Many construction and engineering contracts in Saudi Arabia are based on FIDIC (International Federation of Consulting Engineers) standard forms, adapted for the local market — and disputes frequently center on delay claims, variation orders, and defect liability under these contracts. FIDIC-based agreements typically route disputes to arbitration, so the clause needs drafting with enforcement in mind.
Getting the contract terms right at the outset — extension of time provisions, liquidated damages, dispute resolution mechanisms — meaningfully affects how a later disagreement gets resolved.
Common disputes include delay claims where a contractor blames the employer for hold-ups (or vice versa), defect claims after handover, and payment disputes over variations to the original scope of work.
This practice represents both employers and contractors, since understanding both sides of a typical construction dispute produces a more realistic view of how a specific case is likely to resolve. Government-employer projects follow the distinct procurement and dispute framework under public projects & PPP.
A standard defect liability period appropriate for cosmetic finishing work is often far too short for structural elements, waterproofing, or mechanical systems, where problems can genuinely take longer to manifest — and a contract that applies a single default period across every type of defect can leave a developer without recourse for exactly the failures that matter most and take longest to appear.
We review defect liability provisions against the specific components and systems involved in a project, rather than accepting a standard clause without considering whether it actually matches the realistic timeline for problems in that particular type of construction to surface.
A delay claim frequently involves both sides pointing to the other as the cause — the contractor citing employer-caused hold-ups like late instructions or site access issues, the employer citing contractor inefficiency or resourcing problems — and resolving this typically requires careful reconstruction of the project's actual timeline and correspondence rather than relying on either party's general impression of how the project unfolded.
We build delay claims and defenses around this documented reconstruction specifically, since a delay dispute decided on vague impressions of who was more at fault rarely holds up as well as one grounded in a clear, chronological account of what actually happened and when, supported by the project's own contemporaneous records. Technical delay analysis is supported through our expert testimony practice.
FIDIC contracts are internationally recognized standard forms for construction and engineering work, widely used and adapted for Saudi projects, particularly larger commercial and infrastructure developments.
This depends on the contract's specific terms around extension of time and the actual cause of the delay — we can assess a specific delay claim against your contract.
Most construction contracts include a defect liability period during which the contractor remains responsible for remedying defects — we can assess your rights under the specific contract terms.
Not necessarily — structural and mechanical elements often need a longer liability period than cosmetic finishes, since problems in those areas can take longer to surface. We review this against your project's specific components.
Through careful reconstruction of the project timeline and contemporaneous correspondence, rather than relying on general impressions — a well-documented account of what happened and when is usually decisive.
It depends on the specific defect and contract terms, but some structural or latent defects may have recourse beyond the standard liability period — we can assess your specific situation.
Expert Riyadh