MCST can inspect resident's home, rules High Court

Owners had raised privacy concerns over checks for damage after renovation works

- Joyce Lim

The High Court recently upheld a decision by the Strata Titles Board to allow the Management Corporation Strata Title (MCST) of a mixed-use development to enter a resident's home to assess if renovation works had damaged common property.

The board had decided that the MCST did not need definitive proof to enter the home and said there was a low bar for such entry requests.

The case involves a unit at Highland Centre in Yio Chu Kang Road that was undergoing renovation in August 2022.

Highland Centre's MCST had applied to the Strata Titles Board to inspect the property after it was concerned the works might have damaged common property in the building. The home owners challenged the board's decision in court.

The drama began in August 2022 when a pipe in the unit burst and the resident called in the managing agent to inspect the issue. When the managing agent's employee inspected the unit, he noticed extensive wall hacking had been done.