Supply of Goods Act 1982 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 1
4. Implied terms about quality or fitness
Feedback & supportExcept as provided by this section and section 5 and subject to the provisions of any other enactment, there is no implied condition or warranty about the quality or fitness for any particular purpose of goods supplied under a contract for the transfer of goods.
enactment
“enactment” means any legislation (including subsidiary legislation) of Singapore;
Where, under such a contract, the transferor transfers the property in goods in the course of a business, there is an implied condition that the goods supplied under the contract are of satisfactory quality.
transferor
“transferor”, in relation to a contract for the transfer of goods, means (depending on the context) a person who transfers the property in the goods under the contract, or a person who agrees to do so, or a person to whom the duties under the contract of either of those persons have passed.
For the purposes of this section and section 5, goods are of satisfactory quality if they meet the standard that a reasonable person would regard as satisfactory, taking account of any description of the goods, the price (if relevant) and all the other relevant circumstances.
goods
“goods” includes all personal chattels (including emblements, industrial growing crops, and things attached to or forming part of the land which are agreed to be severed before the transfer or bailment concerned or under the contract concerned) other than things in action and money;
The condition implied by subsection (2) does not extend to any matter making the quality of goods unsatisfactory —
which is specifically drawn to the transferee’s attention before the contract is made;
where the transferee examines the goods before the contract is made, which that examination ought to reveal; or
where the property in the goods is transferred by reference to a sample, which would have been apparent on a reasonable examination of the sample.
Subsection (5) applies where, under a contract for the transfer of goods, the transferor transfers the property in goods in the course of a business and the transferee, expressly or by implication, makes known —
contract for the transfer of goods
“contract for the transfer of goods” means a contract under which one person transfers or agrees to transfer to another the property in goods, other than an excepted contract.(2) For the purposes of this section, an excepted contract means any of the following:(a)a contract of sale of goods;(b)a hire-purchase agreement;(c)a transfer or agreement to transfer which is made by deed and for which there is no consideration other than the presumed consideration imported by the deed;(d)a contract intended to operate by way of mortgage, pledge, charge or other security.(3) For the purposes of this Act, a contract is a contract for the transfer of goods whether or not services are also provided or to be provided under the contract, and, subject to subsection (2), whatever is the nature of the consideration for the transfer or agreement to transfer. In this Act,
to the transferor; or
where the consideration or part of the consideration for the transfer is a sum payable by instalments and the goods were previously sold by a credit-broker to the transferor, to that credit-broker,any particular purpose for which the goods are being acquired.
In that case there is, subject to subsection (6), an implied condition that the goods supplied under the contract are reasonably fit for that purpose, whether or not that is a purpose for which such goods are commonly supplied.
Subsection (5) does not apply where the circumstances show that the transferee does not rely, or that it is unreasonable for him to rely, on the skill or judgment of the transferor or credit-broker.
transferee
“transferee”, in relation to a contract for the transfer of goods, means (depending on the context) a person to whom the property in the goods is transferred under the contract, or a person to whom the property is to be so transferred, or a person to whom the rights under the contract of either of those persons have passed;
An implied condition or warranty about quality or fitness for a particular purpose may be annexed by usage to a contract for the transfer of goods.
The preceding provisions of this section apply to a transfer by a person who in the course of a business is acting as agent for another as they apply to a transfer by a principal in the course of a business, except where that other is not transferring in the course of a business and either the transferee knows that fact or reasonable steps are taken to bring it to the transferee’s notice before the contract concerned is made.
business
“business” includes a profession and the activities of any Government department or local or public authority;