An investigation into the contract dispute settlement under security of payment act

• Main Author: Ong, Si Han
• Other Authors: Wong Wai Fan
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Civil engineering::Construction management
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/61088
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The enforcement of the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act (the ‘SOP Act’) has brought about a drastic change to the construction industry in Singapore, facilitating payments and cash flows in a speedy yet cost-effective manner. It is no doubt that the SOP Act can be considered a success in making sure that payments are not unscrupulously delayed or deterred by parties in a construction contract, given the statistics which show that more than 800 adjudication applications has been filed since its enactment and only less than 5% has resisted the adjudication determinations. However, these cases still represent aggrieved parties who are clearly unsatisfied with the rulings, and of which many of them had subsequently take their case up to the Courts. This clearly undermines the purpose of the SOP act in hoping to reach a fast resolution in terms of payment disputes, and thus makes it necessary to examine the issues that have surfaced. In this report, one such case study will be focused on and evaluated in depth, to not only highlight the problems that have emerged, but also to show how it is resolved afterwards. In particular, the validity of a payment response, the jurisdiction of the adjudicator and the role of the Courts and their powers over an adjudication determination will be assessed with regards to the case in this paper. Finally, conclusions and recommendations will also be drawn from the study, with references to literary works from esteemed authors.