KUALA LUMPUR: The Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration (KLRCA), the sole adjudication authority of the CIPA Act 2012 in Malaysia, aims to increase Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act (CIPAA) awareness and enforcement.
KLRCA and the Malaysian Society of Adjudicators hosted the fifth annual CIPAA Conference yesterday (Wednesday).
The Act introduced default payment terms for construction contracts, stipulating the value and frequency of progress payments where such terms are provided for under the contract and prohibits the practice of including ‘pay when paid’ clause.
This serves to facilitate regular and timely payment, a binding dispute resolution mechanism and a remedy for payment recovery.
Since coming into operation, the Act has gained strength and provides affected parties with a trusted platform to resolve payment disputes under construction contracts for projects carried out in Malaysia.
“The construction sector, alongside the services and manufacturing sectors, continue to be the major contributors to Malaysia’s economic growth.
“The total value of construction work done in the first quarter of this year alone was RM31.9 billion,” said Datuk Professor Sundra Rajoo, director of the KLRCA during the opening address.
He continued that it is only apt that this industry is given the required protection and structure to ensure its growth is sustained and further built upon to ensure the nation’s aspirations of becoming a developed nation by 2020 transpires.
Nancy Shukri, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department was there to deliver the keynote address.
The much awaited KLRCA CIPAA Status Report 2016 was also released by Sundra.
The report featured up-to-date data on the enforcement of the CIPA Act including case statistics, nature of disputes, adjudication amounts as well as data on adjudications cases involving Government entities.
This report will provide further clarity for all parties entering into the adjudication process.
Themed ‘Gaining Strength’, the CIPAA Conference saw more than two hundred stakeholders in the adjudication and construction industry in attendance, making this one of the largest CIPAA gathering yet.