By-Law 14 Doesn't Ban Pets In Your Condo. Your Local Council Might.

There is a sign in the lobby of a lot of Malaysian condos that says NO PETS ALLOWED. Most residents read it as law.

It usually isn't.

Since 1 June 2015, the default position under By-Law 14 in the Third Schedule of the Strata Management (Maintenance and Management) Regulations 2015 is that a proprietor may keep animals in their parcel — unless the animal causes annoyance or nuisance to other proprietors, is dangerous to their safety or health, or contravenes any written law or the rules of the State or local authority.

Before that, the position came from the Deed of Mutual Covenants, which did generally prohibit pets. That is where the lobby sign comes from. The law changed underneath it.

But here is the part that catches pet owners out, and it is the reason this article exists. By-Law 14 itself points outward — "contravenes any written law or rules and regulations of the relevant State or the local authority." And Malaysian local councils are all over the map:

So you can satisfy By-Law 14, have a management that says yes, and still be unable to lawfully keep a dog — because the council will not license it.

1. What By-Law 14 actually says

Paraphrasing the operative wording:

14(1) — In a building used for residential or dwelling purposes, a proprietor shall not keep any particular animal in his parcel or on the common property that:

• may cause annoyance or nuisance to other proprietors; or
• may be dangerous to the safety or health of other proprietors; or
• contravenes any written law or the rules and regulations of the relevant State or local authority.

14(2) — A proprietor in breach shall, within three days of receiving written notice from the management corporation, remove the particular animal from the building.

Read 14(1) carefully, because the structure is the whole point. It is not a prohibition on pets. It is a prohibition on keeping a particular animal that is causing one of three specific problems. Absent one of those, the by-law does not bite.

And note "particular animal" in 14(2). The removal power is aimed at the specific offending pet, not at pets in general. Management cannot use one badly-behaved dog to justify clearing every animal out of the building.

2. What happens if you don't remove the pet

The escalation under By-Law 14(2) is real and worth knowing before you dig in:

• Written notice is served
• You have three days to remove the particular animal
• If you don't, the management body may take whatever action is necessary to remove it from the building
• The cost of removal is charged to you
• The management body is not liable for damage reasonably caused to property during the removal

This is why the practical advice from Malaysian firms is to comply with a removal notice first and dispute it afterwards. Fighting it by simply refusing risks the animal being removed by people who are legally protected from liability for reasonable damage done in the process. If you think the notice is wrong, comply and challenge it — do not make your pet the test case.

3. By-law vs house rule — the distinction that decides your argument

These are not the same thing and people use the words interchangeably to their cost.

So the first question when management says "no pets" is: show me the by-law.

• If it is a prescribed by-law, it is By-Law 14, and By-Law 14 does not ban pets.
• If it is an additional by-law, ask when the special resolution was passed and at which general meeting. Ask to see the minutes and the resolution.
• If it is just a house rule or a sign in the lobby, it has no independent legal force to override By-Law 14.

Can an additional by-law effectively ban pets? In practice some condos do impose tighter controls this way. But an additional by-law does not automatically override By-Law 14, and it can be challenged if it was improperly passed, is unreasonable, or is inconsistent with the Act and Regulations. Whether a blanket pet ban passed by special resolution would survive a Tribunal challenge is not something we can tell you with confidence — we could not locate a definitive published Tribunal or court decision squarely on a blanket pet ban, and outcomes at the Tribunal are not systematically reported. Treat anyone stating that outcome confidently, in either direction, with caution.

4. The local council layer — where most people actually get stuck

This is the layer that overrides your happy By-Law 14 reading.

In Kuala Lumpur (DBKL): only nine small dog breeds have been reported as permitted in high-rise stratified homes — Bichon Frise, Chihuahua, Japanese Chin, Maltese, Miniature Pinscher, Papillon, Pekingese, Pomeranian and Poodle. Reporting also indicates DBKL permits one approved small dog per strata unit, and that the licence application must include a consent letter (Surat Kebenaran) from the JMB or MC — without which DBKL will not issue the licence. Applications go through DBKL's online system at edog.dbkl.gov.my.

In MBPJ and MPAJ: dogs are not permitted above the ground floor of a high-rise.

In MBSJ / Subang Jaya: dogs are not permitted in high-rise buildings, so licences are typically issued only for landed properties.

