February 2025 • Issue No. 74

Upcoming Events

Date	Title


13, 18, 20, 25 March 2025	Construction Law 101 (15th Run)
30 April 2025	AI in Construction Law: Practical Applications
21 May 2025	Duties, Obligations, Responsibilities and Liabilities: Managing it all as a Consultant
25 September 2025	SAVE THE DATE! SCL(S) Conference 2025: Transformation in the Infrastructure & Energy Sectors - A Singapore Perspective

View details of
SCL(S) Council 2024-2026

Click here

Welcome to new SCL(S) Members

January 2025 to February 2025
Individual Members
1.	Benny Santoso
2.	Rachel Chan
3.	Ayrton McCully
4.	Cheska Daclag Nodado
5.	Thomas Saggio
6.	Timothy Yong
7.	Ryan Gozon
8.	Jay Yin Cham
9.	Joey Lim
10.	Bryan Ng
11.	Kelvin Koh
12.	Yong Wah Lim
13.	Sameera Hassan
14.	Soomin Jun
15.	Sarocha Thongperm
16.	Sunny Tze Kwan Sim
17.	Peter Atkinson
18.	George Wall
19.	Eugenie Lip
20.	Alvin Liau

Post Event Updates

WEBINAR: NEC4: Collaborative Features and Implementation in Singapore and the Region

(5 December 2024)

SPECIAL REPORT: SCL (Singapore) Conference 2024: Singapore Inc - Staying
Best in Class in Construction?

(2 October 2024)

13th SCL (Singapore) Annual Dinner

(29 August 2024)

Chairman’s Message - February 2025

Dear fellow SCL(S) members,

It is with great pleasure that I find myself with the privilege of penning this message to welcome you all to our 74th edition of the SCL(S) Newsletter, and the first newsletter for 2025.

The SCL(S) events calendar kicked off with our Annual Construction Law Update on 13 February 2025. It has regularly been one of our most popular events, and this year was no exception almost 150 delegates in attendance. We had the privilege of Ms Lynette Chew providing the Singapore Law update and Mr David Thomas KC providing the UK Law update. The updates were both excellent and we all know how much work goes into preparing for these sessions, so a big “thank you” goes out to both Lynette and David.

Within this edition of our newsletter, you will find:

an article on some recent judgements relating to the SOP Act; and
an article examining some of the issues encountered in agreeing or accepting a programme at project inception.

Looking ahead, there will be the 17th edition of the excellent Construction Law 101 course, which will be run over four days in March 2025. Shortly following this in April and May, our Professional Development Committee will be delivering two seminars; one exploring AI in construction law, and the other exploring the duties and responsibilities of project consultants.

On behalf of the SCL(S) Council, thank you for your support and we look forward to seeing you all in the upcoming events.

Trevor Lam
Chairman, SCL (Singapore)

Article(s)

SOP Act: Key judgements in 2024

The year 2024 saw a number of significant rulings in Singapore that have provided clarity on issues such as the definition of completion for construction works, the limitation period for latent defects, as well as issues surround the application and interpretation of the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2004 (“SOP Act”). As readers will be familiar, the SOP Act is fundamentally a statutory regime to facilitate cash flow in the construction industry. For contractors, it is important to understand how the SOP Act may apply to protect their cashflow; for employers, an understanding of the SOP Act ensures that they will be vigilant to provide timely payment responses that correspond to payment claims that are received.

This article seeks to distil the key principles and guidance provided...

Contributed by: Daniel Ho, Lim Jia Ren & Esther Huang - Baker McKenzie.Wong & Leow

Programming and Delay (Article 1 of 3): Getting to an Accepted Programme

Introduction

When projects are delayed and go into dispute, they are often referred to delay experts to provide an opinion on the cause and the impact of the delay events. The first challenge for these experts is to determine the method of delay analysis they will adopt. Many of these methods are described in the Society of Construction Law (United Kingdom) Delay and Disruption Protocol. The selection of the most appropriate method is highly dependent on the information that is available to the delay expert, not to mention the expert’s own preference.

Arguably it is the lack of progress and performance information in the first place that has contributed to the actions leading to a dispute. To avoid this, the focus, when drafting contracts and agreements, should be to ensure that the appropriate detail of...

Contributed by: Grant Axman-Friend - Core Project Advisory

Latest Post Event Updates

Annual Construction Law Update 2025

(13 February 2025)

TThe Annual Construction Law Update 2025 held on 13 February 2025 did not disappoint attendees who expected an in-depth legal review of key construction law cases from the past year.

Ms. Lynette Chew covered several Singapore-related cases in 2024, addressing updates to the law relating to adjudications, completion of works and defective works, as well as injunctions.

Mr. David Thomas KC provided insights on English legal principles affecting construction disputes in 2024. The cases discussed covered a wide range of issues, offering valuable lessons for professionals navigating complex construction contracts and disputes.

The seminar concluded with a panel discussion and Q&A session, moderated by Trevor Lam (Chairman, SCL (Singapore)). This interactive segment allowed participants to...

Contributed by: Justin Tan - Council Member, SCL (Singapore)

Newsletter Editor 2024 - 2025: Chris Rudland

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Society of Construction Law (Singapore)
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www.scl.org.sg

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