Construction Industry Security of Payment Rules gazetted
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The Ordinance aims to address the longstanding payment problems in the construction industry by providing an adjudication mechanism that will help stakeholders receive their entitled payment in a timely manner, thereby creating a healthy business environment for the construction industry and, in turn, providing better protection for the construction industry practitioners. By referring the payment dispute to adjudication, an adjudicator, as an independent third party, will determine the payment dispute and the costs of adjudication proceedings payable by each party. To protect the interests of parties to adjudication, and ensure that the adjudication determination can be effectively enforced, the Ordinance allows parties to adjudication, under specific circumstances, apply to the Court for set aside or enforcement of the relevant determination. Under the Ordinance, both the Court of First Instance and the District Court have jurisdictions to hear set aside applications and enforcement applications.
"The Ordinance was gazetted on December 27, 2024, and will come into full operation on August 28 this year, with great support from the industry for the upcoming implementation of adjudication provisions under the Ordinance. The Rules provide for the practice and procedure relating to set aside applications and enforcement applications, to facilitate effective handling of relevant applications in the Court, ensuring that adjudication determinations are upheld swiftly and providing parties to adjudication with legal certainty. The formulation of the Rules has taken full account of the views of legal profession, construction industry stakeholders and the Judiciary," a spokesman for the Development Bureau said.
The Rules will be tabled at the Legislative Council on July 16 for negative vetting. Subject to the completion of the necessary legislative process, the Rules will come into effect on September 5 this year.
Ends/Friday, July 11, 2025
Issued at HKT 19:30
Issued at HKT 19:30
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