HIAP SENG BUILDING CONSTRUCTION PTE LTD v HOCK HENG SENG CONTRACTOR PTE LTD

Case Significance

Hiap Seng Building Construction Pte Ltd v Hock Heng Seng Contractor Pte Ltd [2024] SGHC 50 was decided in the General Division of the High Court on 27 February 2024, with grounds of decision delivered by Wong Li Kok, Alex JC following hearings on 13 December 2023 and 5 January 2024. In Originating Application No 1176 of 2023, the applicant, Hiap Seng Building Construction Pte Ltd, applied under section 27 of the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2004 (read with Order 36 rule 3 of the Rules of Court 2021) to set aside an Adjudication Determination dated 18 October 2023, and by extension the Order of Court dated 6 November 2023 granting the respondent leave to enforce the Determination. The key issue, as framed by Wong Li Kok, Alex JC, was whether a defective payment response should lead to the setting aside of an adjudication determination under the Act. The catchwords indicate the case also addressed the date of service of a payment response under section 11(1)(b) of the Act, whether the adjudication determination was severable, and a promissory estoppel argument over whether the contractor was estopped from objecting that it had served an invalid payment response because it failed to speak up earlier. The applicant was represented by counsel from Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP including Benny Santoso and Sim Chee Siong, and the respondent by Winston Quek & Company.