In Singapore's context and in a few short words, Property Management is the work of managing a commercial building or residential estate, keeping it running smoothly, performing maintenance/repairs in a cost effective way.
High rise office buildings, flatted warehouses and residential condominiums (called Strata Titled developments) need equipment to operate eg lifts, pumps etc for the users' convenience. These equipment need maintenance and repair. The building plaster can drop off or the paint work fade due to weathering. Ants could infest the building and a pest control contractor is called in to exterminate them. All these need someone to plan, maintain and pay to keep the building or estate in good condition. Property Management is a multi-disciplinary area and the Property Manager is almost like Jack-of-all-trade but a Master of none.
BMSMA stands for Building Management and Strata Management Act (2004).
This is a set of new laws that the Singapore Government produced after amending and updating the old laws.
With this new set of laws, property management matters are made clearer, benefiting the key stakeholders (eg owners of apartments, condominiums, cluster housing and strata commercial property).
The minimum performance requirements are listed down for developers, management council and managing agents.
At the same time, this new set of laws also addressed the new situation due to the appearance of mixed developments in the Singapore property market (eg residential + retail or residential + office).
MCST stands for Management Corporation Strata Title. This is the term used to describe the organisation or in another term, Management Corporation, that owns & maintains the common space in a private condominium or commercial complex. It is similar to the Company name for private enterprises.
Each private condominium or commercial complex Management Corporation is identified by the MCST Plan number. To illustrate, MCST Plan No. 301 would describe the Management Corporation for Grange Heights.
A MCST is a legal entity and can sue and be sued by itself. It can enter into contracts, collect payments and pay out for work done. The key people representing the MCST are the Managing Council & the appointed Managing Agent.
A Management Council consists of owners of a complex, estate or condominium who have been nominated and elected into office during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the development.
These people are called Council members and the law allows for a maximum of 14 persons to be elected into the Management Council.
The Council members are volunteers and they normally have their day jobs/business and can only meet on the matters of the development during the evenings.
Most of these Council members are in the Council because they are passionate about the development and some are there to learn something about managing the development.
A Managing Agent is a contractor appointed by the Management Council or owners (during an AGM) of a complex, estate or condominium development to manage it.
Most of the time, the contract is for a certain period, typically 1 year, and subject to renewal by the Management Council or owners (during an AGM).
This contractor is the overall supervisor of the other sub-contractors in the maintenance of the complex, estate or condominium.
For larger estates, an onsite Condominium Manager (aka Condo Manager) is employed full time to manage the upkeep of the estate & provide services to the residents. The Condo Manager works off an office in the estate (called Management Office) and he/she is an employee of the Managing Agent, the company which is appointed by the Management Council to manage the estate. The Management Office is the centre of all maintenance activities in the estate and the Condo Manager is the central figure in the day to day operations of the estate.
A real estate developer is normally an investor who buys land, engages an architect to create a plan for a new complex, estate or condominium and main contractor to build the development according to the architect's plan. The developer often sells the units piecemeal to the public once they have obtained the approval to do so, even before the construction work starts.
As it is an investment by the developer, pricing the sale of the units is very important to ensure there is demand for the units and the developer can make good profit margins.
While the property is being developed, the owners pay progressive payments at different stages as the building progresses.
Upon the issue of Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP) by the authorities, the owners can move in to stay or rent out. At a later stage, the Certificate of Statutory Completion (CSC) is issued and that marks the end of the whole building of the development.