Hock Seng Trading & Construction v Hongler Enterprise Sdn Bhd

Appellant(s): Hongler Enterprise Sdn Bhd

Respondent(s): CHAI HON SANG (berniaga sebagai HOCK SENG TRADING & CONSTRUCTION)

• YA Datuk Hajah Azizah binti Haji Nawawi
• YA Datuk Azimah binti Omar
• YA Dato' Wan Ahmad Farid Bin Wan Salleh

• The respondent, a sub-contractor, obtained an adjudication decision (AD) under the Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act 2012 (CIPAA) against the appellant, a sole proprietorship, for unpaid works.
• The appellant filed an application to set aside the AD, while the respondent filed an application to enforce it.
• The High Court dismissed both applications, holding that the appellant lacked *locus standi* to sue in its business name and that the AD was invalid as the sole proprietorship had no legal capacity to be sued in its business name in the adjudication proceedings.

• Whether a sole proprietorship has the *locus standi* to initiate an application to set aside an adjudication decision in its business name.
• Whether an adjudication decision obtained against a sole proprietorship named only by its business name (without the proprietor's personal name) is valid and enforceable.
• Whether the issue of *locus standi* and jurisdiction can be raised at any stage of the proceedings, even if parties participated in the adjudication.

• The Court affirmed that a sole proprietorship must be sued in the proprietor's personal name, adding "trading as [business name]"; failure to do so renders the proceedings void *ab initio*.
• Consequently, the adjudication decision against the appellant (named only by its business name) was null and void, and thus could neither be set aside nor enforced.
• The Court held that jurisdictional issues, including *locus standi*, can be raised at any stage of proceedings, and participation or consent of parties cannot confer jurisdiction where none exists.