Condo Break-In in Malaysia: Is the JMB or Management Liable?.

Is a JMB or MC liable when a condominium unit is broken into?

A JMB or MC is not automatically liable when a unit is broken into. A Malaysian court has held that the Strata Management Act 2013 does not make a management body responsible for providing security. If a security system had already stopped working, read When a building’s security system starts failing.

On 14 November 2018 a unit at Tiara Damansara Condominium in Petaling Jaya was burgled during daylight hours. The owner, Asma Ahmad Shariff, claimed RM104,200 for jewellery and valuables and RM4,000 for repairs. In grounds dated 18 August 2025, Judge Dr Choong Yeow Choy of the Shah Alam High Court held that section 59(1)(a) and (i) of the Act “do not impose a statutory duty on the management corporation to establish or maintain a system of safety and security”.

The level of security, the judge said, depended on what residents had agreed to and how much they were willing to pay. The management had fulfilled its duties by appointing Golden Eagle Security Services Sdn Bhd to guard the condominium. “The onus rested upon the plaintiff to establish a breach of duty by reference to the Rules and Regulations in force”, the judge said.

When can the management still be sued over a break-in?

A management body can still be sued when the claim is that it failed to maintain the common property and that failure caused the loss. On 6 November 2024 the Court of Appeal reinstated USJ Sri Bayu Management Corporation, in Subang Jaya, as a defendant in a negligence suit brought after a burglary, holding that the claim could not be struck out and must be tried.

Burglars took RM150,000 in cash and valuables on 30 July 2019. Justice See Mee Chun said it was not disputed that the management owed a duty of care to properly maintain and manage the common property under the Act: “The issue to be tried is whether the respondent failed in its duty to properly maintain and manage the common property”.

Read together, neither ruling makes the management an insurer of residents’ property, and neither lets it ignore the state of the common property. That is our reading as a security contractor, not legal advice.

What does the Strata Management Act make the committee responsible for?

The Strata Management Act makes the committee responsible for keeping common property in repair, and leaves the level of security to the owners. Section 21(1)(a) for a JMB and section 59(1)(a) for an MC require the common property to be kept “in a state of good and serviceable repair”. Security itself is the owners’ choice, and the Act gives them two tools for it.

Sections 32(3)(a) and 70(2)(a) let a JMB or MC make additional by-laws on safety and security measures by special resolution, and sections 23(3)(b) and 50(3)(b) let the maintenance account pay for security services. This is the collective agreement the High Court pointed to. In the Tiara case the court read the building’s security and disclaimer clauses (Clause 3 and Clause 14) with the guarding agreement, and put the onus of proving a breach on the owner.

What if a car is broken into in the condominium car park?

A car broken into in a condominium car park raises the same question: was the management negligent? Kit Au-Yong of Laurelcap told Estate123 in 2018 that the JMB is responsible for property management of the common area, “and car park access is part of it”, but that, as with a unit, “the JMB may not be held responsible unless there is proof of their negligence in conduct”.

Where does the security system come into it?

In our reading, the security system comes into it through the repair duty. The High Court held that section 59(1)(a) and (i) impose no duty to maintain a system of safety and security, but we read installed cameras and barriers as common property to keep in repair. The Court of Appeal’s question is whether the management failed to maintain the common property and whether that caused the loss.

For a barrier, a door lock, an access control reader or a CCTV camera, that becomes a question about faults: was one reported, and how long was it left? The building’s records answer it.

House break-in and theft cases in Malaysia fell 1.8 per cent in 2024, but 77.6 per cent of them happened at night, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, so the night-time records matter most.

What should the committee do after a break-in?

After a break-in, the committee should preserve the records first, release them only in writing, and check whether anything on the common property was faulty and unrepaired.

1. Preserve: export the clips before the recorder overwrites them (see CCTV footage retention).
2. Release in writing: handle police and resident requests as set out in CCTV footage requests.
3. Pull the other records: access events, patrol rounds and visitor entries for the same hours.
4. Check the fault log: if a camera, reader, lock or barrier near the scene was reported faulty, fix it now and record the date.
5. Read the rules: the by-laws, house rules and guarding agreement, and take legal advice before answering a claim.

A maintenance agreement should leave a dated record of every fault and repair. Occhio Tec, established 2012, designs, installs and maintains access control, CCTV, intercom and networking, and takes over and maintains systems another contractor installed. If a break-in has shown that something on your common property is not working, request a site survey.