Supply of Goods Act 1982 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 1
9. Implied terms about quality or fitness
Feedback & supportExcept as provided by this section and section 10 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 bailed under a contract for the hire of goods.
enactment
“enactment” means any legislation (including subsidiary legislation) of Singapore;
Where, under such a contract, the bailor bails goods in the course of a business, there is an implied condition that the goods supplied under the contract are of satisfactory quality.
bailor
“bailor”, in relation to a contract for the hire of goods, means (depending on the context) a person who bails 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 10, 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 consideration for the bailment (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 bailee’s attention before the contract is made;
where the bailee examines the goods before the contract is made, which that examination ought to reveal; or
where the goods are bailed 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 hire of goods, the bailor bails goods in the course of a business and the bailee, expressly or by implication, makes known —
contract for the hire of goods
“contract for the hire of goods” means a contract under which one person bails or agrees to bail goods to another by way of hire, other than a hire-purchase agreement.(2) For the purposes of this Act, a contract is a contract for the hire of goods whether or not services are also provided or to be provided under the contract, and whatever is the nature of the consideration for the bailment or agreement to bail by way of hire. In this Act,
to the bailor in the course of negotiations conducted by him in relation to the making of the contract; or
to a credit-broker in the course of negotiations conducted by that broker in relation to goods sold by him to the bailor before forming the subject matter of the contract,any particular purpose for which the goods are being bailed.
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 bailee does not rely, or that it is unreasonable for him to rely, on the skill or judgment of the bailor or credit-broker.
bailee
“bailee”, in relation to a contract for the hire of goods, means (depending on the context) a person to whom the goods are bailed under the contract, or a person to whom they are to be so bailed, 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 hire of goods.
The preceding provisions of this section apply to a bailment by a person who in the course of a business is acting as agent for another as they apply to a bailment by a principal in the course of a business, except where that other is not bailing in the course of a business and either the bailee knows that fact or reasonable steps are taken to bring it to the bailee’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;