Sale of Goods Act 1957 · Updated to 1 Jan 2006 · Chapter IV · Performance of the Contract
36. Rules as to delivery
Feedback & supportWhether it is for the buyer to take possession of the goods or for the seller to send them to the buyer is a question depending in each case on the contract, express or implied, between the parties. Apart from any such contract, goods sold are to be delivered at the place at which they are at the time of the sale, and goods agreed to be sold are to be delivered at the place at which they are at the time of the agreement to sell, or, if not then in existence, at the place at which they are manufactured or produced.
Where under the contract of sale the seller is bound to send the goods to the buyer, but no time for sending them is fixed, the seller is bound to send them within a reasonable time.
Where the goods at the time of sale are in the possession of a third person, there is no delivery by seller to buyer unless and until such third person acknowledges to the buyer that he holds the goods on his behalf:
goods
“goods” means every kind of movable property other than actionable claims and money; and includes stock and shares, growing crops, grass and things attached to or forming part of the land which are agreed to be severed before sale or under the contract of sale; a person is said to be “insolvent” who has ceased to pay his debts in the ordinary course of business, or cannot pay his debts as they become due, whether he has committed an act of bankruptcy or not;
Provided that nothing in this section shall affect the operation of the issue or transfer of any document of title to goods.
document of title to goods
“document of title to goods” includes a bill of lading, dock warrant, warehouse keeper’s certificate, wharfinger’s certificate, railway receipt, warrant or order for delivery of goods and any other document used in the ordinary course of business as proof of the possession or control of goods, or authorizing or purporting to authorize, either by endorsement or by delivery, the possessor of the document to transfer or receive goods thereby represented; *NOTE—All references to “West Malaysia” shall be construed as reference to “Peninsular Malaysia” –see the Interpretation (Amendment) Act 1997, subsection 5(2).
Demand or tender of delivery may be treated as ineffectual unless made at a reasonable hour. What is a reasonable hour is a question of fact.
delivery
“delivery” means voluntary transfer of possession from one person to another; goods are said to be in a “deliverable state” when they are in such state that the buyer would under the contract be bound to take delivery of them;
Unless otherwise agreed, the expenses of and incidental to putting the goods into a deliverable state shall be borne by the seller.
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