Sports Hub contractor in dispute with subcontractor for breach of contract

ENGINEERING and construction company Dragages Singapore is claiming S$14.8 million against 2 Hong Kong firms in a lawsuit over alleged breach of contract for the roofing works of the Singapore Sports Hub.

Dragages, which is part of French company Bouygues Group, was the main contractor for the design and construction of the Sports Hub. It had entered into a sub-contract with Craft Facade (CFPL) to carry out the roofing works in 2011.

The defendants - Craft Projects (HK) Company and Craft Projects International Company - are the guarantor and indemnitor of CFPL.

In court documents seen by The Business Times, Dragages alleges that CFPL had not properly performed obligations under the sub-contract. This includes failing to complete its sub-contract works and rectify defects, and failing to perform the works with due diligence.

Earlier in 2015, Dragages had issued a final payment certificate to CFPL to indicate that the amount due under the sub-contract was about S$14.5 million and US$244,500, and said it subsequently sent separate written demands to both defendants for the claims.

CFPL and the defendants have not paid the demanded sums, Dragages said.

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The defendants, however, deny allegations of failure to properly perform the sub-contract and/or breach of the sub-contract. They also denied that the final payment certificate was correct, and denied that CFPL owes any sum to the plaintiff.

In addition, the defendants noted that Dragages had commenced the proceedings on April 30, 2021, which was outside the limitation period of 6 years and therefore the action is time-barred.

The lawsuit has a pre-trial conference on Friday (Dec 17).

Dragages is represented by construction law specialist Christopher Chong of Drew & Napier.

Meanwhile, the solicitors for the defendants are from AsiaLegal and led by Timothy Tan, whose practice has centred on civil litigation with a heavy focus in shipping related matters.

The parties are going through an arbitration as well, but the nature of the dispute is unknown as it is confidential.

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