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Chairman's Message
 Dear SCL(S) members,
Welcome back from the year-end holidays, and to our very first Newsletter for 2019! This is a significant time for both the Construction industry in general, and for the Society in particular.
Members will recall the passing of the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Amendment Bill 2018 back on 2 October 2018. There is as yet no official announcement as to when the amendments take effect. This is presumably because rules and subsidiary legislation governing statutory adjudication in Singapore are having to be reviewed, to ensure consistency and coherence with the statutory reforms when they come into force.
October 2018 also saw the launch of the Singapore Infrastructure Dispute-Management Protocol by Finance Minister Mr Heng Swee Keat at the 8th Asia-Singapore Infrastructure Roundtable. The innovative Protocol is intended to be a comprehensive dispute management mechanism, and is aimed for use on mega infrastructure and construction projects, not just in Singapore, but also internationally, particularly in Asia. The Protocol and the Ministry of Law’s press release are accessible here.
Another notable piece of legislation was passed on 1 November 2018 i.e. the new Mediation Act of Singapore. It applies not only to mediations conducted in Singapore, but also to mediations conducted overseas where...
Chairman, SCL (Singapore) |
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Articles
Experts’ joint statements and discussions: What role should the lawyers play?
Courts and tribunals are increasingly directing joint statements to be produced by party-appointed experts.
This article touches on the interesting guidance articulated in the English decision of BDW Trading Ltd v Integral Geotechnique (Wales) Ltd [2018] EWHC 1915 (TCC) on how lawyers and experts should behave. There was a complaint raised in that case over a draft of the experts’ joint statement being sent to the Defendant’s solicitors for substantive comments, and changes made as a result of feedback given.
The authors hope that it raises some food for thought, as to the implications of that decision and as to whether, and if so the extent to which, that approach should be imported into Singapore.
Contributed by: Kelvin Teo - Clifford Chance Asia/Cavenagh Law LLP; Xide Low - Clifford Chance Asia
SCL 8th International Construction Law Conference Chicago September 26th to 28th 2018
The SCL 8th International Construction Law conference organised by the SCL (North America) was held from 26th to 28th September 2018 in Chicago Illinois USA. With attendance numbering to about 200 local and 100 international Construction industry practitioners, the conference had two full days of programme that included keynote addresses by the Honourable Justice Vickery of the Supreme Court of Victoria Australia and Doug Jones AO, and 24 working sessions that covered a full spectrum of the Construction Industry and...
Contributed by: Anil Changaroth - ChangAroth Chambers LLC & ChangAroth InterNational Consultancy
SCL (International) Meeting (held on 26th August 2018, Chicago)
The SCL (International) meeting was held on 26th September 2018 in Chicago on the 1st evening of SCL 8th International Conference (organised by SCL (North America)) and was chaired by SCL (International) Liaison’s committee of Keith Kirkwoood & Paul Battrick SCL(UK), Basil Georgiou SCL(Australia), John Cock SCL(Hong Kong) and Anil Changaroth SCL(Singapore).
This meeting had the largest representation of SCL (International) with attendance by about 40 heads and/or international relations chairs from SCL Australia, Africa, Brazil, Chile, Europe, Gulf, Hong Kong, Mexico, Mauritius...
Contributed by: Anil Changaroth - ChangAroth Chambers LLC & ChangAroth InterNational Consultancy
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Latest Post Event Updates
Construction Contract Changes
(01 November 2018)
 In the presence of about 25 SCL(S) members, Philip (who also had submitted a paper) spoke about the concept of Construction Contract Changes.
Phillip’s talk covered the certainty of change being the constant of construction process and considered Construction Changes including its purpose and objectives, the difference between formal, cardinal and constructive changes, changes beyond the general scope, the types of Constructive change (including aspects of misrepresentations, ambiguities, economic waste...
Contributed by: Anil Changaroth - ChangAroth Chambers LLC & ChangAroth InterNational Consultancy
Construction Law 101 (9th Run!)
(4, 9, 11 & 16 October 2018)
 As a dispute resolution lawyer in the construction space, I found the course interesting and engaging.
There was a clear focus on addressing the practical issues that those in the construction industry, not just lawyers, will encounter over the life cycle of a project – such as negotiating construction contracts, subcontracting and payment issues, and, preparing for and dealing with disputes. As particular attention was paid to the terms of the PSSCOC and SIA standard form contracts, those in the construction industry who...
Contributed by: Xide Low - Clifford Chance Asia
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