Condo AGMs and your rights as an owner

A management corporation strata title (MCST) is made up of every owner in a strata development. Each owner, called a subsidiary proprietor (SP), is automatically a member.

The MCST looks after the common property, such as lift lobbies, lifts, car parks and driveways, on behalf of all owners. An elected council runs day-to-day matters, but the big decisions belong to the owners in a general meeting. Each unit's share value decides how much you contribute and how much your vote weighs when a vote is counted by share value.

The law behind all this was long known as the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act (BMSMA). It was renamed the Building (Strata Management) Act on 1 October 2025. BCA's strata management guides, which this page draws on, still use the older name.

Your MCST must hold an annual general meeting (AGM) in every calendar year, and no more than 15 months may pass between two AGMs. For a new development, the developer must hold the first AGM within 13 months of the MCST being constituted.

Other general meetings are extraordinary general meetings (EOGMs), called by a majority vote of the council or requisitioned by owners.

Since 1 July 2023, an MCST may hold its general meetings in person, virtually or in a hybrid format.

The agenda notice for an AGM must state the place, day and time, and include a motion on each of these:

• adopting the accounts (the audit report)
• confirming the minutes of the last AGM
• deciding how many council members to elect, and electing them
• setting the amount to be raised for the management fund and the sinking fund
• approving the annual budget for the new financial year
• deciding whether any matter may be decided only by owners in a general meeting
• appointing an auditor
• reporting on, and reviewing, the MCST's insurance cover
• deciding whether to end or continue the managing agent's appointment for the next financial year

Any motion an owner has served on the council secretary in writing before the notice goes out must also be on the agenda. A copy of the minutes of the last general meeting must be attached if you have not already been given one.

How much notice you get depends on the motions on the agenda:

• 14 days if every motion is an ordinary resolution. The meeting can only be held on the 15th day or later after the notice is served.
• 21 days if any motion needs a special, unanimous, 90%, comprehensive or consensus resolution. The meeting can only be held on the 22nd day or later.

A notice sent by email must also be sent in hard copy to your address. A notice sent by registered post is treated as served on the 3rd working day after posting, and by ordinary post on the 4th working day, so the clock starts then, not on the day it was posted.

Any owner may ask, in writing to the council secretary, for a motion to be put on the agenda. If the notice for the next meeting has already gone out, your motion goes to the meeting after that, so send it early.

Owners are entitled to take part and vote at general meetings. Where two or more people turn up for the same unit, the vote of the person named first on the strata roll is the one accepted. A company that owns a unit can appoint an individual, by a letter of authorisation, to attend and vote for it.

At least 48 hours before the meeting, the council secretary must put up a list of the people entitled to vote, and the units they represent, on the notice board.

A meeting can only proceed with a quorum: owners holding at least 30% of the total share value present in person or by proxy. If that is not met 30 minutes after the start time, two or more owners present in person can form a quorum. That half-hour rule does not apply to an EOGM that owners requisitioned.

Most votes are counted one vote per unit. A poll, where votes are weighted by share value, is taken where the Act requires one, or on an ordinary resolution when someone entitled to vote demands it in person at the meeting.

If you owe contributions or other amounts to the MCST 3 days before a general meeting, you cannot vote at that meeting, except on motions that need a unanimous resolution or a resolution by consensus.

The same 3-day rule applies to council elections: a nominee's unit must not be in arrears 3 days before the election.

If you cannot attend, you can appoint a proxy. Your proxy does not need to be an owner, and can speak and vote for you.

• The proxy form must follow the format set out in the Act, be prepared for each meeting, and be signed by both you and your proxy.
• It must be lodged at the MCST's registered address, or another address named in the notice, at least 48 hours before the meeting starts.
• If you tick for, against or abstain on a motion, your proxy must vote that way. If you leave a motion blank, your proxy may vote or abstain at their discretion.
• If you turn up and vote yourself, your proxy cannot vote for you. The prescribed form states that the appointment is void if you are present.

