Employer’s Rep under the REDAS Form is not an Independent Certifier

In CEQ v CER [2020] SGHC 70 the High Court distinguishes between the role of an architect under the SIA Form and the employer’s representative under the REDAS Form. It held that an architect under the SIA Form “plays an integral role in the payment certification process” and has been described as a “quasi-adjudicator”. On the other hand, the employer’s representative in the REDAS Form is neither an independent certifier nor a referee but “an agent of the employer”. His certifications are not an “objective assessment of works done and monies due” but, instead, “mere signals of the employer’s assent to the payment claim as submitted by the contractor. [Do note that CEQ v CER was overturned on appeal in Orion-One Residential Pte Ltd v Dong Cheng Construction Pte Ltd and another [2020] SGCA 121, but not on this point.]