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MC barred from removing condo's cooling tower
Mar 14, 2017
82% of owners okayed disposal of ageing facility, but one resident gets Strata Titles Board to block move
K.C. Vijayan
Senior Law Correspondent
One apartment owner at Leonie Towers managed to block the estate's management corporation (MC) from removing the central cooling tower that serviced the 35-year-old air-conditioning system in the condominium.
The MC of Leonie Towers had sought to dismantle the system, which had outlived its estimated service life of 20 years. The MC was backed by 82 per cent of unit owners at an extraordinary general meeting last year.
The unit owners then enacted a by-law under the Building Maintenance and Strata Management (BMSM) Act to empower the MC to proceed. But dissenting unit owner Yap Choo Moi applied to the Strata Titles Board (STB) to invalidate the by-law last year.
Her lawyer, Ms Valerie Ang, argued that the Act only provided for the making of by-laws that performed a regulatory role but not for the making of by-laws for disposing common property.
The MC's lawyer, Ms Teh Ee-von, accepted there was no provision in the Act for the removal of common property but countered, among other things, that there was no provision that prohibited removal either.
Both parties, at a hearing last month, agreed that the air-con system was common property.
In a novel ruling, the board, comprising deputy president Francis Remedios and its members, Professor Teo Keang Sood and Mr Chua Koon Hoe, blocked the MC's bid, saying the relevant laws do not allow the MC to dispose of such common property.
"There is currently no provision in the BMSM Act or the Land Titles (Strata) Act that allows for a management corporation to dispose of common property," said the board in judgment grounds issued on March 3. "It is noteworthy that even when this could be done, it could only be done by way of a unanimous resolution," it added.
Leonie Towers, in the River Valley Road area, comprises 92 units in two tower blocks of 25 storeys each. Among other things, consulting engineers hired to study the system reported there was corrosion in the steel piping, which required expensive replacements. The system was also operating at below-average level because 60 per cent of residents were using their own air-con units.
The general body which voted to remove the system last year were also told major repairs would cost $520,000, a replacement system would cost $750,000, while removing it would cost only $85,000.
Madam Yap argued that she relied on the cooling towers and removing them would require her to install a new system, which would lower her quality of life.
The board said Madam Yap held a share in the common property proportional to her share values in the estate.
While the BMSM Act provides that subsidiary proprietors like Madam Yap can be deprived of the use of common property, "the section does not provide for the removal or discarding of common property".
Counsel for the MC is considering various options following the board's rejection of its move.
Case puts amended laws under scrutiny
The relevant section of the Land Titles (Strata) Act which provided for the disposal of common property was deleted and replaced by the Building Maintenance and Strata Management (BMSM) Act in 2004 and Statutes (Miscellaneous Amendments)(No.2) Act in 2005.
The new provisions did not provide for disposal of common property by the management corporation.
Lawyers say if there is unanimous support for the disposal of common property, such as obsolete play swings or other items in a common playground for residents, it is likely the matter will pass without further objections or notice.
But in this case, a dissenting resident filed formal objections to the Strata Titles Board for a ruling on the disposal of a condominium cooling tower and triggered a test case which brought the relevant laws under its scrutiny.
If the case is about replacement of and not disposal per se, then the case is treated as one of maintenance of common property, which is provided for under the BMSM Act.
K.C. Vijayan
Hot and bothered over condo's cooling towers
MAR 19, 2017
The saga behind a resident's fight to save Leonie Towers' central air-con system
Melissa Lin
In 1979, Madam Yap Choo Moi moved into the Leonie Towers condominium off Orchard Road.
Over the past four decades, the businesswoman has never installed air-conditioning in her home. Instead, she has relied on the condo's central air-con system, which is serviced by cooling towers on the rooftop.
When the vast majority of her neighbours decided to have the ageing towers dismantled last year, Madam Yap, 67, objected - and hired a lawyer to fight her case.
She won.
In an interview with The Sunday Times last week, held in her well-furnished living room, Madam Yap, who is also known as Ms Lee Lee Langdale, said: "I've been very happy with the system and have been using it for years... If there are any problems with it, it should be fixed."
She got her wish when the Strata Titles Board (STB) earlier this month blocked the management corporation's (MC) bid to dispose of the cooling towers.
The saga began last September, when the MC held an extraordinary general meeting about removing the system.
It had existed for almost twice its estimated service life of 20 years.
Consulting engineers had found, among other things, that the system's steel piping had corroded, requiring expensive replacements.
Its water quality was poor, meaning that there was the likelihood that the water droplets contained bacteria that, when breathed in, could cause a type of pneumonia known as Legionnaires' disease.
At the meeting, unit owners were told that major repairs would cost $520,000 and a replacement system would cost $750,000, while removing it would cost only $85,000.
