On 9.6.2020, our Partner, Christine Toh from the firm’s Dispute Resolution and Construction Department was invited by the Malaysian Water Association to speak on “Construction Contracts and the Aftermath of the MCO”.
Christine began the presentation by discussing force majeure clauses by making reference to case law as well as various standard forms of construction contracts commonly used in Malaysia such as PAM, PWD, FIDIC and I.E.M.
Thereafter, Christine provided beneficial insight into the workings of Extension of Time and Loss and Expenses clauses in the abovementioned standard forms of construction contracts, and how contractors and subcontractors may capitalise on such clauses to ease their financial burdens arising from the COVID-19 MCO and CMCO.
Subsequently, Christine explored the doctrine of frustration of contracts and whether the MCO and CMCO rendered the construction contract impossible to perform. The talk ended with a brief overview of CIPAA 2012, a mechanism that can be utilised by any party of a construction contract in Malaysia to fast-track their contractual disputes.
A copy of the slides in PDF format is available for download here. A video recording of the talk can also be found here.
