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Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah State Legislative Assembly passed the Building Management Enactment Bill 2026 on April 30, 2026, to establish a new framework for strengthening property management, improving governance, and addressing maintenance issues in high-rise and strata buildings across Sabah. 

For decades, its stark absence was a bane for subsidiary title house purchasers and property owners to say the least, as they were at the mercy of errant property developers, some of whom absconded to the Peninsula without any financial accountability and leaving behind a mess of uncompleted housing development projects, and conflicts with irresponsible management corporations over lack of building maintenance.

“At last, after 30 years,” came an instantaneous remark from Ken Lo (pic), who is the Property Management Consultant and Trainer. He is organising a seminar on “The Future of Property Management in Sabah in Relationship to Building Management Enactment 2026” on July 4 at the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC). 

The seminar from 8am to 1.30pm will cover four key topics, namely Governance Structure Shift, Financial Accountability, AGM & EGM Governance, and the Formation of Commissioner of Building (COB). For enquiries, please email bspadviser.kk@gmail.com 

He said it is imperative for stakeholders, such as subsidiary title owners of condominiums/shops and apartments, property developers, management corporations (MCs), property & facility managers, valuers, estate agents & assets owners to attend.

“It is for their own good. Participants will get to understand their legal obligations, how to reduce legal and financial risks, how to strengthen governance and transparency, while subsidiary title owners will learn of their rights and responsibilities to protect their interests.

“Staff of property development firms and management corporations, in particular, must be properly trained to avoid violating the provisions of the new legislation.

“Ignorance of the Enactment may adversely affect the pockets of stakeholders. It is advisable to be knowledgeable about the law to avoid encountering a personal liability.

“You may have to pay a heavy price for non-compliance. It can cost you up to RM500,000 or imprisonment not more than three years or both,” warned Lo, who is a licensed property manager, in an interview with the Daily Express, recently.

The UK-trained engineer has been passionately pursuing the thorny issue of property management in Sabah and giving talks on house buyer rights and long standing disputes with developers for the past 25 years.

Rest of the interview:

DE: Why did it take so long for the Building Management Enactment 2026 to become a reality?

Lo: Simple answer, apparently, the issue was not the priority of any governments in the past. Furthermore, there wasn’t enough loud noise from the subsidiary title owners as nearly 50pc of them are investors, and therefore, they are not interested to knowabout any potential enactment.

DE: Why are some investors not interested to know about the building management governance framework?

Lo: They are probably only interested in collecting rentals and in the increased value of their property plus the fact that they are tired of arguing endlessly with developers or management corporations.

DE: That being the case, what risk will property investors be facing if they are ignorant of the property management standards?

Lo: Such ignorance can greatly affect their investments. 

DE: With the Enactment 2026 in place, does it mean developers and management corporations cannot run away from their inherent responsibilities?

Lo: They will think twice as offences under this new law are punishable by a fine of up to not more than RM500,000 or a jail sentence of not more than three years or both. 

DE: Can you name one such offence?

Lo: One is not conducting the first Annual General Meeting (AGM) by the developer when it is due to hold the meeting.

DE: Does the Enactment cover structural defects in newly-completed buildings?

Lo: Yes. But let me make it clear. This Enactment is not applicable to issues arising from buildings under construction.

DE: So, developers are obligated to rectify the defects, say concrete fragmentation?

Lo: Certainly. There is a clause that states that they (developers) shall rectify all defects during the Defects and Liability Period of 18 months from the date of OC. As for management corporations, they cannot afford to ignore when they receive complaints of inter-floor leaking from affected residents.