Leonie Towers comprises 92 units in two 25-storey tower blocks. Each tower is serviced by two central cooling towers.
With just 40 per cent of residents using them - the rest had installed their own air-con units, the majority decided that the towers should just be dismantled. The MC's proposal was backed by 82 per cent of unit owners.
The unit owners then enacted a by-law under the Building Maintenance and Strata Management (BMSM) Act to empower the MC to proceed.
But Madam Yap applied to the STB to invalidate the by-law, and succeeded. Now, the cooling towers will stay put.
"We went to the STB because that was the only thing we could do if the condo is doing something that we think it shouldn't be doing," said Madam Yap's husband, Mr Roger Gaimster Langdale, 81, a retired accountant.
The couple, who did not want to be photographed, declined to say how much they spent on legal fees, and whether ties with their neighbours have been affected. Mr Langdale is part of the condo's management council.
Madam Yap had told the STB that she relied on the cooling towers and removing them would require her to install a new system, which would "lower her quality of life". She declined to explain further.
Another unit owner who wants the system retained, a housewife who wanted to be known only as Mrs Wu, 70, told The Sunday Times: "The central air-con system was something we always had. It's working well, why demolish it?"
The board ruled that no provision in the BMSM Act or the Land Titles (Strata) Act allows for an MC to dispose of common property.
"It is noteworthy that even when this could be done, it could only be done by way of a unanimous resolution," it added in judgment grounds issued on March 3.
The MC will be holding another extraordinary general meeting on Friday to decide if it should appeal and, if so, pay the legal costs - estimated to be up to $60,000 - using management funds.
Another battle looms.
Mrs Wu said of the MC's plan to appeal: "Why would we use our own money to fight ourselves?"
So complicated.
Since many owners has option to install own aircon system, can majority reject to pay for any cost involved in maintaining coolimg tower?
Watever the result the only one who benefit this saga is the lawyer :)
When majority think they are right without thinking who can decide, they are in for a surprise.
Very simple issue.....
Don't dismantle the cooling tower lor!
But also don't need to maintain since majority not using the cooling tower to cool their house.............
The one who objected? She still has to install her own air-con............. :surprise:
She can choose to join the MC but 1 vote against the rest NO vote still won't work...... :ashamed1:
So complicated.
Since many owners has option to install own aircon system, can majority reject to pay for any cost involved in maintaining coolimg tower?
Watever the result the only one who benefit this saga is the lawyer :)
Looks like somebody else are advocating the same as me ha ha ha!
Don't need to appeal to STB and waste money lah!
Just switch off the central cooling tower and paste a notice saying it is awaiting for REPAIR (but indefinitely)................... :surprise:
Very simple issue.....
Don't dismantle the cooling tower lor!
But also don't need to maintain since majority not using the cooling tower to cool their house.............
The one who objected? She still has to install her own air-con............. :surprise:
She can choose to join the MC but 1 vote against the rest NO vote still won't work...... :ashamed1:
Lawyers on disposal of common property
MAR 19, 2017
Melissa Lin
Some lawyers say that the law should be changed to allow a condominium management corporation (MC) to dispose of common property, so long as the majority of residents agree.
Said lawyer Amolat Singh of Amolat & Partners: "It would be paradoxical that a unanimous decision should be required to dispose part of the common property when a unanimous decision is not even required for the whole condo to be sold en bloc."
For a property to be sold en bloc, the consent of at least 80 per cent of the owners must be obtained before a sale tender can be called.
Mr Singh added: "Further, if the law is not changed, then one could have a situation, say, of a refrigerator or even a table-tennis table that is no longer being used but cannot be disposed of without a unanimous decision."
A lawyer who has over 20 years of experience dealing with management corporation strata title issues said the ruling was "impractical and unreasonable".
The lawyer, who declined to be named, said the MC has the right to dispose of damaged or unused property. To check with the unit owners for such decisions would be "unmanageable", he added.
He suggested that the MC of Leonie Towers could turn off the central air-con system and get those who want to use it to pay for the repair costs.
Owners who are unhappy with the MC's decisions can choose not to vote in the same committee members in future, he added.
But Mr Nicholas Aw of Clifford Law said he agreed with the Strata Titles Board's decision.
"We are talking about common property, that is, every subsidiary proprietor has a say in what happens to it," he said.
Looks like somebody else are advocating the same as me ha ha ha!
Don't need to appeal to STB and waste money lah!
Just switch off the central cooling tower and paste a notice saying it is awaiting for REPAIR (but indefinitely)................... :surprise:
The problem is the majority think they are right until they know who can decide.
Yes, they did the wrong way, but still, they have a solution that costs them next to nothing without incurring more costs.....................
The problem is the majority think they are right until they know who can decide.
Very simple issue.....
Don't dismantle the cooling tower lor!
But also don't need to maintain since majority not using the cooling tower to cool their house.............