One person can hold proxies for no more than 2% of the total number of units, or 2 units, whichever is higher, rounded down. In a 400-unit development that is 8; in an 80-unit development it is 2.

Different decisions need different levels of support. BCA's guides give these examples:

• Ordinary resolution: more valid votes for than against (or, on a poll, more share value for than against). Example: appointing a managing agent.
• Special resolution: at least 75% of the share value of valid votes cast at the meeting. Examples: making by-laws; upgrading essential facilities; installing solar panels on common property.
• 90% resolution: at least 90% of the share value of valid votes cast. Example: letting an owner carry out works that increase the floor area, such as roofing a private enclosed space.
• Unanimous resolution: every valid vote cast at the meeting is in favour. Example: letting another estate's water pipes pass through your estate.
• Comprehensive resolution: owners holding at least 90% of the estate's total share value in favour, with 12 weeks allowed for votes. Example: changing from a single-tier to a two-tier MCST.
• Resolution by consensus: every owner agrees in writing within 12 weeks after the meeting. Example: deciding not to insure the buildings against fire.

An abstention is not counted.

The AGM decides how many council members to elect (up to 14) and then elects them, one vote per unit. To stand, you must be at least 21 and an owner, a person nominated by a company that owns a unit, or an immediate family member nominated by an owner.

If there are no more nominees than seats, everyone nominated is elected without a vote. In a mixed-use development, each user group (for example residential and retail) gets a reserved seat, filled first.

All council members retire at the end of the next AGM and may stand again. No one may serve as treasurer for more than two consecutive terms, except in MCSTs of 10 or fewer units. Owners can remove a council member by majority vote at a general meeting.

The MCST must put the minutes of a general meeting on the notice board within 45 days of the meeting, for at least 14 days. They must record who attended, who appointed proxies, the result of the vote on every motion and the text of every resolution.

For other records, including the books of account, statements of accounts and the strata roll, make a written application to the MCST. You pay the prescribed fee for inspecting or copying; if you only want copies and do not need to inspect, no inspection fee is payable. You and the MCST agree a time and place. If you cannot agree within 7 days of the MCST receiving your request, the MCST must post you a notice fixing a time between 9am and 6pm, within 21 days of your request.

The MCST must keep its records and books of account for at least 5 years after the end of the financial year concerned.

By-laws in force must be available for viewing free of charge at the MCST's office. You can apply in writing for a copy on payment of a fee.

Start with the management office: write in, give the MCST time to look into it, and ask to attend a council meeting as an observer. You can also put a motion to the next general meeting.

Requisition an EOGM. Owners holding at least 20% of the total share value, or at least 25% of the owners, can serve a signed requisition on the council secretary. The MCST must hold the meeting within 6 weeks. If it takes no steps within 14 days, the requisitionists may convene it themselves, within 3 months of serving it.

Mediation. The Community Mediation Centre, run by the Ministry of Law, offers free mediation for community disputes between residents, though it does not take cases needing technical expertise such as water seepage. The Singapore Mediation Centre also mediates; fees may apply. BCA itself cannot intervene in or advise on private disputes.

The Strata Titles Boards (STB). The STB is a tribunal that mediates and hears disputes between owners and MCSTs, or between owners. It can deal with, among other things:

• an MCST not performing its duties under the Act or by-laws
• applications to convene meetings or invalidate resolutions
• by-laws that should be revoked or invalidated
• a refusal to supply information or records

A case starts with an application, and all parties must attend the mediation sessions the Board fixes. The Board's orders are binding and can be enforced in the State Courts. Its site has a pre-filing assessment tool.

Rules may change. Since the 2025 renaming, BCA has consulted on amending the Act, including a per-household proxy cap and restricting council seats to owners. These were proposals at the time of writing, not law; check BCA's strata pages for the current position.