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Strata rules under review

BCA public consultation for Building Maintenance, Strata Management Act starts today

Published on Apr 27, 2012

By Esther Teo, Property Reporter


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

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