High Court sides with couple in renovation tussle
image from weisradio
"Singapores High Court has reversed a district judges decision that a couple -- Air Force Lieutenant-Colonel Ng Boo Han and his wife Audrey-Ann Koo Oi Lian -- should pay their neighbour $47,000 as compensation for renovating their house into an English country-style home, said media reports. Instead, the court ordered the renovator Edward Teo to pay the couple more than $67,000 for delivering inferior work and for failing to remedy defects.In a ruling published yesterday (22 December), Judicial Commissioner Edmund Leow gave credence to the report of a surveyor, who was hired by the couple to look into the defects of their revamped home. Specifically, Leow upheld the claims for six of 15 allegedly flawed items like the use of a zinc roof instead of one made from ceramic tiles as stipulated in the contract and the installation of a 4mm-thick glass panel for the study room, which is considered too thin by industry standards. The Judicial Commissioner said the district judge made a mistake when he dismissed the couples counterclaim for rectification costs due to inconsistencies in their evidence. Even assuming that no repair work had been carried out, the fact still remains that there were defects in Teos work that required rectification. However, he rejected claims for other defective items, such the timber deck as the couple had failed to specify in the contract that they wanted a stronger material......"
Read the rest of the article here.
I wish to highlight the importance of having a comprehensive contract which states the material, specification and the make and scope of the renovation works. During a court tussle, the contract is by far an extremely important document. Hence, do take the time to sit down and flesh out the details before signing on the dotted line.
Since anything that is agreed verbally will not be held up in court unless it is written down and acknowledged by both parties, please perform a contract variation as and when needed. Written communication such as emails between both parties can be submitted as supporting evidence in times of dispute...but they might or might not be recognized, depending on the clarity of the email exchanges.
This couple is very lucky to have the court ruled in their favor. However, not all couples are as fortunate as them.
Since anything that is agreed verbally will not be held up in court unless it is written down and acknowledged by both parties, please perform a contract variation as and when needed. Written communication such as emails between both parties can be submitted as supporting evidence in times of dispute...but they might or might not be recognized, depending on the clarity of the email exchanges.
This couple is very lucky to have the court ruled in their favor. However, not all couples are as fortunate as them.
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