Kopitiam founder sues contractor over ‘abandoned’ works on his Whitley Road property

SINGAPORE - Lim Bee Huat, the founder of food court chain Kopitiam, has sued a contractor for abandoning the construction on two adjacent houses at Whitley Road, leaving behind incomplete and defective works.

Lim is seeking damages for the cost to complete the construction and rectify the defects, which has been assessed by an independent expert at nearly $456,000.

The businessman is also seeking damages for loss of use of the property from mid-2022 onwards, at a monthly rental rate of more than $21,000.

The defendant, Tiandi ACMV Engineering, denied that it is liable for the purported defects, and contended that it has finished the works it was contracted to complete.

The firm asserted that it was not involved in the works which resulted in the “Frankenstein house”.

It alleged that these works were later carried out with the intention to illegally increase the gross floor area.

Tiandi has counterclaimed against Lim for an outstanding sum of $1.14 million due under the $3.5 million contract.

A trial for the High Court suit began on Sept 14 and is scheduled to run till Oct 15.

Lim famously began cleaning tables at coffee shops for $1 a night when he was nine years old, before he set up his first stall at the old Esplanade ground at the age of 18.

He grew Kopitiam into a network of more than 80 outlets across Singapore, before the business was sold to NTUC Enterprise in 2018.

The current dispute revolves around the building and construction works at his Whitley Road property in the prime District 11.

According to court documents, the 634.4 sqm property is made up of two adjacent parcels of land.

Lim initially owned one parcel, on which sits an existing house. He acquired the second parcel in early 2012.

His plan was to build a new house to replace the existing one, and a second house on the other parcel of land.

In 2014, his employee, Per Poh Huat, recommended Pek Han Kok to be the contractor for the project.

Pek was the owner of Tiandi as well as a company called Future Innovation & Construction.

Lim engaged Future Innovation to carry out the works, which began in April 2016.

In 2017, Tiandi took over as the contractor for the project. The completion date under the contract was June 7, 2019.

In January 2019, Lim and his family moved into the first house, but the second house was never occupied.

The Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP) was issued in August 2019, but the works remained incomplete, he said.

“Tiandi remained on site and continued carrying out works in (both houses),” stated Lim’s opening statement.

The Certificate of Statutory Completion was issued in September 2020.

In May 2021, Lim discovered that the works had been abandoned, and wrote to Pek to demand that the works be completed and rectified.

He and his family moved out in mid-2022. Since then, both houses have been unoccupied.

Lim, who is represented by Ng Kim Beng from Rajah & Tann, contended that Tiandi was in breach of contract by failing to complete the works and rectify the defective works.

The businessman added that Tiandi was the only party he contracted to carry out the works in the project.

He also asserted that Tiandi’s counterclaim should be dismissed.

Lim said he had paid, through his employee Per, at least $6.4 million, which exceeded the contract sum.

Tiandi, which is represented by Alfred Lim of Meritus Law, contended that there were two phases of construction works.

The company said it completed the first phase, which was approved by the authorities, with multiple structural and architectural drawings submitted.

“The second phase was not carried out by Tiandi. The second phase was carried out illegally. There were no drawings approved by the authorities,” said the defendant’s opening statement.