E-briefing: Can Payment Claims Be Made Under the SOP Act After the Termination of the Contract?

Introduction

1. The Court of Appeal has recently held that the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act (Cap 30B) (the “SOP Act”) does not provide an independent right to serve payment claims regardless of the provisions of the underlying contract: Shimizu Corporation v Stargood Construction Pte Ltd [2020] SGCA 37.

Key Takeaways

2. We summarise the key takeaways of the Court of Appeal’s decision:

• The SOP Act does not provide for an independent entitlement to serve payment claims after a contract has been terminated.
• An entitlement to serve a payment claim under the SOP Act must be established under the contract.
• Parties who have been terminated from contracts will likely be unable to subsequently submit payment claims for purposes of adjudication under the SOP Act.

3. The article explaining the above is attached to this e-briefing.

4. A copy of the article can also be found here.

For further information, contact:

Tan Chau Yee

Partner

chauyeetan@eversheds-harryelias.com

+65 6361 9850

Justin Tan

Senior Associate

justintan@eversheds-harryelias.com

+65 6361 9877

Wong Sze Qi

Practice Trainee

szeqiwong@eversheds-harryelias.com