Quality of Living

More than just attractive designs and state-of-the-art amenities, developers and homeowners should learn to refocus their attention on what matters more: the quality of construction

Homeowner or not, everyone has heard of a few real-estate horror stories. The range of mishaps varies widely. Many have encountered second-hand houses falling into disrepair or shoddy renovation work delivered by unreliable contractors. Still, more disasters are taking place with entirely new properties. Unfortunate owners—among them first-time buyers—spend their hard-earned money and life savings to realise their dream home, only to be stupefied at badly fitted doors and windows, wall cracks, plumbing leaks and the countless fixing that haunts them thereafter. “According to CIDB (the Construction Industry Development Board Malaysia), there are about 7,600 projects and developments completed each year but only 4.1 per cent are quality certified,” founder and group managing director of Skyworld, Datuk Ng Thien Phing recently shared. It is an astoundingly low figure, especially in light of the fact that Malaysian housing prices have been inflating since 2010 and has even outpaced the rise of income levels. Sadly, quality and price are not proportional. In fact, prestigious addresses are not exempt from construction defects. Cases filed