Adjudication: Singapore Perspective

Adjudication was introduced into Singapore under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act of 2004. The Singapore regime is the seventh of its kind, taking after the precedent regimes in the United Kingdom, Australia (in the states of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, and Western Australia), and New Zealand. The adjudication regime in Singapore most closely resembles the regime in New South Wales under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act of 1999. Based on the statistics currently available, it would appear that the Singapore regime has enjoyed some success thus far in achieving its policy objectives of expediting payment and improving cash flow within the construction industry. There is some indication that this has been due to a positive change in the underlying mindset towards payment in the construction industry. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen whether this success can be sustained and improved upon. This may have wider implications including a possible reduction in the use of litigation and arbitration proceedings for resolving construction payment disputes in Singapore.