Multiplex Constructions v Sintal: Stay of Proceedings & Arbitration for Delay Damages

In a dispute between Multiplex Constructions Pty Ltd and Sintal Enterprise Pte Ltd, the Court of Appeal of Singapore heard an appeal regarding the stay of court proceedings in favor of arbitration. Multiplex sought a stay of Sintal's High Court claim for sums due under two sub-contracts, arguing that disputes existed regarding delay damages and the validity of set-off notices. The court allowed the appeal in part, granting a stay for claims related to interim certificates 28, 29, and 30, but denying a stay for interim certificate 27.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

Court of Appeal of the Republic of Singapore

1.2 Outcome

Appeal Allowed in Part

1.3 Case Type

Civil

1.4 Judgment Type

Grounds of Decision

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Appeal regarding stay of court proceedings in favor of arbitration. Court of Appeal addressed disputes over delay damages and set-off notices.

1.7 Decision Date

2 March 2005

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
Multiplex Constructions Pty Ltd	Appellant	Corporation	Appeal allowed in part	Partial	Vinodh S Coomaraswamy, Pradeep Pillai
Sintal Enterprise Pte Ltd	Respondent	Corporation	Appeal partially dismissed	Partial	Andre Maniam, Paul Sandosham

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Chao Hick Tin	Justice of Appeal	Yes
Judith Prakash	Judge	No

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Vinodh S Coomaraswamy	Shook Lin and Bok
Pradeep Pillai	Shook Lin and Bok
Andre Maniam	Wong Partnership
Paul Sandosham	Wong Partnership

4. Facts

Multiplex was employed to build a housing development at Haig Road.
Multiplex entered into two sub-contracts with Sintal for stonework.
Sintal sued Multiplex for sums due under both sub-contracts.
Multiplex applied for a stay of proceedings based on arbitration clauses.
Multiplex sought to set off losses against certified sums due to Sintal.
Multiplex issued four set-off notices against Sintal’s claim for the certified sums.
The architect issued interim certificates nos 27, 28, 29 and 30 for a total amount of $485,268.55 in respect of marble supplied by Sintal.

5. Formal Citations

Multiplex Constructions Pty Ltd v Sintal Enterprise Pte Ltd, CA 61/2004, [2005] SGCA 10

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2001-01-01	Multiplex employed by Great Eastern Life Assurance Company Ltd to build a housing development at Haig Road
2001-04-23	Letter of acceptance signed by both parties
2002-07-29	Original completion date for the main contract
2003-04-29	Architect issued interim certificate number 27
2003-06-03	Architect issued interim certificate number 28
2003-07-09	Architect issued interim certificate number 29
2003-08-11	Architect issued interim certificate number 30
2004-03-01	Sintal sued Multiplex in the High Court
2004-06-01	Justice Lai Siu Chiu dismissed Multiplex's appeal
2005-03-03	Judgment reserved

7. Legal Issues

Stay of Court Proceedings
- Outcome: The court allowed a partial stay of proceedings in favor of arbitration.
- Category: Procedural
General Damages for Delay
- Outcome: The court found that there was a dispute regarding the interpretation of the damages provisions of the sub-contract that must go to arbitration.
- Category: Substantive
Validity of Set-Off Notices
- Outcome: The court found that apart from the first set-off notice, the set-off notices complied with clause 11.5(i) and that there were disputes which should be referred to arbitration.
- Category: Substantive

8. Remedies Sought

Monetary Damages

9. Cause of Actions

Breach of Contract

10. Practice Areas

Commercial Litigation
Arbitration
Construction Law

11. Industries

Construction

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
Kwan Im Tong Chinese Temple v Fong Choon Hung Construction Pte Ltd	Court of Appeal	Yes	[1998] 2 SLR 137	Singapore	Cited for the holistic and common-sense approach towards determining the existence of a dispute in arbitration cases.
Tradax Internacional SA v Cerrahogullari TAS (The M Eregli)	N/A	Yes	[1981] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 169	N/A	Cited for the principle that the court has jurisdiction to hear a matter instead of referring it to arbitration if the claim is indisputable.
Uni-Navigation Pte Ltd v Wei Loong Shipping Pte Ltd	N/A	Yes	[1993] 1 SLR 876	Singapore	Cited for the observation that courts should adopt a holistic and commonsense approach to see if there is a dispute in arbitration agreements.
Home and Overseas Insurance Co Ltd v Mentor Insurance Co (UK) Ltd	N/A	Yes	[1990] 1 WLR 153	United Kingdom	Cited for the principle that full-scale argument should not be permitted in a situation where there is an arbitration clause, except in a very clear case.
JDC Corporation v Lightweight Concrete Pte Ltd	Court of Appeal	Yes	[1999] 1 SLR 615	Singapore	Cited regarding the issue of the type of damages claimable by a contractor from his sub-contractor under the provisions of a construction contract.
Homburg Houtimport BV v Agrosin Private Ltd	House of Lords	Yes	[2004] 1 AC 715	United Kingdom	Cited for the principle that greater weight should attach to terms which the contracting parties had chosen to include in the contract than to pre-printed conditions.
Archital Luxfer Limited v AJ Dunning and Sons (Weyhill) Limited	English Court of Appeal	Yes	(1989) 5 Const LJ 47	England and Wales	Cited regarding a similarly-worded procedural requirement which had to be satisfied before a set-off could be exercised.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
No applicable rules

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
Arbitration Act (Cap 10, 2002 Rev Ed)	Singapore

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Arbitration
Stay of Proceedings
Set-Off
Liquidated Damages
General Damages
Sub-Contract
Interim Certificate
Delay Damages
Conditions of Sub-Contract

15.2 Keywords

Arbitration
Construction
Singapore
Contract
Stay of Proceedings
Damages
Set-off

16. Subjects

Construction Dispute
Arbitration
Contract Law

17. Areas of Law

Arbitration Law
Contract Law
Construction Law
Civil Procedure