Manpower boost under new Strata Management Bill

December 4, 2012

Manpower boost under new Strata Management Bill

By TAN KARR WEI

OWNERS of high-rise properties in Malaysia will be relieved to know that the Commissioner of Buildings (COB) department will be beefed up with a deputy and extra employees.

Under the Building and Common Property Act (BCPA) 2007, the state government will appoint a COB to administer all stratified properties within each local council.

By default, the mayor or president of a local council becomes the COB with a staff of about five officers running the department.

StarMetro has previously reported that many COBs in Selangor lament the fact that they have not been able to properly take on the role while having to attend to other responsibilities, especially with a concentration of high-rise buildings in places such as Petaling Jaya and Subang Jaya.

To overcome this problem, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Chor Chee Heung said the new Strata Management Bill would allow for a deputy COB to be hired and the number of officers to be increased, up to maximum of 16 people.

Over the years, we recognise that the mayors and presidents have too many responsibilities so we will now have a deputy COB who will attend to the role full-time.

We have already identified the local councils that will be needing this post and the additional staff.

There are some local councils throughout the country which do not have high-rise buildings under their administration,� said Chor.

He said the technical officers would be taken from within a council while other clerical officers would be under the payroll of the ministry.

Local councils can expect their new deputy COBs by mid-2013, once the Strata Manage-ment Bill has been gazetted.

Meanwhile, all practising property managers are required to furnish a bank guarantee before being allowed to manage a stratified property.

Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Chor Chee Heung said this regulation had been included in the Strata Management Bill passed by the Cabinet recently.

揟here has always been this fear of managers disappearing with a property抯 funds so we have made it mandatory for them to have a bank guarantee before being allowed to collect maintenance fees as instructed by the Joint Management Body or Management Corporation,� said Chor.

Once the Bill has been passed by the Senate and the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, it will supersede the Building and Common Property Act (BCPA) 2007 and the Strata Titles Act (STA) 1985.

Chor said the new Act would still prevent parties who had an interest in the building (for example developers, architects and engineers involved in the development of the property) from managing it.

Source: The Star