HK Security Of Payment Ordinance: What Difference Might It Make In Practice?

Summary

In Wang & Lee Contracting Ltd v Young Kwong Pui Trading as In Tech Engineering [2025] HKDC 66 (Date of Decision: 3 January 2025), the District Court ordered the court proceedings to be stayed and that the plaintiff's claims be referred to arbitration.

The court's decision to grant a stay in favour of arbitration is entirely unsurprising and is consistent with Hong Kong courts' pro-arbitration stance. What this article will explore is how this dispute might have proceeded along a different trajectory if the newly enacted Construction Industry Security of Payment Ordinance (Cap 652) ("Ordinance") had been in force and applied to this dispute and the facts leading up to it.