The Plaintiff's failure to complete contractually agreed works within the stipulated time justified dismissal of the claim, affirming the Defendant's entitlement to recover costs incurred from a third party to rectify incomplete work.

Teoh Shu Yee M:

A. Introduction

[1] This case involves a claim brought by the Plaintiff against the Defendant for the sum of RM28,790.00, along with interest, allegedly owed by the Defendant to the Plaintiff in connection with a renovation project. The Defendant had engaged the Plaintiff to carry out the necessary works for the project.

[2] However, the Plaintiff's failure to complete the project within the stipulated two-month period caused the Defendant to hire a third party and incur additional costs for the incomplete work. Therefore, the Defendant has also filed a counterclaim against the Plaintiff for RM19,911.90, along with interest.

[3] There were four witnesses who testified during the trial, as follows, where the Plaintiff and the Defendant respectively called two witnesses:

Plaintiff's case

a) PW1: En Mohamad Zulhilmi, director/scaffolding inspector for the Plaintiff;

b) PW2: En Mohd @ Mohamad, monitoring the work at the site as requested by the Plaintiff and representative of Vertigo Tech;

Defendant's case

c) En Muhammad Shazwan, projek manager of the Defendant; and

d) En Abdul Wahab, projeck manager of Merak Signature.

[4] After the full trial, this court dismissed the Plaintiff's claim and allowed Defendant's counterclaim with costs.

B. Plaintiff's Case And Submission

[5] The Plaintiff was appointed by the Defendant to carry out works related to a renovation project for a period of two months, commencing on 16 August 2023, at Malaysian Refining Company Sdn Bhd (MRCSB) office in Sungai Udang, Melaka (hereinafter referred to as "the Project"). The scope of work and mutual agreement between both parties included the following:

a) The Plaintiff was to provide general workers/helpers for the renovation works under the direction of the project/site manager and in accordance with the agreed-upon methods;

b) The general workers/helpers were required to work according to the specified hours and days, based on the timeline of the Project; and

c) The Plaintiff was responsible solely for supplying necessary safety equipment and ensuring that the general workers/helpers had access to safe tools, while also complying with the terms and conditions of the project site regulations.

[6] At all material times, the Defendant issued three Purchase Orders dated 11 August 2023, 9 September 2023, and 10 October 2023. The Plaintiff also made purchases of materials for the Project as per the invoice dated 15 November 2023. However, as of the filing of this writ of summons and statement of claim until to date, the Defendant has failed to make payments for the works completed by the Plaintiff for the Project, despite the fact that the works were completed in accordance with the parties' agreement.

[7] The Plaintiff averred that the details of the work and/or equipment supplied by the Plaintiff for completing the Project were as follows:

a) Supply of manpower (helpers) and/or labor;

b) Supply of hand tools, such as hand drills, extension cables, grinders, fan blowers, and DB 240V;

c) Provision and completion of electrical works, including the demolition of electrical cables and other related electrical works, as specified in the Defendant's Purchase Order dated 10 October 2023; and

d) Procurement of materials for the Project.

[8] Although the Defendant has made 80% payment for the Pla