No General Right To Suspend Work For Non-Payment

In the recent decision of LBE Engineering Pte Ltd v Double S Construction Pte Ltd [2022] SGHC 92, the Court re-iterated that in general, a contractor does not have the right to suspend work for non-payment unless this has been expressly provided for in the parties' contract.

Brief facts. The plaintiff-respondent was engaged by the defendant-appellant to carry out some construction work ([2]). In gist, the dispute between the parties arose when the defendant did not certify the plaintiff's fifth progress payment claim on the ground that it was submitted a day late. The plaintiff notified the defendant that they would stop work if the defendant did not certify their progress claim and pay them. As the defendant did not make payment, the plaintiff stopped work. ([5] – [6]).