Summary and Facts
Leng Wie Mun v Saeed bin Ali Magad [2026] 10 MLJ 370 concerned water leaking from the defendant's condominium unit into the plaintiff's unit directly below. The plaintiff sued under the Strata Management Act 2013 and the Strata Management (Maintenance and Management) Regulations 2015 for damages to reinstate her unit.
Legal Issues
Whether the plaintiff had established that the leakage into her unit was an 'inter-floor leakage' originating from the defendant's unit under the Regulations.
Whether the plaintiff was entitled to general and aggravated damages to reinstate her unit.
High Court’s Findings
On a balance of probabilities the damage to the plaintiff's unit was caused by water leaking from the defendant's unit above - the conclusion rested on the convergence of several independent strands of evidence.
The management corporation's Form 28, issued after a systematic floor-by-floor inspection and never challenged through the proper statutory channels, carried significant evidential weight.
Direct observation of dripping water at the box-up area, stain marks on the soffit of the slab and the expert opinion independently corroborated the source of the leakage.
Under reg 61 of the Regulations, the owner of the unit from which inter-floor leakage originates must rectify it within seven days of notice from the management corporation.
The plaintiff was awarded RM23,000 in general damages to reinstate her unit, but her claim for aggravated damages was refused.
Practical Implications
The presumption and notice regime under the Strata Management Regulations gives owners of lower units a clear route to recovery for inter-floor leakage.
A Form 28 issued by the management corporation is powerful evidence; an owner who disputes it should challenge it through the proper statutory channels, not for the first time at trial.
Aggravated damages remain exceptional and will not be awarded absent evidence of aggravating conduct.