MCST and Managing Agents: What They Do and How to Deal With Them (2026)

Every owner of a condo, or a strata-titled cluster house, is automatically a member of the management corporation (MCST). The owners elect a council to run the estate, and the council usually hires a managing agent to do the daily work. Your developer looks after the estate only until the first annual general meeting (AGM). After that, the people to deal with are the council and the agent. You have real powers over both: you can vote, table motions, ask for a special meeting and take some disputes to a tribunal.

At a glance

• Who runs what: owners form the MCST; the council makes decisions; the managing agent carries them out under a written agreement.
• First AGM: the developer must hold it within 13 months of the MCST being formed, or within 8 weeks if owners holding at least 10% of the strata lots ask for it.
• Your fees: they go into a management fund (running costs) and a sinking fund (big future works), split by share value.
• Your powers: any owner can table a motion. Owners with 20% of share value, or 25% of owners, can force a special meeting.
• If it goes wrong: talk to the council, then use the general meeting, mediation or the Strata Titles Boards. BCA cannot resolve disputes for you.

How the MCST is formed

The MCST comes into being when the strata title plan is lodged and the strata title application is made, according to BCA’s guide to strata living. Its members are the “subsidiary proprietors”: the owners to whom the developer has transferred title. Before that, the developer manages and maintains the estate.

The law is the Building (Strata Management) Act 2004. Until 1 October 2025 it was called the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act (BMSMA), the name older guides use.

During the build and early occupation, you pay maintenance fees to the developer. URA’s home buyers’ guide says the first payment is a lump sum of six months’ charges, followed by quarterly payments in advance. Once the MCST is formed, you pay it instead. Defects are a separate matter. For strata developments, the developer’s 12-month defects liability period covers common property as well as your unit. So in the first year, report faults in the lifts, pool or corridors to the developer. See our guide to developer defects.

The first AGM: the handover

BCA’s guide to the first AGM sets two routes. The developer must hold it within 13 months after the MCST is constituted. For example, if the MCST forms on 16 April, the latest date is 16 May the following year. Or, if owners holding at least 10% of the strata lots ask in writing, the developer must hold it within 8 weeks. If the developer fails, any owner can ask the Commissioner of Buildings to appoint someone to convene it.

BCA’s handover guide lists what the developer must do:

• Prepare the first annual budget and send it with the AGM notice.
• Put these items on the agenda: electing the council, the fees for the management and sinking funds, insurance, whether to hire a managing agent, and the audited accounts.
• Within one week after the AGM, hand over control of the estate and the MCST’s funds, plus keys.
• Within two weeks, hand over plans, contracts, warranties, manuals and the strata roll.

Warranties on common property are often one year or less. A sharp council identifies defects early and chases the developer before they expire. At your first AGM, ask whether the council has done this.

Fees, funds and share value

Your fees are split by share value, the proportion assigned to each unit. A simple example: if the total share value is 10,000 and your unit has 12, you carry 0.12% of the estate’s costs. On an annual budget of S$2.4m, that is S$2,880 a year, or S$240 a month (invented numbers).

The management fund pays running costs such as cleaning, security, utilities, insurance and repairs. The sinking fund pays for large, infrequent works such as repainting, replacing lifts or pumps. The general meeting sets the contribution rates. It can also vote a special levy if funds fall short. Under BCA’s guide, unpaid contributions can be recovered as a debt, or by a forced sale of the lot.

For buyers of resale units, the sinking fund is a key number. Ask for the latest audited accounts, the budget, the sinking fund balance and any planned major works. A low balance with a lift upgrade due often means a special levy. Our guide to older developments covers this.

Your rights as an owner

• Attend the AGM. The MCST must hold one every calendar year, no more than 15 months apart. The notice goes out at least 14 days before the meeting, or 21 days if any motion needs a special, 90% or other higher-threshold resolution. To vote, you must have paid any arrears at least 3 days before the meeting.
• Table a motion. Write to the council’s secretary. If you ask before the notice is sent, the motion goes on that meeting’s agenda. If you ask after, it goes on the next. Ask early.
• Call a special meeting. A requisition signed by owners with at least 20% of total share value, or at least 25% of all owners, forces an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) within 6 weeks. In a 400-unit estate, 25% of owners is 100 owners. If the council does not act within 14 days, the requisitionists can convene it themselves.
• Check the by-laws. The Act sets prescribed by-laws on noise, pets and similar matters, and the MCST can add its own.

All of this is in BCA’s guide to general meetings.

What a managing agent does, and how to judge one

The MCST may delegate duties to a managing agent in writing. BCA’s guide on managing agents sets out the rules:

• The agent is appointed by ordinary resolution, or by the council if the owners authorised it at the last general meeting. The term is up to three years, and the owners must be asked to continue or end the appointment at every AGM.
• The agent must declare any relationship with an owner before appointment, and must not canvass proxy votes for council elections.
• The agent cannot decide matters that only the MCST can decide, such as those needing a special resolution.
• BCA recognises accreditation schemes run by the Association of Property and Facility Managers and the Association of Strata Managers. BCA lists the criteria for choosing an agent: the tender price against the budget, track record on similar estates, accreditation, head-office support, financial strength and professional indemnity insurance.

A good agent also shows in daily work. Is the estate clean? Are faults fixed before residents complain? Does the agent reply promptly and keep the notice board current? Is the service agreement specific, with response times and a remedy if targets are missed? As a buyer, walk the common areas, read the notices and talk to residents. As an owner, ask the council to explain how it chose contractors and what quotes it compared. If you suspect a conflict of interest, raise it at the AGM.

When there is a dispute

BCA’s dispute guide sets out the order:

1. Talk to the neighbour or the management office, then write to the council. You may attend a council meeting as an observer.
2. Use the general meeting. Table a motion or requisition an EGM.
3. Mediation. The Community Mediation Centre handles neighbour issues such as noise and corridor clutter. It does not take cases that need technical expertise, such as water seepage.
4. Strata Titles Boards. The tribunal hears disputes such as inter-floor water leaks, an MCST failing in its duties, invalid resolutions, car parks and alterations to common property. Its decisions are final, with appeal to the High Court only on a point of law.

Neither BCA nor the Commissioner of Buildings can settle disputes. If your estate is old, see our en bloc guide. For strata landed estates, see cluster housing.

Bottom line

You cannot pick your neighbours, but you can judge how an estate is run before you buy. Read the accounts and minutes, look at the sinking fund, and see the common areas on an ordinary weekday. After you move in, use your vote: attend the AGM, read the budget and ask questions. A well-run MCST protects both your daily life and your resale price. This is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

• Building (Strata Management) Act 2004 — Singapore Statutes Online, checked Oct 2026
• Strata Management Guides, SMG1 to SMG15 — BCA, page updated 26 Jan 2026
• SMG1: Concept of strata living — BCA, Mar 2019
• SMG3: Preparation for a general meeting — BCA
• SMG6: Managing agent — BCA
• SMG7: Developer handing over after first AGM — BCA, Apr 2022
• SMG9: Dispute resolution — BCA
• Buying property: home buyers’ guide (maintenance fees, defects liability) — URA (checked Oct 2026)