A turnkey smart building platform for developers in Kenya
Unitify connects access control, video intercoms, dispatching and a resident app into one platform for developers building sectional-property apartments and estates in Nairobi, and for the property manager who runs the building afterward.
Built around Kenya's Sectional Properties Act
One platform for the Corporation, its board and the manager it engages — contributions by unit factor and the Corporation's own statutory power to use technology in the execution of its duties come from the Act itself, and the Capital Replacement Reserve Fund from the by-laws every Corporation starts with.
Payment methods already in use
No Kenyan payment rail is a connected Unitify integration today — Stripe lists Kenya in its extended network, through Paystack. Residents already pay through M-PESA and the bank-to-bank PesaLink rail, and every provider legally allowed to move retail money in Kenya is authorised by the Central Bank of Kenya under the National Payment System Act and listed in its public directory — 41 of them as at 6 November 2025.
M-PESA (Paybill / Till)
The building holds a Paybill or Till and the resident either pays into it or confirms an M-Pesa Express prompt on the handset — a payment method residents already use, not a connected Unitify integration.
M-PESA business API (Daraja)
Safaricom's business APIs push real-time notifications of incoming Lipa na M-Pesa payments and let the ledger pull back a list of recent transactions, so reconciliation does not depend on a screenshot.
PesaLink
Bank customers can send account to account through PesaLink from their own banking app, internet banking or bank USSD — not a connected Unitify integration.
Bank transfer
A direct transfer to the Corporation's own bank account, deposited as the board directs — not a connected Unitify integration.
Stripe
Stripe lists Kenya in its extended network, through Paystack — not a connected Unitify integration.
What Kenyan law already requires, in six statutory facts
Every claim below links to the primary-source citation it is verified against on kenyalaw.org, not a summary. Kenya has no state layer here — every item is national law.
The Corporation
In Kenya, registering a sectional plan creates a body corporate by operation of law: "The Owners, Sectional Plan No. ⟨n⟩", made up of every unit owner, with perpetual succession and a common seal, and expressly outside the Companies Act. It must keep the common property in repair, insure the buildings against fire, maintain a fund for administrative expenses and levy contributions on owners in proportion to their unit factors.
Sectional Properties Act (Cap. 286), ss. 17, 20, kenyalaw.org ↗Unit factors, not square metres
Unit factors are whole numbers endorsed on the registered sectional plan, and they always total 10,000 for the parcel that plan covers. They are the share of the common property, the share of every contribution, and the weight of every vote taken by poll — so the same number drives the ledger and the ballot.
Sectional Properties Act (Cap. 286) s. 24; Regulations, LN 236 of 2021, reg. 7, kenyalaw.org ↗Arrears: caution, then charge
A contribution falls due when the resolution levying it is passed, and the old and new owner are jointly and severally liable. Where the by-laws allow it the Corporation charges interest, capped by default at the Central Bank of Kenya base lending rate, and it can register a caution against the defaulter's title — which gives it a charge over the unit ranking from the date of registration, to be withdrawn within thirty days of payment. On request it must certify what was levied, how it is payable, how much has been paid and the interest owing, and that certificate is conclusive proof.
Sectional Properties Act (Cap. 286), ss. 31-32, kenyalaw.org ↗Meetings and voting, virtual included
Kenya's statutory default by-laws define a general meeting as one convened physically, virtually, or as a hybrid of the two, and say that where a meeting is held virtually, owners or their proxies may vote virtually. The Act itself adds that the Corporation may use technology in the execution of its duties. Twenty-one days' written notice; an AGM within fifteen months of the last one; a twenty-five per cent quorum; a show of hands unless someone demands a poll, and on a poll the weight is the unit factor.
Sectional Properties Regulations, LN 236 of 2021, Second Schedule; Act s. 20(7), kenyalaw.org ↗The annual cycle
The by-laws prescribe the AGM's order of business item by item: the audited accounts are presented, the auditor for the next year is appointed, next year's budget is approved and the borrowing limit is set, and the board is elected — with a third of it retiring each year by lot. On top of that the Corporation has twenty days to give any owner, purchaser or chargee the contributions statement, budget, financial statement, by-laws, minutes or management agreement on written request, against the prescribed charge.
Sectional Properties Act (Cap. 286) s. 36; Regulations, LN 236 of 2021, Second Schedule by-laws 19, 24, kenyalaw.org ↗Data protection: register, whatever the size
Kenya's Data Protection Act says no one may act as a data controller or processor unless registered with the Data Commissioner. The small-entity exemption is switched off for anyone processing personal data for a purpose in the regulations' Third Schedule — and that schedule names "property management including the selling of land" and "crime prevention … including operating security CCTV system". So a Kenyan property manager, and a building running cameras, registers whatever its size.
Data Protection Act (Cap. 411C) s. 18; Regulations, LN 265 of 2021, reg. 13, Third Schedule, kenyalaw.org ↗The hardware layer, wired into your platform
Intercom, access, video, meters and EV charging connect through mini apps, alongside your requests and billing.
Digital intercom
Calls go straight to the resident’s phone. Entry by app, BLE tag or face.
Access control
Contactless entry by phone or tag. Vehicle access by plate recognition.
Video surveillance
Live cameras, digital archives and plate recognition at the gate.
Meter telemetry
Electricity, water, gas and heat readings arrive automatically, no manual rounds.
EV charging
Stations on the map, sessions booked, billed and tracked in the app.
Building management
Ventilation, heating, lifts and other systems monitored from one dashboard, with instant alerts.
Devices, orchestrator, resident app
Devices
Intercoms, access control, cameras, meters, EV chargers and building systems, from any vendor.
Orchestrator
Unitify connects every device to one dashboard. New hardware plugs in as a mini app, nothing gets replaced.
Resident app
One app for doors, meters, intercom calls and charging. No fifth login to remember.
Questions developers ask about Kenya
How should a developer approach smart-building technology in Kenya?
Treat it as one platform decision, not a shopping list of hardware: access control, video intercoms, dispatching and a resident app should hand over to the Corporation's property manager already connected, alongside the handover pack Kenyan law puts on every developer — warranties, drawings, permits and agreements, due to the Corporation within a hundred and eighty days of the sectional plan's registration.
Do we have to appoint a managing agent once the Corporation takes over?
No. Engaging a property manager is the Corporation's own choice under the Act, not a legal requirement. One thing worth planning for: a management agreement signed while the board is still developer-controlled cannot be cancelled without cause for two years from the day it was entered into — unless the agreement itself allows an earlier exit — and then only on sixty days' written notice.
Can owners vote online once the board is elected?
Kenya's statutory default by-laws already allow it: a general meeting may be convened physically, virtually, or as a hybrid of the two, and where it is held virtually, owners or their proxies may vote virtually — permission only, with no technical specification attached.
How does a video intercom with phone unlocking work?
The call goes to the resident's phone through the app instead of a panel inside the apartment. The resident sees the visitor on camera and unlocks the door remotely.
What does a smart building cost a developer in Kenya, roughly?
It depends on which systems are included — access control, intercoms, dispatching, meters — and scales with unit count. Unitify's cost calculator breaks this down per building rather than quoting a flat industry number.
From the blog
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Unitify connects every building system into one platform and one resident app, for new developments and existing buildings alike.