October 2022 • Issue No. 60

Upcoming Events

Date	Title


28 Oct 2022	LAST CALL! HYBRID FORMAT! SCL (Singapore) 3rd "Focus on Asia Conference" 2022: Construction Post Covid – Getting Back to Business?
28 Oct 2022	LAST CALL! 20th Anniversary Dinner
22 Nov 2022	SEMINAR: Control Your Fate If You Terminate

View details of
SCL(S) Council 2022-2024

Click here

Welcome to new SCL(S) Members

August 2022 to October 2022
1.	Kelvin Ng
2.	Suraj Sajnani
3.	Tse Wei Lim
4.	Zhiyuan Zhong
5.	Donghwan Lee
6.	Jie Liang Ow
7.	Shaokun Shi
8.	Audrey Liew
9.	Mew Leng Tan
10.	Ashley Ang
11.	Ben Mahler
12.	Velayudham Shunmugam

Post Event Updates

SCL Singapore Annual General Meeting 2022

(4 August 2022)

WEBINAR: SCL Singapore - A 20 Year Journey and Beyond: Strategic Leadership Dialogue with SCL Singapore Past Chairs - Session 1

(4 August 2022)

WEBINAR: SCL Singapore - A 20 Year Journey and Beyond: Strategic Leadership Dialogue with SCL Singapore Past Chairs - Session 2

(4 August 2022)

WEBINAR: The Challenges and Pitfalls of Managing Documents in Large Construction Disputes

(21 July 2022)

WEBINAR: Financial Instruments in Construction Projects

(25 May 2022)

	Chair's Message - October 2022 Dear SCL(S) members, I am delighted to be writing my first message as the Chair following the Annual General Meeting in July this year. I take on my appointment with a sense of both honour and privilege. First of all, I take this opportunity to express my thanks to our Immediate Past Chairman, Lee Chau Ee for his excellent stewardship of the Society from 2020 to 2022. I have been blessed by the camaraderie of fellow committee and Council members as well as the mentorship of past Chairs including Anil Changaroth, Darren Benger, Alex Wong and Toh Chen Han. I hope to follow on from the leadership provided by my predecessors. My objective is to continue to strengthen our bonds with our reciprocal partners and foster synergy with our colleagues in regional and international SCLs. The new Council is now complete with the co-opting of Chan Yong Neng, Chris Rudland and Joanna Seetoh. October promises to be a busy month. Please mark your calendars for 28 October 2022 when the Society will host its Focus on Asia Conference and 20th Anniversary dinner. The Society acknowledged the role it must play in addressing... Moon Kua Chair, SCL (Singapore)

	Announcement(s) Register for the Conference OR Conference and Dinner HERE. An attractive discounted dinner rate applies for Conference delegates who stay on for the dinner. For more details and to secure your place for the Annual Dinner ONLY, please REGISTER HERE. For enquires, please email to secretariat@scl.org.sg.

	Article(s) Rise and Fall There has been steady increase in interest in recent times from project participants on the use of price escalation clauses, driven by Covid-19 supply chain issues and inflation. Principals and contractors should consider, at the outset, how the risk of cost escalation can be minimised or shared on a project. There are a number of ways to structure a construction contract to deal with the risk of cost escalation. Cost plus contracting is being sought more frequently by contractors. Principals who are less keen on paying on a cost-plus basis and who insist on a lump sum may have to accept much larger contingency in the present contracting environment. That contingency could be reduced by introducing price flexibility options into the contract. Price flexibility options include allowing for more provisional sums and... Contributed by: Greg Steinepreis - Squire Patton Boggs (Perth office)

	Getting Paid: A New Bill to Streamline Construction Disputes in Thailand Construction disputes between contractors and employers in Thailand can take years to be resolved in court or arbitration. This can result in construction work being delayed and sometimes abandoned, and contractors facing financial difficulties. In response, Thailand is considering the introduction of a draft bill titled “Act on the Settlement of Disputes regarding Payment in Construction Contracts”. The bill is inspired by security of payment legislation in Malaysia and Singapore. The common objectives are to: (i) allow faster and less expensive dispute resolution, (ii) create a specialised authority capable of dealing with the complexities of construction contracts, (iii) ensure that contractors are paid according to the contract, all with a view to easing cash-flow and minimising effects of pricing disputes on work... Contributed by: Daniel Waldek - Herbert Smith Freehills

	Termination of Construction Contracts for Non-Payment 1. Non-payment is a common cause of disputes in construction projects. In turn, contractors may consider themselves justified in resorting to termination as a response to prolonged refusal by an upstream party, whether a main contractor or employer, to make payment. The question then is when, and in what situations, such termination is defensible. 2. The recent decision of LBE Engineering Pte Ltd v Double S Construction Pte Ltd,1 rendered by Justice Lee Seiu Kin in the Singapore High Court, addressed some of these issues. In that case, the plaintiff sub-contractor alleged that as the defendant main contractor had failed to certify payment to the plaintiff, it was unable to continue work and therefore stopped work on 18 June 2018. The plaintiff thereafter commenced the suit against the defendant claiming an outstanding amount of $90,845.35, while the defendant filed a counterclaim for damages suffered as a result of alleged... Contributed by: Matthew Koh - Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP

	Constructive Acceleration Claims – Challenging, but Not Impossible Constructive acceleration claims are frequently raised but rarely succeed in jurisdictions outside of the USA. Late last year, however, the V601 v Probuild [2021] VSC 849 ruling handed down in the Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia, saw a contractor win in a constructive acceleration claim. It is important to consider whether the consensus on constructive acceleration in common law jurisdictions has changed – and what contractors can do to maximise their prospects of recovery. Constructive acceleration The Society of Construction Law’s (SCL) Delay and Disruption Protocol, defines constructive acceleration as: “Acceleration following failure by the CA [Contracting Authority] to recognise that the Contractor has encountered Employer Delay for which it is entitled to an EOT [extension of time] and which failure required the Contractor to accelerate its progress in order to complete the works by the prevailing contract completion date. This situation may be brought about by the... Contributed by: Connor Clark - Pinsent Masons

Newsletter Editors: Chris Rudland & Chan Yong Neng

Society of Construction Law (Singapore)
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