JMB vs MC in Malaysia: AGM Notice, Maintenance Fee, Sinking Fund

Short answer. A JMB (joint management body) is established under section 17 when its first AGM is convened, within twelve months of vacant possession of a parcel, and comprises the developer and the purchasers. An MC (management corporation) is the body that comes into existence under the Strata Titles Act 1985, and the JMB hands over to it. Both hold an AGM every year and give owners at least 14 days' notice. Both set the maintenance fee through their general meetings, and the sinking fund contribution is at least ten per cent of that fee.

This guide follows the Strata Management Act 2013 (Act 757) and the Strata Management (Maintenance and Management) Regulations 2015, as they stand in the official text we checked in October 2026. The Act applies only to Peninsular Malaysia and the Federal Territory of Labuan. Press reports in August 2026 say amendments are being considered, so check for a newer text before you rely on a figure. This is a guide, not legal advice.

JMB vs MC at a glance

• What it is. The JMB is the body established under section 17 of the Act. It is a body corporate and comprises the developer and the purchasers. The MC is the body that comes into existence under the Strata Titles Act 1985.
• When it exists. A JMB is established by convening its first AGM, within twelve months of delivery of vacant possession of a parcel (or of the Act's commencement, for developments already occupied). If the MC comes into existence before that first JMB AGM, no JMB is established at all.
• How it ends or continues. The JMB dissolves three months after the first AGM of the MC and, within one month of that AGM, transfers the balances in both accounts and its records to the MC.
• Who runs it. Each body elects a committee: the joint management committee for a JMB, the management committee for an MC. The same rules for general meetings apply to both (the Second Schedule).
• Who collects the money. The body itself collects the Charges and the sinking fund contribution from owners, in proportion to share units.
• Who oversees it. The Commissioner of Buildings (COB), appointed by the State Authority, administers the Act in each area. For example, the Commissioner can direct a body to hold an extraordinary general meeting, and can authorise someone to convene one if the committee does not.

How much notice for an AGM, and how often

Every JMB and MC holds an annual general meeting once a year, with no more than fifteen months between one AGM and the next. Holding it late does not make the meeting invalid, but failing to hold one is an offence with a fine of up to RM50,000 or up to three years in prison, or both (Regulations 2015, regulation 34).

Notice: at least fourteen days to every proprietor. The special cases to know:

• A special resolution needs at least twenty-one days' notice specifying the proposed resolution.
• The first AGM of a JMB or MC is called by the developer, with not less than fourteen days' written notice, and a copy displayed at a conspicuous part of the development area. These first-AGM notices use prescribed forms (Form 5 for a JMB, Form 14 for an MC).
• An owner who wants a motion on the agenda must give written notice at the registered office at least seven days before the meeting. The committee must then include it and display it on the notice board.
• The list of people entitled to vote goes up on the notice board at least forty-eight hours before the meeting.

Quorum. One half of the proprietors entitled to vote, in person or by proxy. If a quorum is not present within half an hour of the appointed time, those present and entitled to vote form the quorum. For a JMB, the developer counts as one person for the quorum, however many unsold parcels it holds.

AGM notice: fill-in template

The first AGM of a JMB or MC uses a prescribed form (Form 5 or Form 14). The sources we read prescribe no form for later AGMs, so this template is a structure built from what paragraph 12 of the Second Schedule requires, not an official form. It suits a subsequent AGM: the minutes of the previous AGM exist only from the second one on.

[NAME OF JMB / MANAGEMENT CORPORATION] — [DEVELOPMENT NAME]
NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

To: every proprietor of [development name]
Date of notice: [dd/mm/yyyy]   (at least 14 days before the meeting;
                                at least 21 days if any item is a special resolution)

Place: [venue]
Date: [dd/mm/yyyy]
Time: [__:__]

AGENDA AND PROPOSED RESOLUTIONS
1. Minutes of the last annual general meeting held on [date]
2. Audited accounts for [financial year], with the auditor's report
3. Election of the [joint] management committee
4. Charges: [confirm / vary] the Charges at [RM ___ per ___ ]
5. Sinking fund: contribution of [___ % of the Charges, not less
   than 10%]
6. Rate of interest on late payment: [___ % per annum, not above 10%]
7. [Special resolution: text written out in full]
8. [Each other proposed resolution, written out in full]
9. [Motions requested by proprietors: [list]]
10. Other matters to be considered: [list]

YOUR VOTE
You are entitled to vote in person or by proxy. Proxy forms must be
deposited at [registered address] not less than 48 hours before the
meeting. A person may be proxy for only one proprietor.
An owner whose Charges, sinking fund contribution or other money due
and payable in respect of their parcel are in arrears on the seventh
day before the meeting is not entitled to vote (Second Schedule,
para 21(2)).

