Members of the public and
stakeholders are invited to
participate in this consultation
through the online survey at
http://www.frost.com/bca-
bmsma
[email protected]
HAVE YOUR SAY
Participate in the BCA
consultation at www.frost.com/
bca-bmsma
Source: The Straits Times ©
Singapore Press Holdings Ltd.
Reprinted with permission.