Provisions of the Measures for the Administration of New Property Charges

Buyers will be required to sign the Convention on the Use, Management and Maintenance of Houses (hereinafter referred to as the Convention) when signing the purchase contract. A complete convention should include the basic situation of property, the respective rights and obligations of owners, developers and property management companies, the collection method of property management fees, and the liability for breach of contract.

Please note that the signed convention must be approved by Beijing Municipal Bureau of Land Management. In the recently promulgated Interim Measures for Charges for High-grade Property Management Services, it is stipulated that before the establishment of the Property Management Committee, the property management enterprises should charge the owners according to the charging standards stipulated in the Convention on the Use, Management and Maintenance of Houses signed with the owners at the time of purchase. Many readers are very concerned about how the management department approves the property management fees and standards in the Convention. Can the approved property management fee indicate that the management department has ensured the rationality of the fee?

Mr. Zou, who is responsible for examining and approving the Convention on the Use, Management and Maintenance of Houses, said that there are two main forms of property management fees in the Convention:

First, the convention does not stipulate specific charging standards, only charging items. Most of these conventions were signed before the start of ratification in September, 1997, and none of them were ratified. At present, when going through the examination and approval procedures, if a specific fee amount is stipulated and the owner is required to abide by it, it is not easy for the owner to accept it, so only the fee items are stipulated. In the process of verification, it mainly depends on whether these charging items conform to the provisions of the Interim Measures for Property Management Service Charges in Urban Residential Areas (documentNo. KLOC-0/996) of the Ministry of Construction. The fees allowed in Document No.266 include eight items, namely, the salaries of management and service personnel and welfare fees drawn according to regulations; Daily operation, maintenance and maintenance costs of public facilities and equipment; Greening management fee; Cleaning and sanitation costs; Security costs; Office expenses; Depreciation expense of fixed assets of property management unit; Statutory taxes and fees; Recently, it was approved to expand the remuneration of management companies and the insurance fees for public facilities and public places. Expenses exceeding the above 10 cannot be approved. After the charging items are determined, the property management company cannot unilaterally set the charging standards for property management. Property management companies should negotiate with the owners to determine the charging standards according to these projects, and the consultation is mainly carried out by means of announcement.

Second, the Convention has made specific provisions on charging standards. This "convention" is generally approved before the sale of houses, and can be signed at the same time as the purchase contract. Such a convention will clearly state how much the property management fee is per square meter. If property buyers want to know whether this level is acceptable, once the contract is signed, they must pay the property management fee according to this regulation. The recognition of the Convention only shows that the provisions of the Convention comply with relevant national laws and regulations, and does not mean that the management authorities guarantee that the property management fees stipulated in the Convention are reasonable. Whether it is reasonable or not depends on whether the level of property management after occupancy is compatible with the fees charged. When the Convention was signed, property management had not yet started, so it was impossible to judge whether its management service level matched the charging standard. At this time, buyers must first determine whether to buy the best quality property management, or the average level of property management, or to choose the property management below the average level for cheap. Only this step can be considered when signing the Convention. As for whether the promise can be realized, it depends on the reputation and strength of the management company.