PETALING JAYA (April 8): One in five of the high-rise properties around Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) is believed to be unsafe due to certain defects caused by shoddy workmanship, apathy and ignorance in property management, as well as lawlessness in the design of buildings, said Architect Centre Sdn Bhd accredited architect and trainer Anthony Lee Tee.

"I estimate that the buildings just around the KLCC, one in five of those very expensive apartments are unsafe, in one way or another, whether it is unsafe in fire, electrical and glass safety," he said at TheEdgeProperty.com Symposium on Property Management 2017 today.

The estimate could also be applied to all properties in Malaysia, based on property inspections by Architect Centre from 2008 to 2016, he added.

The top three unsafe property categories in the country are: mixed strata buildings; renovated buildings such as factories, homes and offices; and public buildings such as hospitals, schools and hostels, Lee noted, adding that the root cause of the problem lies in the design of the buildings, building construction and property management.

Lee explained that deficiencies in architecture and engineering design, shoddy workmanship in construction as well as ignorance and apathy of property management could lead to safety issues, he added.

"Let's rethink how we should do things. Safety is never an option or a slogan. There are no closing days for buildings, especially those public buildings like hospitals, hotels and malls, so we have to get it right the first time," he said in his talk entitled "So, your building is safe. Really?".

Themed “Is your investment a time bomb?”, the symposium is presented by TheEdgeProperty.com, with partners Nippon Paint Malaysia and Panasonic Malaysia. It is supported by The Edge Malaysia while the supporting sponsor is Gamuda Land.

The full report on TheEdgeProperty.com Symposium on Property Management 2017 will be published in the April 14 issue of TheEdgeProperty.com pullout which is available free for download at www.theedgeproperty.com.