Background

Over the coming decades, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia proposes to implement an infrastructure program of unprecedented scale. The commercial opportunities for the international construction industry have been well-publicised, however there has been less discussion of the legal regime that would govern such arrangements.

The first in a two-part series focusing on public infrastructure procurement in the Kingdom, this paper focuses on the "Public Works Contract", which all government entities are required to use on construction projects, and discusses notable aspects of the risk allocation and contractual mechanisms. The focus of the next paper will be the draft "Public Construction Contract", which the Ministry of Finance intends will replace the "Public Works Contract" as the mandated standard form contract sometime in the future.