Security Of Payment Legislation For The Construction Industry

Since its inception in the UK in 1998, Security of Payment Legislation has spread across many common law countries, including Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia.

SOPL aims at improving payment practice in the construction industry by establishing:

• Statutory protection for payment claims made for work done on construction contracts;
• A system of Adjudication – a quick dispute resolution mechanism to resolve disputes, on an interim basis, over contractual payment claims; and
• The statutory right to suspend works where contractual payment is not satisfied

It seems as though such legislation is shortly to be enacted in Hong Kong, and last August Hong Kong's construction industry players made their responses to the Development Bureau's consultation document. The consultation process is not over yet, so the jury is still out, but the proposals as they stood included the following elements: