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Daniel Ho

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Daniel is a Local Principal with the Dispute Resolution Practice Group in Singapore. He is accredited by the Singapore Academy of Law as an Accredited Specialist in Building and Construction Law, and is currently a Council Member of the Society of Construction Law (Singapore). He has more than 13 years of experience in this industry, having worked as an engineer and project manager handling overhaul and maintenance projects for the Republic of Singapore Navy’s submarines prior to practising law. Daniel focuses on the law relating to construction, engineering and technology projects (e.g., building, infrastructure, renovation/fit out, manufacturing, turn key, transportation, supply chain, energy, oil and gas projects etc.), for which he supports his clients on the: Drafting of the suite of contracts and related documentation (either bespoke or based on standard form construction contracts such as SIA, REDAS, PSSCOC, FIDIC, JCT, NEC etc.) as well as the reviewing of tender bids and negotiations to close out; Handling of legal issues throughout the project (e.g., claims for outstanding payment, additional costs, losses and expenses, omissions, variations, delay and/or disruption issues such as extensions of time and prolongation costs, suspension, acceleration, inspection and quality assurance, defects, insurance, indemnities, termination, SOP Act payment claim / payment response / adjudication procedures, final account closure, general business law queries etc.); and Resolution of their disagreements with their contractual counterparties if there are any disputes that arise (e.g., through arbitration, litigation, adjudication or other alternative means of dispute resolution such as negotiations, mediation, expert determination or neutral evaluation). Daniel is ranked in The Legal 500 Asia Pacific for Construction: Local Firms in Singapore for three consecutive years (as a Next Generation Partner in 2025, and as a Rising Star in 2023 and 2024). He was also awarded "Rising Star of the Year – Construction and Real Estate" at The Legal 500 Southeast Asia Awards 2023. His clients have noted that Daniel “was pivotal in one of our arbitration cases”, “stands out for his great attention to detail, thorough understanding of the case, and ensuring efficient communications between the stakeholders”, “was able to grasp the complex issues easily without many difficulties”, “is very responsive and has considerable industrial knowledge and expertise”, “stands out as a hard working lawyer whom I can count on for prompt response and creative thoughts on the matter that I had worked with the team”, and that "[h]is engineering background is very helpful.”

In brief 2024 saw a number of significant rulings in Singapore that have provided clarity on issues such as the definition of completion for construction works and the limitation period for latent defects, as well as issues surrounding the application and interpretation of the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2004 (“SOP Act”). As readers may know, the SOP Act is fundamentally a statutory regime to facilitate cash flow in the construction industry.…

Written records are of primary importance in construction projects. Not only do they obviate disputes as to alleged happenings, but they also help focus the parties’ attention on any potential adjustment of the contract sum. In Vim Engineering Pte Ltd. v. Deluge Fire Protection (SEA) Pte Ltd. [2021] SGHC 63, the General Division of the Singapore High Court (SGHC) held that a contractor is not entitled to claim for variation works that were carried out pursuant to…

In Range Construction Pte Ltd v Goldbell Engineering Pte Ltd [2021] SGCA 34, the Singapore Court of Appeal (SGCA) considered, for the first time, whether an employer has the right to set off its claim for liquidated damages against a contractor’s payment claim in an adjudication under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act (SOPA). The contractor’s payment claim was submitted on 2 December 2019, and the applicable statute was the pre-amendment Building and Construction…