Which wins? The National House Buyers Association's position, as reported, is that it is ultimately the local authority that decides whether a person may keep a dog. If a local authority does not permit dogs in high-rises and you keep one anyway — even if your building management allows it — you are breaking the law and action can be taken against you.

Separately, prohibited and controlled breeds. DBKL's Dog Licensing and Dog Breeding Establishments By-Laws (Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur) 1991, as amended in 2011, provide that no person shall own, keep, harbour or maintain any prohibited dog, with the prohibited list including Pit Bull Terrier and its variants, American Bulldog, Neapolitan Mastiff, and others. Controlled dogs — the list includes Rottweiler, Doberman, German Shepherd/Alsatian, Bull Mastiff, Bull Terrier and Perro de Presa Canario — may be licensed only where the applicant has attended and passed a dog handling course and the dog has completed and passed a Canine Good Citizen programme approved by the Mayor. Licensed controlled dogs must be supervised, leashed and muzzled outside the premises, and kept within securely fenced premises.

Fees and rules vary by council and are revised. Verify with your own PBT before you commit to a pet.

5. Cats, and everything that isn't a dog

Almost all of the council licensing regime is about dogs. Cats and small animals are generally not licensed in the same way, which means for a cat, By-Law 14 is usually the operative test on its own — is the animal causing annoyance, nuisance, or a safety or health danger?

That does not mean cats are unregulated. State and local rules can still apply, By-Law 14(1)(c) picks up "any written law", and a cat causing genuine nuisance is as removable as a dog under 14(2). But the licensing wall that stops dogs in MBSJ high-rises generally does not stand in front of cat owners.

6. The Strata Management Tribunal

If management is wrong and won't move, this is the forum.

Who can file — locus standi is limited: developers, purchasers, proprietors, JMBs, MCs, sub-MCs, managing agents, and other interested persons with the Tribunal's leave.

Important if you are a tenant. The list above is about proprietors. If you are renting, you may not have standing to bring the claim yourself. The practical route is to get the owner to file, or to raise it with the owner who has the contractual relationship with management.

Non-compliance with a Tribunal award is a criminal offence under the SMA, punishable on conviction by a fine not exceeding RM250,000 or imprisonment up to 3 years or both, with a further fine not exceeding RM5,000 per day for a continuing offence. In July 2020 the Subang Jaya Municipal Council's Commissioner of Buildings prosecuted a parcel owner for failing to comply with a Tribunal award on outstanding maintenance charges; the Magistrate's Court convicted and fined him RM5,500.

Realistic expectations. By-law disputes are a small slice of the Tribunal's work — the deputy chairman of the Housing and Strata Management Tribunal has said roughly 80% of claims relate to collection or payment of fees, with about 10% on meetings, and by-laws among the remainder. You are not the first person to bring one, but you are not in the mainstream of what the Tribunal handles either.

What to actually do

Before you get a pet in a Malaysian high-rise, in this order: 1. Check your local council first, not the condo. If your PBT does not permit dogs in high-rises, nothing else matters. Check the council's own website or counter, not a forum post. 2. Check whether the breed is prohibited or controlled. 3. Ask management for the by-law in writing — prescribed or additional, and if additional, when the special resolution passed. 4. If a consent letter from the JMB/MC is needed for the licence (as reported for DBKL), get it before you get the animal. 5. Apply for the licence — DBKL applications go through edog.dbkl.gov.my.

If management orders you to remove your pet:

• Get the notice in writing and check whether it identifies your particular animal and which limb of By-Law 14(1) it relies on — nuisance, danger, or breach of written law.
• Comply within the three days while you dispute it. The removal power, cost recovery and liability protection under 14(2) make refusal a bad way to make your point.
• Ask which by-law the notice is founded on. If the answer is a lobby sign or a house rule, say so in writing.
• If it is an additional by-law, ask for the minutes and special resolution that created it.
• Gather evidence that your animal does not cause nuisance: vet records, a licence, neighbours willing to confirm, absence of complaints.
• Raise it at the AGM or EGM. A by-law made by special resolution can be changed the same way. This is often faster and cheaper than the Tribunal.
• File Form 1 at the Strata Management Tribunal if it cannot be resolved. RM100 for residential, no time limit, no lawyer needed.

If your neighbour's pet is the problem:

• Complain in writing to the JMB or MC with dates, times and specifics — noise at particular hours, fouling of common property, aggression incidents.
• Management is empowered to act under By-Law 14(2), and a documented pattern is far more useful than a general objection.