A COUPLE of years ago, a child waded from the baby to the adult pool in a condominium.
In another high-rise development, the lift doors shut separating mother and child. Both looked for each other on the different floors frantically.
As more people, whether by choice or otherwise, end up living in a strata development, of which most are multi-storey, how life goes on in such developments can be improved by good maintenance, design and a bit of thought on the part of the managers.
While both the above incidences ended tragically. Not all property management issues have tragic outcomes but poor maintenance takes away something from society over the medium and longer run.
How well maintained a development will be as the years go by will determine its value, says Malaysian Institute of Professional Property Managers (MIPPM) president Sarkunan Subramaniam. It will also determine the residents’ lifestyle, the community it serves and the society we build.
“Property management is not ‘sexy’ but it is an issue that has to be addressed. If we, as a country, are to remain competitive and the value of our Malaysian properties are to be maintained over the years, we have to put more emphasis on property management.
His stand on the subject brings to mind (then acting PM) Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s speech “Competing for Tomorrow” to the Oxford and Cambridge Society of Malaysia in 2003 in Petaling Jaya where he said the malaise on our way forward may be a case of having First-World infrastructure and Third-World mentality.
Fourteen years later, Malaysia is planning and building some of the most beautiful homes and buildings in the region. These are the hardware. The software is management.
Since taking over the presidency in 2015, Sarkunan has made amendments to MIPPM’s constitution on a broad range of issues. His single objective is aimed at improving building and property management standards. The amendments – which goes into different areas but converge on the single objective to raise the bar on the sector – have been endorsed by the Registrar of Societies (ROS) on March 17.
“We will be more inclusive going forward. Before, only registered property managers can become members of MIPPM. Today, those who have five years or more experience in a managerial role on a continuous basis are eligible for membership. MIPPM plans to organise seminars and talks to enable the sector to raise the bar,” he says.
Only by education, sharing of knowledge by those in the property-related fields can the standard be raised, he says.
He is mulling over organising a talk on painting. “Surprised? A paint job (for a condo block) can cost RM2mil to RM3mil but has anyone gone beyond merely asking for those three quotations? There are so many issues about preparing the property. Things like grouting, dealing with mould and discolouration and the use of chemicals to prepare the walls before painting begins.”
Here is where Sarkunan plans to harness the expertise and knowledge of paint companies.
“A building manager is a well rounded person and his duty is to keep the property at optimum level during its life cycle in order to reduce replacement costs. His objective is to improve yield or return,” says Sarkunan.
A building manager has to know his inventory and the health of each of the assets – the lift, the chiller, the generator set among others – and how they are to be maintained.
Sarkunan says during the first two years of a new property, challenges and issues may not arise but if the manager does not maintain the assets well, the next person who takes over the management of the property may have problems.
Sarkunan says a good property manager will have his own set of engineers, a procurement team in order to purchase items at the best price which means the more properties it manages, the better terms he will be able to get as a result of economy of scale.
Security is another aspect of management.
At a respectable office address, a property manager made a 2am surprised check. Not all those who were supposed to be on duty turned up.
Property management must be viewed holistically. It involves many aspects of a property and in this Internet age, there is a need to go into the Internet of Things in order to raise the bar, says Sarkunan.
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