SPAN: Owners to be taken to task

OWNERS of high-rise properties who fail to apply for individual metering will be taken to task by Syarikat Pengeluaran Air Negara (SPAN).

As the regulatory body, SPAN has sent out notices to property owners, Joint Management Body (JMB) and Management Corporation asking them to apply for the migration of bulk to individual water meters.

Under the Water Services Industry (Water Reticulation and Plumbing) Rules 2014, those who fail to comply with the requirement are liable to a fine of maximum RM10,000 upon conviction.

A spokesman for SPAN said it had published notices in local newspapers to inform the public that it was mandatory for all residential high-rise buildings to apply for individual metering.

The spokesman said the first notice was sent between February and April 2014 and the final warning was sent out in January this year.

Unlike in the past, she said, there was no need for the JMBs and MCs to obtain the consent of all the property owners to apply for the migration process.

“We do not need the consent from owners anymore since it has become a law that all the properties must be individually metered,” she explained.

She said the enforcement of the Water Services Industry (Water Reticulation and Plumbing) Rules 2014 made it mandatory for the parcel owners of any existing high-rise residential building and gated community where water is supplied through shared storage cistern.

“It covers any existing high-rise residential building owned by the state government and new development of high-rise residential building or gated community,” she added.

Based on the rate of response so far, the spokesman said SPAN expected 50% of 2,172 bulk meters to be migrated to individual meters by the second half of 2016.