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The government has published its Response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s Phase 2 report. This Insight takes a closer look at the Response focusing on some of the major reforms the government plans to make (for the full detail of the reforms, please refer to the Response) and the timeframes for such actions.

On 10 February 2025, the Development Bureau (“DEVB”) issued a suite of model adjudication documents (“Model Documents”), including a set of model adjudication rules (“Model Rules”). This suite of Model Documents is not issued so as to be binding or operative in their own right. Rather, they are issued as guidance (perhaps strong guidance) for the various entities who will apply to Government to be recognised as approved adjudicator nominating bodies, “ANBs”, for the purposes of the Construction Industry Security of Payment Ordinance (Cap. 652) (“Ordinance”). Although it remains uncertain to what extent the Model Documents will be adopted by nominating bodies, the Model Documents offer a preview of how the Ordinance might function when it comes into operation on 28 August 2025.

In Wang & Lee Contracting Ltd v Young Kwong Pui Trading as In Tech Engineering [2025] HKDC 66 (Date of Decision: 3 January 2025), the District Court ordered the court proceedings to be stayed and that the plaintiff’s claims be referred to arbitration. The court’s decision to grant a stay in favour of arbitration is entirely unsurprising and is consistent with Hong Kong courts’ pro-arbitration stance. What this article will explore is how this dispute might have proceeded along a different trajectory if the newly enacted Construction Industry Security of Payment Ordinance (Cap 652) (“Ordinance”) had been in force and applied to this dispute and the facts leading up to it.