Two very distinct speakers were invited to speak on two topical issues. Mr Ho Chien Mien, Partner from Allen & Gledhill, gave us an update of the salient points of cases that were trialed in 2011. He spoke on: the rights of an employer to set off against monies due to a contract; the legal validity of a fixed charged created over a building agreement; the limitation period for service of a payment claim under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act (the "SOP Act"); and the issues of time at large and when liquidated damages provisions can survive the termination of contracts. He also updated the participants on an interesting case involving the duties and responsibilities of a resident technical officer and his duty to common law.

The second speaker was Mr Chow Kok Fong. Mr Chow brought the participants through the SOP Act scene in summary and dealt with issues of repeat claims. Although there may be some finality to the issue on repeat claims, the decision is still not settled as everyone is waiting for a decision from the Court of Appeal. The question of whether loss and expense can be considered in payment claims was also discussed. This drew some interesting comments from the floor, during the question and answer session, on whether a form that does not cater for loss and expense provision can still entitle the contractor to submit a loss and expense payment claim. He went on discussing the issue of time bars in submission of the claim, citing that there are 14 stipulated timelines in the Act that we should be aware of, including the issue of when a claim is not a claim. All in all, his talk was interesting, and Mr. Chow is clearly someone who is extremely familiar with the act.

During the question and answer session, practical questions were asked from the floor, including an interesting question by Paul Sandosham on whether it would it open the flood gates if the Chua Say Eng case was to be overturned by the Court of Appeal. The panel answered the question diplomatically but still, it would be best to wait for the decision of the Court of Appeal nonetheless.

The first seminar of the year started with a resounding bang and everyone left on a high note with equally high expectations for the next seminar.