CIPAA – Is It To Have Retrospective Or Prospective Effect?

INTRODUCTION

The enactment of the Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act 2012 (Act 746) ("CIPAA") which came into force on 15^th April 2014 was greeted with much fanfare in Malaysia, particularly amongst those in the construction industry. As provided for in the long title to CIPAA, the introduction of this statute was and is to "facilitate regular and timely payment, to provide a mechanism for speedy dispute resolution through adjudication, to provide remedies for the recovery of payment in the construction industry and to provide for connected and incidental matters."

Whilst the introduction of CIPAA has been generally been viewed favourably by the construction industry as well as by the legal fraternity, several issues have arisen as a consequence of the manner in which some of the specific statutory provisions within CIPAA have been drafted. To this end, one of the burning issues which has plagued CIPAA since its inception is whether the Act is to