November 2018 • Issue No. 37
 

Upcoming Events

Date Title
28 January 2019 Annual Construction Law Update 2019

 

View details of
SCL(S) Council 2018-2020

 Click here


Welcome to new SCL(S) Members

September 2018 to October 2018
 
1. Nur Tasnim Yusoff
2. Jungguk Lee
3. Boo Heng Ong
4. Woon Wei Pong
5. Gang Duan
6. Kimberly Tho
7. Michael Pollen
8. Chan Ming Wai
9. Neil Baker
10. David Kelly
11. Amanda Koh
12. Minghao Ang
13. Oon Tat Ooi
14. Tack Chow Wong
15. Swee Chin Michelle Tan
16. Lynette Chew


Post Event Updates

Unabsorbed Head Office Overheads

(18 July 2018)




 
Networking Cocktail 2018

18 April 2018





Reliance and Expectation Loss: Alternative Heads of Damage?

(04 April 2018)




 

Understanding the Construction Contract in a Project Financing


27 February 2018





Annual Construction Law Update 2018

23 January 2018









 
 


Co-editor's Message  


Dear SCL(S) members,

The people have spoken and the SCL(S) Council for 2018-2020 have been elected. The campaigns were hard fought and the election promises came fast and furious. Pledges of more craft beer to be served at SCL social events were countered by pledges of a Singapore protocol on delay. The dust has settled and I am happy with the outcome. The majority are people I have worked with in the previous council and I can attest to their work ethic and their commitment. The new appointees are Kelvin Teo and Adrian Wong who I am certain will contribute significantly. Under the leadership of Toh Chen Han, I expect that the Council will build on the good work done by the previous council under Alex Wong’s leadership.

This newsletter also comes at a significant time. The Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act has been amended. To that end, we are pleased to have an article from Joanna Seetoh and Chan Yong Neng of Pinsent Masons MPillay LLP enlightening us on the amendments. The article is extensive and exceedingly helpful in its survey on the changes to the Act. Construction lawyers and anyone else who rely on the Act would definitely find this article a useful guide to navigating the technical intricacies of the amendments.

We are also fortunate that we have another enriching article to read in this newsletter. This one is a piece by Sean Hardy and Justin Ee of Pinsent Masons MPillay LLP on the recent case of Lee Tat Development Pte Ltd v Management Corporation Strata Title Plan No.31 [2018] SGCA 50. This Court of Appeal decision looked at the esoteric torts of abuse of process and malicious prosecution in a long-running dispute between a developer and a management corporation. The article by Sean and Justin is a tantalising read and is a welcome change to the usual articles on variations, adjudication, delays etc.

I am pleased with the content that we have for this newsletter and look forward to working with my fellow co-editor, Kelvin Teo, on getting more interesting content out in future newsletters for all of you to digest and enjoy. Take care and see everyone soon at the next SCL(S) event!


 
Ashok Kumar Rai
Co-Editor, SCL (Singapore) E-newsletter  

Articles

Taking stock of the Security of Payment adjudication process: The Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Amendment Bill 2018

Introduction
1. The Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Amendment Bill 2018 (the "Amendment Bill") was passed on 2 October 2018 on the heels of extensive consultations with stakeholders over the last five years. This highly anticipated Amendment Bill will effect the most extensive changes to the Security of Payment Act (the "SOP Act") since its inception in 2005.

2. The changes to the SOP Act are aimed primarily at streamlining and enhancing the adjudication process, and to return the focus to resolving the merits of payment disputes fairly and effectively.

3. This article will highlight some of the key amendments to the SOP Act which are anticipated to bring with them significant practical impact to the building and construction industry when they come into force.

Contributed by: Joanna Seetoh and Chan Yong Neng - Pinsent Masons MPillay

New Litigation, Old Torts Singapore Court of Appeal Charts its Own Course

Overview
In Lee Tat Development Pte Ltd v Management Corporation Strata Title Plan No 301 [2018] SGCA 50 the Singapore Court of Appeal recently clarified the applicability under Singapore law of 2 closely-related torts of English origin and considerable vintage.

It held that the tort of malicious prosecution should not be extended to civil proceedings generally and that the tort of abuse of process is not recognised under Singapore law.

Of particular interest is both the settling of a previously murky area of law in Singapore and the reasoning behind the SGCA's calculated departure from the position under English law.
Remarkably this decision represents the culmination of a series of court actions between the same parties over four decades. The SGCA noted, drolly: "These proceedings are, in fact, replete with irony as well as legal significance. It is ironic that a dispute bitterly fought over several decades by two parties who have nothing but personal ill will towards each other has engendered (for Singapore law) questions of the first importance in relation to the development of the common law in general and tort law in particular."

Contributed by: Sean Hardy - Pinsent Masons MPillay, Justin Ee - MPillay

Latest Post Event Updates

SCL(S) Construction Law Conference 2018 - Collaboration And Technology In Construction Law & Practice – Where To Next?

(12 September 2018)

Feedback from a Conference Participant

This year’s annual conference gave the participants interesting insights into the technology advancements in the global construction industry. The session on collaborative contracting was of significance to me, as these new contract models promote dispute prevention, which could potentially save costs for construction companies in the future...

Contributed by: Debbie Lee – ECYT Law LLC

 
SCL(S) 10th Annual Dinner 2018

(29 August 2018)

Feedback from our Dinner Guests

The SCL(S)’s 10th anniversary dinner was the first SCL(S) event I have attended in Singapore and I was pleasantly surprised by the informal nature of the occasion. I am a structural engineering expert based in Hong Kong and it struck me how universally willing my hosts, Clifford Chance, and others were to introduce me to people in the industry to help further my expert witness endeavours. As a direct outcome of the dinner, I have already been able to reach out to others in the industry in both Singapore and Hong Kong. I look forward to increasing my participation in such events and supporting the SCL in both Singapore and Hong Kong.

Contributed by: David Satchell – Satchell and Associates

I had the pleasure of attending the SCL(S) annual dinner on 29 August 2018. The venue was "Beasts and Butterflies", fortunately no one misconstrued that as the evening's costume theme. We were greeted at the door by AURA (Automated Room-service Associate), billed as "South East Asia’s first Front-of-House Autonomous Service Delivery Robot in the hotel industry". Not to be confused with AUSCA (Automated Service Chef Associate), the robot that cooks the eggs at the venue (in three minutes), we learnt that AURA can operate lifts to go between floors, and its sensors allow it to detect obstacles or passengers along the way. Soon the robots will be replacing us all….

Contributed by: Almiro Clere – Clifford Chance

 


 

















 
Newsletter Editors: Ashok Rai & Kelvin Teo 

Society of Construction Law (Singapore)
6 Eu Tong Sen Street,#05-07, Clarke Quay Central, Singapore 059817 • Tel: +65-65512783 & Fax: +65-6225 9426
www.scl.org.sg

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