New Mindset Needed for Redefining Critical Maintenance and Repairs

By: Ng Wei Aik

The Management Office nowadays should adopt a new mindset in defining what shall be categorised as maintenance and critical repair for essential services, since the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) being released by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government do provide a little help on the scope of essential services which are important for a stratified building.
Until today, there is none SOPs provided by the KPKT for those states which have already entered phase 2 under the National Recovery Plan. In fact, it is still the same SOPs being applicable for those states under the National Recovery Plan (NRP) phase 1 or even for phase 2, except for the capacity of workers being deployed on site could be slightly increased from 60% to 80%.

We are still facing the same problems whereby physical AGM or EGM could not be held. Due to a lot of technical difficulties could not be resolved by way of conducting a virtual AGM or EGM, it is highly recommended for a hybrid AGM/EGM (a combination of physical and virtual AGM/EGM) to be allowed for the JMB/MC, as not to allow any JMB/MC to use this as an excuse to further delay its AGM which has already long overdue.

At the same time, the Management Office shall not continue stick to their old mindset in defining the scope of critical maintenance and repairs. Most of the time, they may tend to exclude the repair/service of air-conditioner, WiFi and refrigerator from their list of essential services. This will put those who are working from home in a helpless situation.

How could you expect that a person to work from home in a hot environment, plus no access to WiFi or even without access to food and beverage being stored in the refrigerator? With a lot of employees being locked-up at home due to the implementation of phase 1 or 2 of the NRP, and some even cannot leave their home due to the implementation of Enhanced MCO (EMCO) as what happened to Klang Valley lately, we shall redefine the scope of critical maintenance and repairs as to suit the needs of those living in the stratified scheme or buildings.

For certain projects which are undergoing the repainting works, it shall be allowed for the repainting works to be continued as such a work does not fall the construction industry which is directly being put under the ambit of Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), and also not part of licensed activities of a local council.

Since the SOPs introduced by KPKT has allowed for the critical maintenance and repair works to be carried out in the common property, I would propose for such repainting works to be given a green light by the Management Committee to proceed. With phase 1 or phase 2 of the NRP likely to go on indefinitely, especially with the worsening situation in Klang Valley, continue to wait and see will provide no help for the repainting works to be completed in time.

We are in dire need of mindset change to the modus operandi of a management office, as well as paradigm shift in the thinking of management committee as a whole. Since the SOPs being introduced by the KPKT provides no barrier in limiting all these activities to go on, the management committee shall not try to tie their both hands as well. And the KPKT shall also act as an enabler, and not as disruptor for the property management to be carried out in a stratified scheme or buildings according to its ordinary pathway.