Saudi Contracting Authority (SCA) – A regulatory body in the construction Industry

Regulatory bodies are formed in different countries mainly to achieve the goals and to translate the vision of the governments through appropriate plans and actions. While these authorities are playing their important role in policy making, monitoring and controlling, they are equally responsible for growth of a specific sector, industry or market segment according to the given mandate.

As Saudi economy is ready take off a shift from oil to other sources of income for the state and Leadership is focused to take every necessary step towards a smooth flight, introduction of new independent regulatory bodies can be of great value. Construction sector and stakeholders such as consultants, contractors, design and engineering firms carry huge stake in this overall development being prime responsible to deliver. SCA was established through Council of Ministries resolution No. 510 in 2015 to regulate the contracting sector to achieve high productivity, quality as well as working conditions through defining related standards.

Saudi Contracting Authority is operating under Ministry of Commerce and Investment and is mandated to regulate 6 different categories in the contracting (i) Activities of Mining Support Services (ii) Activities of garbage collecting, recycling and restoring (iii) Buildings construction (iv) Civil engineering (v) Specialized construction activities (vi) Activities of providing services for buildings and beautifying their sites. It should be noted that procurement of materials is excluded from the scope of SCA. The regulatory body is intended to influence mainly Material Suppliers, Government Processes, Workforce, Quantity Surveyors, Engineering Consultants and Banks and Financial Institutions.

In the presence of some Saudi Council of Engineers (SCE), The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs (MOMRA), Ministry of Housing (MOH) and other ministries and professional bodies, SCA carrying all that mandate is going to play a critical role over the next decade. In a recent interaction at Saudi Build Conference with Eng. Saleh Hassan AlZahrani (Director of Contractors Licensing at SCA) it was great to learn how proactively they are striving to develop and organize Saudi Contracting sector.  In his presentation he highlighted how the Authority is thriving to improve the sector according international standards.

As per my experience with regulatory bodies, they play a vital role in regulating as well as growth of any sector while safeguarding the interests of all the stakeholders. I am very much confident that SCA is going impact very positively on the sector and contracting sector being an imperative organ of the country’s economy is going to achieve highly ambitious and desired growth in the long term.