Don’t restrict to valuers only

WE are concerned over the recent Strata Management Bill tabled by the Housing and Local Government Ministry in parliament where it has been proposed that only licenced valuers be allowed as managing agents.

Are we turning the clock back as the current Building and Common Property (Maintenance and Management) Act and the Strata Titles Act do not specify that the managing agent must be from the valuer profession?

How true is it that the managing agent is now part of the valuer profession overnight with the passing of the Bill in parliament?

I am trying to search for an answer for this scenario as our private property are at stake.

I cannot find any, as all issues relating to managing our buildings do not involve the valuer.

I only came across accountants, lawyers, insurance agents, architects and engineers attending to accounting and budgeting, legal, insurance claims, building structure and M&E issues, respectively, as well as related professionals and technicians (electrical chargemen, for example) but not valuers as professionals attending to any of these issues mentioned.

There are also degree and diploma holders in other disciplines such as Business Administration, IT and Human Resource Management who are involved in the building management industry.

Can other professions insert a clause into their respective acts, claiming to be property managers by virtue that they are also part of the building management industry?

Since accounting and budgeting constitute a substantial part of building management, can accountants claim sole jurisdiction over building management?

It will be disastrous if the building management industry is monopolised by any one profession as it is a multi-disciplinary management function.

One must have years of experience in building management before one can become a managing agent.

It is not a profession but a

comprehensive management function.

When engineering, law, medical, pharmacy, accounting and valuation graduates complete their courses, they undergo internships or apprenticeships for specified periods of time in their respective professional entities.

A managing agent in a building environment does not undergo such internship by virtue of the multi-disciplinary nature of the function but acquires the necessary competencies through hands-on action learning.

He or she needs adequate broad-based management experience in the building management industry and not just in any one profession alone.

Indeed, there are many non-valuer managing agents who are registered professionals and regulated by their respective professional bodies.

It is grossly incorrect to say that they are not professionals in the building management industry, and that only valuers are.

I call on all private property owners to speak up against any attempt at monopolising the building

management industry by the valuers in the proposed bill, as the proper upkeep of our property is at stake.

We want the freedom to choose any suitably qualified persons or entities to manage our buildings and not be restricted to any one profession.

Even now, with the non-valuer managing agents practising as property managers there is a shortage of competent persons in the building management industry, what more if it is restricted to valuers, given that there are less than 800 of them and that very few are actively functioning as managing agents.

CONCERNED OWNER

Kuala Lumpur - The Star