The one who objected? She still has to install her own air-con............. :surprise:
She can choose to join the MC but 1 vote against the rest NO vote still won't work...... :ashamed1:
i think cannot just leave it there as it is complicated by safety issues. BCA will want them to be removed if it is not maintained
If it cannot be NOT maintained and cannot be removed, then the cooling tower first has to be shut down since it got problem, then they will need to get at least 3 quotations, interview the vendors, discuss about the specs, and the MCST are a bunch of volunteers who are very busy and still has to think 1000 times over because of the high costs involved.
Voila! It will be a year before there is any progress with the cooling tower replacement, and the person complaining? She would have installed her own air-con by then and no point complaining more (because if MCST use money to replace cooling tower, she has to pay part of it too!) :surprise:
Obsoleting common property is very common in MCST estates (if they cannot be removed or too expensive to remove and won't pose hazards to others). I believe that cooling tower fulfill this criteria. The MCST just need to send out notice about shutting down the cooling tower for over-haul maintenance and will update residents in further notice about when it can be up (but will be indefinite I think)...... :ashamed1:
i think cannot just leave it there as it is complicated by safety issues. BCA will want them to be removed if it is not maintained
Sometime having such a "nice" neighbour especially it is 1 and only 1 can be really headache.
......
Case puts amended laws under scrutiny
The relevant section of the Land Titles (Strata) Act which provided for the disposal of common property was deleted and replaced by the Building Maintenance and Strata Management (BMSM) Act in 2004 and Statutes (Miscellaneous Amendments)(No.2) Act in 2005.
The new provisions did not provide for disposal of common property by the management corporation.
....
older generation of lawmakers have more foresight than the younger generation ?
"The system was also operating at below-average level because 60 per cent of residents were using their own air-con units."
"82% of owners okayed disposal of ageing facility, but one resident gets Strata Titles Board to block move."
depending on which figures one would to use, she is not the only one to be affected if for example, cooling tower is "shut down" for a year.
aren't you all glad that minority rights are protected?
whatever happened to sinking funds to deal with this kind of wear and tear?
in addition to central aircon, i think other facilities should be pay-per-use, like bbq pits, swimming pool, gym, lift, rubbish.
pity the foreign owners who own holiday homes. they should pay less maintenance fees, sinking fund etc.
btw i think she has more balls than me, which is a sad reflection of myself :(
Leonie Towers case
Leonie Towers case: Condo owners want to take cooling towers spat to court
Mar 27, 2017
K.C. Vijayan
Senior Law Correspondent
The spat between Leonie Towers residents and a lone dissenter over the bid to tear down the condominium's cooling towers is set to be taken to the High Court for a final decision.
At an extraordinary general meeting held last Friday, owners voted by a 80.9 per cent majority to appeal against the Strata Titles Board's decision earlier this month.
Leonie Towers' management corporation (MC) wanted to dismantle the cooling system, which has outlived its estimated service life of 20 years. The MC was backed by 82 per cent of unit owners at a meeting last year.
The owners then enacted a by-law under the Building Maintenance and Strata Management (BMSM) Act to allow the MC to proceed.
But dissenting unit owner Yap Choo Moi, 67, successfully applied to the Strata Titles Board (STB) to invalidate the by-law last year.
The three-member STB, in a novel ruling, blocked the MC's bid. It said the relevant laws do not allow the MC to dispose of common property like the air-conditioning system.
Leonie Towers, in the River Valley Road area, has 92 units in two tower blocks, each 25 storeys high.
Among other things, consulting engineers hired to study the system reported that there was corrosion in the steel piping, which required expensive replacements. Major repairs would cost $520,000, a replacement system would cost $750,000, while removing the cooling towers would cost only $85,000.
Madam Yap told the STB that removing the cooling towers would require her to install a new system, which would "lower her quality of life".
In its decision, the STB said there is no provision in the BMSM Act or the Land Titles (Strata) Act that allows for a MC to dispose of common property. And even if this could be done, it could be done only by way of a unanimous resolution, the STB said.
Leonie Towers MC chairman Pearl Lim told The Straits Times that the decision to seek the High Court's permission to appeal against the STB's decision was necessary.
"We are paying about $4,500 monthly in servicing and maintaining the cooling towers excluding the electricity bill. The cooling towers also pose safety hazards for the guards who go up there daily."
Mrs Lim said the MC will carry out mediation talks with Madam Yap to resolve the issue, with two other residents acting as mediators.
Mrs Lim credited the MC's lawyer Toh Kok Seng, who had raised the mediation option and advised that "it is always good to come to an amicable conclusion", she said.
"Our role is to serve for the general good."
Madam Yap, speaking through her lawyer Valerie Ang, said last night that she would not be in a position to comment until after the appeal has been filed.
I also have some troubles with other onwers.But we can discuss the problem firstly.
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