Where a commercial buyer's defect rights come from, and what to inspect in a bare unit before anything is built over it.
A new shoplot or office unit bought from a developer is not covered by the residential rules most buyers know. ClickBina's HDA guide notes that the Housing Development Act applies only to residential units, so the statutory 24-month defect liability period and the Tribunal for Homebuyer Claims described on the residential guides do not apply; your defect rights come from the defect clause in your own sale and purchase agreement. Read that clause before handover, inspect the bare unit before any fit-out begins, and send the defect list in the way the agreement requires.
Homebuyers in Malaysia work from a prescribed agreement with a fixed defect liability period. Commercial buyers do not. ClickBina's HDA homebuyer rights guide lists the conditions for Act 118 protection, including that the property is a residential unit, and states that commercial property is governed by general contract law instead. The same point appears on the developer consent to transfer guide for commercial titles.
In practice that means the developer's own sale and purchase agreement sets the rules: whether there is a defect liability period, how long it runs, how defects must be notified and how quickly the developer must respond. Many commercial agreements do contain such a clause; the point is that you must read yours rather than assume the residential terms.
| Point | New home under the HDA | New shoplot or office unit |
|---|---|---|
| What sets the defect terms | The prescribed statutory agreement | The defect clause in your own SPA |
| Defect liability period | 24 months from vacant possession | Whatever the SPA says, if anything |
| Repair period after notice | Within 30 days of written notice | Whatever the SPA says |
| Where disputes go | Tribunal for Homebuyer Claims, or the courts | Negotiation, then your solicitor and the courts |
| Common areas in a stratified block | Developer, then the JMB or MC | Developer, then the JMB or MC |
The residential column comes from ClickBina's defect liability period guide; it is shown only for contrast. If your unit is in a stratified office tower or a mixed development, the common property is still managed by the developer and later the JMB or MC, so lobby, lift and facade defects go to the management office in writing.
If any answer is unclear, ask the solicitor who acted on the purchase. The answers decide how you plan the inspection and when your fit-out contractor can start.
The most expensive mistake on a new commercial unit is starting the fit-out first. Once partitions, ceilings and floor finishes go in, a slab crack, a leaking roof joint or a mis-set floor level is hidden, and the developer can reasonably ask whether the damage came from your contractor. ClickBina's commercial fit-out budget guide makes the same point for shoplots: building defects are the owner's or landlord's layer, settled before the fit-out is priced.
Inspect, list, notify, and let the developer repair; then hand a clean, recorded unit to the fit-out team. Their own end-of-job check is a separate stage, covered in the commercial fit-out handover checklist.
| Element | What to look for | Why it matters for your fit-out |
|---|---|---|
| Floor slab and screed | Cracks, hollow areas, uneven levels, ponding near the entrance | Floor finishes and shelving need a sound, level base |
| Walls and columns | Cracks at beam and column joints, damp patches, rough patching | Partitions and wall finishes will hide them |
| Ceiling slab and soffit | Stains, damp, cracks, honeycombed concrete | A false ceiling will hide leaks from the floor above |
| Shopfront, glazing and shutters | Glass chips, seals, door alignment, shutter operation and locks | Security and weather-tightness on day one of trading |
| Water inlet and drains | Capped points, meter, floor traps and the sewer connection | The fit-out plumbing ties into these points |
| Electrical supply and DB | Incoming supply, breaker labels, spare ways, earthing points | Your load plan depends on what is provided |
| Roof and upper floors (shoplot) | Roof leaks, parapet and gutter condition, back-lane drains | Leaks into a new fit-out are costly to trace later |
| Toilets and wet areas | Falls to traps, leaks below, fittings | Wet-area leaks spread under new flooring |
ClickBina's shop and office plumbing guide explains what to confirm about water points and the sewer connection, and the shoplot waterproofing guide covers the roof and wet-area leak patterns typical of shoplots.
A ground-floor shoplot sits under other units, so ceiling stains and slab leaks may come from above. A top unit owns the roof problem directly. Walk the five-foot way and the back lane as well: blocked drains and poor falls outside become flooding at your rear door in the first heavy storm. Record what is the developer's and what belongs to the neighbouring owners, so each notice goes to the right party.
If you plan an F&B or clinic use, look early at where the drains, grease-trap position and exhaust route could go. A defect that blocks those routes is easier to raise now than after approvals are filed; the commercial renovation permit guide covers the approvals.
In an office tower, the unit you receive is usually a shell with a raw floor, exposed soffit and capped services, while the lobby, lifts, risers and facade are common property. Focus your inspection on your unit's floor, walls, soffit, windows and service points, and put common-area observations (a leaking riser, a facade joint, a faulty fire door) in a separate written note to the management office.
Use the same discipline as a residential buyer. Number every defect, name the exact location, describe what you saw, and keep dated records. Send the list to the address or portal the SPA names, by a method that leaves proof of delivery, and keep the receipt. The defect checklist tool builds a numbered list on your phone that you can paste into the letter.
Do not sign any handover document stating the unit was accepted in good condition while defects remain. If you lease the unit out, give the tenant a dated condition record at the start, which is the record the reinstatement dispute guide shows protects both sides later.
A commercial unit is a larger and more technical space than most homes, and the cost of a missed defect is multiplied by the fit-out built over it. ClickBina offers defect inspection and rectification in KL and Selangor and handles commercial renovation and fit-out, so the team that lists the defects can also plan the rectification and the fit-out in the right order. See the defect inspection service in KL & Selangor.
WhatsApp us your unit type, size and VP date for an inspection quote; we reply within the hour. If you want rectification or fit-out quoted, a site visit for that quote is RM150, waived if you proceed with the works, and it is not the inspection fee. Where a leak has to be traced first, leak detection is a separate service at RM300 – RM800 per visit on ClickBina's leak detection guide. The price we agree is a flat price with no hidden charges, and ClickBina is registered with SSM. As an experienced KL & Selangor contractor handling commercial renovation and fit-out with trade coordination, we sequence rectification before fit-out.
Methodology: this page does not state a defect period for commercial units because none is prescribed for them on the sources above; the SPA decides. The checklist is a general guide to bare commercial units. This page is general information, not legal advice.
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