Building & Construction Lawyer

We Protect Your Downside

A building or construction project goes beyond just timber, steel, bricks and mortar. It often involves the multi-layering of many laws, such as building & construction law, tort (negligence) law, contract law and other statutory provisions.

Having a specialised legal team with a deep understanding of the industry can give you confidence that your downside is protected every step of the way.

As lawyers specialising in Building & Construction Law, we understand the struggles you face as a contractor.

Not Receiving Payment from Your Main Contractor?

Cash flow is king. If you are a contractor or sub-contractor, we understand that you are heavily reliant on cash flow to sustain your business operations and having delayed payments could potentially become a make-or-break situation for your business.  

As your legal representative, we act in the best interests of your business to protect it from potential bad debt. The Security of Payment Act (a.k.a SOPA) is a common and effective way to recover the debt owed to you, but solutions don’t stop there. Our legal experts review each case uniquely and will take a multi-pronged approach to come up with cost-effective strategies.

Defect Claims

Defects are regular occurrences in the building and construction industry, and many contractors and sub-contractors often find themselves served with defect claims. Certain defects may not be your responsibility to bear, and fingers are being pointed around with seemingly no conclusion. Tactful legal approaches have served many of our clients in achieving satisfactory resolutions to their disputes.

Liquidated Damages

It is common in the building and construction industry for disputes to happen over late project completion. Assessment for liquidated damages can be a complex and difficult process, especially for smaller companies. Having a liquidated damages clause is not “the end of the story”.

When events like that happen, we will take a wide-angle and multi-pronged approach to your case to resolve or ease such conflict through cost-effective strategies for managing the damages, sometimes even disputing on liability for liquidated damages in the first place. 

Deliver Your Project With Ease of Mind

Building & construction projects can be complex and mind-wrecking as there is a multitude of considerations to worry about. From a legal viewpoint, we can offer comprehensive project management advice that covers budgeting, timeline management, technical and legal compliance as well as stakeholder management. 

With expert legal representatives to advise you on the governing procedures and processes, you can work on the delivery of your project with the assurance that your risks are carefully assessed and managed.

Building & Construction Law Related Specialisations

The Security Of Payments Act protects construction industry professionals from acquiring bad debt. We assist both applicants and respondents related to SOPA claims.

  • Reviewing construction contracts and advising on applicability of SOPA
  • Preparation of payment claims and payment responses
  • Preparing adjudication applications and adjudication responses
  • Advising and representing parties for the enforcement of adjudication determinations
  • Implementing other enforcement processes under SOPA
  • Arbitration
  • Court Litigation
  • Alternate Dispute Resolution Methods
  • Determining liable party for defect(s)
  • Extent of liability for defect(s)
  • Calling of Bonds
  • Injunctions against calls
  • Fraud and/or unconscionable conduct
  • Progress Claim
  • Payment Certificate
  • Payment claim
  • Retention sum
  • Backcharge
  • Project cash flow
  • Many/multi-party suit
  • Strategy and implementation
  • Lump-sum contract
  • BQ contract
  • Measurement contract
  • “Back-to-back” contract
  • SIA Contract
  • Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore (REDAS)
  • Public Sector Standard Conditions Of Contract (PSSCOC)

Building & Construction Law FAQs

Not yet. By general principles (unless otherwise agreed in writing), even if payment is not prompt, you have a contractual duty to perform your scope of work. Depending on the nature of your work, if you stop your contractual work abruptly, you may be sued (or counter-sued) for failure to perform work.

If cash flow is a key consideration, then you may want to explore the option of commencing an application under the Security of Payments Act (SOPA). If you obtain an adjudication determination at the end of the proceedings, and the main contractor fails to pay, you may then choose to serve a notice under Section 26 of SOPA to indicate your intention to suspend carrying out construction work or supplying goods or services under the contract.

You may only do so if both the main contractor and the sub-contractor are agreeable to this. Chances are, this is very unlikely. Contractually, the sub-contractor’s contracting party is with you, and would not have a direct contract with the main contractor. The sub-contractor’s recourse is found against you.

To prevent such a scenario from happening, proper project management and planning are highly advisable. Legal advice is highly recommended in achieving proper risk management on the legal aspects of your project.

The standard contract conditions are generally drafted to allow for the smooth running of projects. That said, the terms found inside may be daunting to many contractors, and may not be necessary for more straightforward contracts.

If you are feeling uncertain, you may consider seeking proper legal guidance on the pros and cons of adopting the standard contract conditions in your building contracts with your sub-contractors so that you can come to an informed decision.

You should seek legal assistance immediately as this is an urgent matter. You will need to gather evidence to show that there is either fraud or unconscionability (bad faith) on the main contractor’s part, to prevent the payment of the performance bond. We suggest you work side-by-side with professional lawyers to handle the obstacle.

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