ENCLOSED
- Minutes of the last annual general meeting
- Audited accounts with the auditor's report

Notice posted on the notice board on [date]. List of persons entitled
to vote will be posted at least 48 hours before the meeting.

[Name], [Chairman / Secretary], [JMB / MC]

How to serve it. Section 144 allows service personally, by registered post to the last-known address of business, parcel or residence, or by attaching the notice at a prominent part of that address. Any one of the three is enough under the section.

Five things the paragraph makes mandatory:

1. Each proposed resolution, in the notice. Under paragraph 12(4) no motion may be put at the meeting unless notice of it was given, or it amends a motion that was.
2. A statement of the owner's voting rights, including that they can vote in person or by proxy.
3. The minutes of the last AGM and the audited accounts with the auditor's report, attached for an AGM.
4. Place, date and time.
5. Any other matters to be considered at the AGM, specified in the notice (paragraph 12(3)(c)).

Maintenance fee and sinking fund

The Act calls the maintenance money the Charges and the long-term fund the sinking fund. They sit in two separate bank accounts.

• The Charges (maintenance fee). Determined by the body, in proportion to the share units of each parcel, and confirmed or varied at a general meeting; the first AGM agenda includes it. An MC may set different rates for parcels used for significantly different purposes. The Charges go into the maintenance account for day-to-day maintenance and management of the common property.
• The sinking fund contribution. Ten per cent of the Charges, as a floor. Once the developer's period ends, the general meeting can set a higher percentage. It cannot set a lower one. Only in the developer's management period is the figure fixed at exactly ten per cent; for an MC that period runs until one month after its first AGM (section 52(3)), so a higher rate set at that AGM takes effect after that month (section 61(3), "subject to section 52").
• What the sinking fund is for. Capital expenditure on common property: repainting, acquiring movable property, renewing or replacing fixtures and fittings, upgrading and refurbishment, and other capital expenditure the body decides on.
• After the meeting. Within 28 days of a general meeting that confirms or varies the Charges, the body issues a notice to all owners with the Charges, the sinking fund contribution and the late-payment interest rate (Form 5A for a JMB, Form 15 for an MC), and displays a copy on the notice board.
• Late payment. Interest on late payment is decided by the meeting and cannot exceed ten per cent per annum. For an MC, recovery under section 78 starts with a written demand giving not less than two weeks, then a claim in court or before the Tribunal. As an alternative to section 78, the Act allows recovery under section 79 (attachment of movable property).

One trap: the time to pay differs. For a JMB, owners pay within fourteen days of receiving the notice. For an MC, the Act treats the period from vacant possession until one month after the MC's first AGM as the preliminary management period. In that period the developer sets the Charges and owners pay within fourteen days of receiving the developer's notice (section 52). After it, the Charges are due on the passing of the resolution and in accordance with its terms (section 60(4)). Check which body, and which stage, you are dealing with.

How Unitify helps

Unitify does not replace the statutory steps above, and it does not file anything with the Commissioner. It helps with the work around them:

• Notices and reminders. Publish the AGM announcement, the agenda and the date reminders in the resident app and by email. This supports the written notice to every proprietor; it does not replace it.
• Surveys before the meeting. Use resident voting to ask owners what they want on the agenda or to take a pulse on a proposal. A survey or a vote in the app does not make an AGM valid.
• Charges and sinking fund as separate lines. In the billing module, the maintenance fee and the sinking fund contribution can be separate charge lines, so the maintenance fee and the sinking fund stay distinct on every statement.
• Payments you already take. Payments received outside Unitify can be imported from Excel and matched to each account. Unitify is not connected to a Malaysian payment network.

Book a demo to see how it works for a strata building.