I-Lab Engineering v Shriro (Singapore): Suspension of Work & Recovery of Loss

I-Lab Engineering Pte Ltd, the plaintiff, sued Shriro (Singapore) Pte Ltd, the defendant, in the High Court of Singapore, regarding a dispute over payment for air-conditioning and mechanical ventilation works on a construction project. The court, presided over by Assistant Registrar Elton Tan Xue Yang, addressed the central question of whether the defendant, as a sub-contractor, is entitled to claim the full contract price for omitted works during a period of suspension under s 26(3) of the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act. The court ordered that the counterclaim for omitted works be amended to replace the phrase 'the full contract sum' with 'damages to be assessed'.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

High Court

1.2 Outcome

Counterclaim for Omitted Works to be amended to replace the phrase 'the full contract sum' with 'damages to be assessed'.

1.3 Case Type

Civil

1.4 Judgment Type

Grounds of Decision

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Subcontractor I-Lab Engineering sued Shriro (Singapore) over a payment dispute. The court addressed the scope of loss recoverable under s 26(3) of the SOP Act.

1.7 Decision Date

6 November 2018

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
I-Lab Engineering Pte Ltd	Applicant, Plaintiff	Corporation	Partial	Partial	Yap Jie Han of Wong Tan & Molly Lim LLC
Shriro (Singapore) Pte Ltd	Respondent, Defendant	Corporation	Partial	Partial	Poonaam Bai of Eldan Law LLP Pramnath Vijayakumar of Eldan Law LLP Lee Shu Qing of Eldan Law LLP Genevieve Wong of Eldan Law LLP

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Elton Tan Xue Yang	Assistant Registrar	Yes

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Yap Jie Han	Wong Tan & Molly Lim LLC
Poonaam Bai	Eldan Law LLP
Pramnath Vijayakumar	Eldan Law LLP
Lee Shu Qing	Eldan Law LLP
Genevieve Wong	Eldan Law LLP

4. Facts

I-Lab Engineering is the sub-contractor for a construction project.
Shriro (Singapore) is I-Lab Engineering's sub-contractor for ACMV and electrical installation works.
The Sub-Contract provided for lump sum payment of $10,650,000 to Shriro.
Shriro lodged an adjudication application against I-Lab for the amount claimed in Payment Claim No. 19.
I-Lab did not serve a valid payment response.
The adjudicator directed I-Lab to pay Shriro $2,467,343.54 (including GST).
Shriro suspended its works pending payment of the adjudicated sum.
I-Lab carried out various works falling within the scope of the Sub-Contract Works during the Suspension Period.

5. Formal Citations

I-Lab Engineering Pte Ltd v Shriro (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Suit No 94 of 2018 (Summons No 3510 of 2018), [2018] SGHCR 15

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2015-09-30	Plaintiff issued a letter of award to the Defendant
2015-10-01	Defendant signed the letter of award
2017-10-10	Defendant lodged an adjudication application against the Plaintiff
2017-11-13	Adjudication determination directing Plaintiff to pay Defendant $2,467,343.54 (including GST)
2017-12-28	Defendant suspended its works
2018-01-30	Plaintiff commenced Suit No 94 of 2018 against the Defendant
2018-02-12	End of Suspension Period
2018-07-31	Plaintiff filed Summons No 3510 of 2018
2018-09-20	Hearing of parties
2018-09-21	Hearing of parties
2018-09-25	Hearing of parties
2018-10-09	Decision delivered on the Striking Out Application
2018-10-19	Judgment reserved
2018-11-07	Judgment

7. Legal Issues

Recovery of Loss or Expenses
- Outcome: The court held that the right to recover loss or expenses under s 26(3) of the Act does not extend to the full contract sum.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Measure of damages
  - Causation of loss
Suspension of Performance
- Outcome: The court discussed the right to suspend the carrying out of construction work under s 26(1) of the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act.
- Category: Substantive

8. Remedies Sought

Declaration
Damages

9. Cause of Actions

Breach of Contract

10. Practice Areas

Construction Law
Commercial Litigation

11. Industries

Construction

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
Jia Min Building Construction Pte Ltd v Ann Lee Pte Ltd	High Court	Yes	[2004] 3 SLR(R) 288	Singapore	Cited for the principle that a contractor has no general right at common law to suspend work unless expressly agreed upon.
Parkview Constructions Pty Ltd v Sydney Civil Excavations Pte Ltd & anor	New South Wales Supreme Court	Yes	[2009] NSWSC 61	Australia	Cited to emphasize the need for a causal connection between the loss or expenses claimed and the removal of contractual works by the respondent.
Paul Michael Pty Ltd (subject to deed of company arrangement) v Urban Traders Pty Ltd	New South Wales Supreme Court	Yes	[2010] NSWSC 1246	Australia	Cited to emphasize the need for a causal connection between the loss or expenses claimed and the removal of contractual works by the respondent.
Urban Traders Pty Ltd v Paul Michael Pty Ltd	New South Wales Supreme Court	Yes	[2009] NSWSC 1072	Australia	Cited for the principle that the right to suspend work would lose much of its efficacy if a proprietor could react to the suspension by withdrawing the work from the builder.
Alvin Nicholas Nathan v Raffles Assets (Singapore) Pte Ltd	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2016] 2 SLR 1056	Singapore	Cited for the principles of awarding damages pursuant to a repudiatory breach of contract.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
Rules of Court (Cap 322, R 5, 2014 Rev Ed) O 18 r 19(1)(a)
Rules of Court (Cap 322, R 5, 2014 Rev Ed) O 18 r 19(1)

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act (Cap 30B, 2006 Rev Ed)	Singapore
Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act (Cap 30B, 2006 Rev Ed) s 26(1)	Singapore
Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act (Cap 30B, 2006 Rev Ed) s 26(3)	Singapore
Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act (Cap 30B, 2006 Rev Ed) s 23(1)(b)	Singapore
Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act (Cap 30B, 2006 Rev Ed) s 26(2)	Singapore
Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act (Cap 30B, 2006 Rev Ed) s 26(2)(b)	Singapore
Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act (Cap 30B, 2006 Rev Ed) s 15(3)	Singapore
Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 s 27(1)	New South Wales
Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 s 27(2A)	New South Wales
Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 s 4	New South Wales
Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (c. 53) s 112(1)	United Kingdom

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Suspension of works
Adjudication determination
Omitted Works
Loss or expenses
Full contract sum
Sub-Contract Works
Adjudicated amount
Payment Claim
Payment Response

15.2 Keywords

Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act
Suspension of work
Loss and expenses
Construction adjudication
Singapore High Court

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act	95
Construction Law	90
Breach of Contract	50
Contract Law	50
Arbitration	30

16. Subjects

Construction Dispute
Security of Payment
Contract Law