Responsibilities of All Owners

All unit owners have voting rights. The weight of your individual vote is determined by the share value of your unit ("strata lot"). The higher the share value, the more voting rights you have. A unit owner will risk losing their voting rights if their maintenance contributions are in arrears.

While it is not compulsory for you to attend meetings, it is in your interest to attend them as the decisions made via voting at these meetings will affect you as a resident and even possibly the value of your property. For example, a motion to limit the number of complimentary carpark lots that may be assigned to each unit, if approved at a general meeting, will bind all unit owners.

There is a minimum number of persons (unit owners and proxies) who need to be present before the meeting can commence. This is called a quorum. Unit owners have a responsibility to one another to be present at meetings.

If you are unable to attend a meeting, you can in writing appoint a person to attend on your behalf i.e. a proxy, by giving the proxy written permission, using the proxy form found in the First Schedule of the Building Management and Strata Management Act (BMSMA).

These contributions may also be used to pay for the Management Corporation's (MC's) insurance policies, utilities for common areas, and services such as security.

Note that the amount of maintenance charge may be reviewed annually at each annual general meeting (AGM).

As a fellow unit owner who owns a part of the common property in the estate, you have a responsibility to your estate and your neighbours to pay your contributions on time. Do note that each estate will have its own arrangement for paying of maintenance contributions, and the penalty for late payment.

Being thoughtful and maintaining friendly relations with your neighbours helps ensure a more pleasant and conflict-free condo living experience.

This also applies to common property surrounding your individual unit. For example, the corridor space outside your unit is common property for all unit owners. It is good to be considerate and not crowd the shared corridor with your belongings, especially if they obstruct the paths of your neighbours.

In addition to the prescribed by-laws that every owner and occupier is required to comply with, the Management Corporation (MC) can make by-laws that are not in conflict with the prescribed by-laws or any laws in Singapore. By-laws are enacted for the purpose of controlling and managing the use of common property, as well as your unit.

By-laws are generally made in relation to safety and security measures, details of any common property of which the use is restricted, the keeping of pets, parking, garbage disposal, behaviour such as not swimming after a certain hour and not making of loud noises after a certain hour etc.