The Perception on the Importance of Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act (CIPAA) 2012 Towards Remedying Payment Disputes: A Research on Subcontractors in Kuching, Sarawak

Abstract

The Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act (CIPAA) 2012 seek to provide the construction industry players with an alternative avenue to resolve the disputes quickly and at affordable costs. This Act can be used for any written construction contract that relates to any construction work in which includes local and international contracts. The current modes of construction dispute resolution by way of arbitration or court litigation take months and quite typically years to complete. Nevertheless, the implementation of CIPAA is relatively new to the construction industry, thus the possibility of construction players to be lack of knowledge and awareness about CIPAA is greater. Furthermore, payment problem normally occurs between main contractor and subcontractor. Therefore, this paper aims to measure the perception of subcontractors towards CIPAA in solving payment dispute. The pertinent features of CIPAA as well as its importance have been explained through an extensive literature review. In addition, a questionnaire survey was adopted to elicit the perception of subcontractors towards CIPAA. It is found that lack of awareness among respondents towards the implementation of CIPAA in construction industry is relatively high. Most of the respondents perceived CIPAA positively and expecting its can help to ease the cash flow. This research is expected to increase the subcontractor’s understanding on payment right and their legal position if payment is in default. It is also expected to grab the attention of the employers in making their payment promptly and timeliness. In conclusion, it is aimed that the construction industry can be benefited from the enactment of CIPAA.