(abridged from his Report at the Annual General Meeting, 24 August 2007) – September 2007

Dear Members

The past 12 months have been a very busy year for the Society. I would like to thank the enthusiastic Members and the Committee, as well as the efficient Secretariat for their support and hard work.

Management Committee

The present committee was elected for a term of 2 years, pursuant to Article 8.2 of the Constitution at the AGM on 28 August 2006.

SCL Secretariat

To assist the honorary Management Committee in organizing the increasing number of SCL events, the Management Committee has appointed Intellitrain Pte Ltdunder an on-going professional services and management contract to serve as SCL’s secretariat.

Note the SCL’s secretariat address and contact numbers.

Membership

There were 147 members of the Society, as at August 2007, and the Committee’s aim is to increase membership to 200 members by 2008.

Accounts

There is a healthy balance in the Society’s accounts (Exact numbers and details are in the Society’s audited accounts tabled at the AGM), largely obtained from attendance at our events and membership fees.

Projects and Events

Society of Construction Law International Conference 2006 – 15 to 17 October 2006. This inaugural International SCL Conference was a resounding success attended by 176 delegates from 15 countries, with excellent quality papers and presentations by the speakers and chairpersons, and enjoyable networking and enthusiastic participation by the delegates, as well as a healthy gross profit for the Society (details were in the Auditted Accounts tabled at the AGM). The Attorney-General of Singapore, the Honourable Mr. Chao Hick Tin, kindly graced the Conference Opening and delivered a Key-Note Speech.

Proposed International Federation of SCLs – The International Conference in October 2006 was a useful gathering of representatives of equivalent SCLs and related organizations from the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, India and New Zealand. During the Conference and subsequent thereto, the representatives of the various SCLs have been in communication to set up a proposed International Federation of Societies of Construction Law, with envisaged reciprocal benefits for members of the Federation societies, and we will keep Members informed of these developments as they take shape.

The next International SCL Conference is being organized by the SCL in England to be held in London in October 2007

Working Committees – In his Key-Note Address at the Opening Ceremony of the International Conference, the Attorney-General invited the Society to look into certain current concerns in the construction industry – namely to (1) review current standard contract forms to see, in the light of experience, how they could be further refined to reduce the incidence of disputes so to reduce the number of disputes; (2) review standards of conduct and practice of claims consultants and professionals in the industry; and (3) reduce the cost involved in resolution of construction disputes.

The Society took up the Attorney-General’s suggestions and appointed a Steering Committee, chaired by Mohan Pillay. Pursuant to terms of reference formulated by the Steering Committee and a follow-up meeting with the Senior State Counsel, Jeffrey Chan, the Society formed “Working Groups” to look into the matters suggested by the Attorney-General under three broad categories, namely: (1) Review of the Standard Forms of Contract, chaired by Mohan Pillay (2) Cost of Dispute Resolution, chaired by Naresh Mahtani and (3) Codes of Practice, chaired by Christopher Nunns.

Members were invited to join the three working committees, and their work is on- going. The Working Committees are expected to issue their views and recommendations in late 2006 or early 2007, following which these will be publicized to and discussed with Members at seminars in due course.

These comprised the following and were all well-attended. You can find the full reports and photographs at the Society’s website.

Annual Networking Cocktail

About 57 members and guests turned up the Society's annual social gathering, held in the evening of 15 May 2007 at Bacchus Boathouse, at which members and guests had the opportunity to catch up and network with each other, as well as discuss current affairs in the construction industry.

Newsletter and Website

At the Society’s website, which we are regularly continuing to improve and upgrade, you can find details such as past, current and future events; membership forms; the constitution and resources, such as papers from past seminars and conferences.

These items, as well as feature articles, can also be found in the Newsletter.

At a recent committee meeting, it was decided that we will now have a Publications Committee instead, taking care of both the website and the Newsletter, as there is some duplication in the contents of both these information vehicles.

Members are invited to join the Publications Committee, and to inform the Secretariat if they would like to do so.

Communication with other related Organizations

The Society has been in communication with other organizations in Singapore who have an interest in construction law, so as to facilitate reciprocal publicity for events and activities.

So far, we have arranged such reciprocity with the Law Society of Singapore, the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators, the Department of Building and the Faculty of Law at the National University of Singapore.

We have been in contact with other organizations, such as the Singapore Institute of Architects, SCAL, SISV, CIOB to build relationships and possibly reciprocal arrangements in future.

Future Plans

These include several seminars in the near future and a Joint SCL-Law Society-NUS Conference being planned for mid-2008, as well as further social and networking events in 2008.

All Members are invited to be in contact with the Committee with any suggestions and ideas and if they would like to be involved in organizing any activities for the Society.


Best Wishes,

Naresh Mahtani
Chairman, Society of Construction Law (Singapore)