Standard contracts to be used as enforcement documents soon: SCA

Zakariya Alabdulqader, the Saudi Contractors Authority’s (SCA) Chairman

Saudi Contractors Authority’s (SCA) Chairman Zakariya Alabdulqader said that standard contracts will be used as enforcement documents by the end of this year or in the first quarter of 2024, according to Al Eqtisadiah newspaper. 

The move, to be carried out in coordination with the Ministry of Justice, will be implemented after editing and modifying the second edition of the contracts, Alabdulqader added. 

The concept of standard contracts, Alabdulqader explained, arose after the SCA learned from commercial courts that 80% of commercial cases in Saudi Arabia are related to the contracting sector. This prompted the SCA to look for solutions to these concerns. 

The SCA completed all procedures necessary to open an escrow account, as it started a testing period in cooperation with a bank and obtained approvals from the relevant authorities for its implementation. 

The authority plans to put the new procedure into effect in Q1 2024, according to Alabdulqader. 

Moreover, the SCA worked with the Government Expenditure and Projects Efficiency Authority and the Ministry of Finance to determine the number of stalled projects. This contributed to solving many of the problems encountered and helped some of these projects relaunch, he added.