Independent project assurance for Saudi Arabia’s giga-programmes

Why independent assurance matters in Saudi Arabia

Vision 2030 has made Saudi Arabia the largest concentration of megaproject delivery on earth: NEOM, the Red Sea, Qiddiya, Diriyah and a national pipeline of rail, transport and social infrastructure. At that scale, schedules carry enormous contractual weight, supply chains stretch, and delay and disruption exposure compounds quickly. Programmes run under FIDIC and bespoke giga-project forms, with disputes increasingly resolved through the Saudi Centre for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA).

We provide the independent controls and forensic discipline these programmes require: schedule assurance that tells the truth month to month, delay-causation analysis that separates employer and contractor delay, and EOT, prolongation and disruption positions built to be tested. We support delivery partners and giga-project supply chains with programme controls, risk-adjusted reviews and bid assurance.

Saudi Arabia’s new Government Tenders and Procurement Law was approved by Royal Decree No. M/76 dated 27/2/1448H (10 August 2026) and published in the Umm Al-Qura Official Gazette on 4 September 2026 (22/3/1448H), replacing the 2019 law issued by Royal Decree No. M/128. Under Article 101 the law takes effect 120 days after its publication in the Official Gazette, which by simple count is Saturday 2 January 2027, although the Ministry of Finance has not yet confirmed the start date. The 2019 law governs until then. Works and purchases tendered while the 2019 law was in force remain governed by the 2019 law, although the Minister of Finance may apply selected provisions of the new law to them without disturbing steps already taken. Exemptions granted under the 2019 law continue, including project-specific exemptions and those for the Public Investment Fund, so confirm whether a contract falls under the law before relying on its penalty and variation limits.

For our disciplines, three provisions matter most. Article 70 caps delay penalties at 6% of contract value for supply contracts and 15% for all other contracts, including works, down from 20% under the 2019 law, and a higher cap needs the Minister’s prior approval and disclosure to bidders before they bid. Under Article 67 an owner may add new items worth up to 10% of the contract value with the contractor’s consent and increase existing items by up to 20%, with consent needed above 10%, but the total increase may not exceed 20% of the contract value. For project controls and earned value, every change order should be logged against the two Article 67 limits, 10% for new items and 20% in total, so that budgets, baselines and estimates at completion show how much variation headroom remains. For forensic and claims work, the five Article 72 grounds for extension of time and penalty waiver are unchanged from the 2019 law, so contemporaneous records linking delay to owner actions, funding shortfalls, suspensions or events beyond the contractor’s control remain decisive.

• Programme controls & Primavera P6 schedule assurance on giga-project supply chains
• Forensic delay analysis and EOT/quantum claims under FIDIC, to SCL Protocol & AACE standards
• Risk-adjusted programme reviews (QSRA), P50/P80 completion and contingency for delivery partners
• Bid & tender assurance for major-works contractors before contract signature
• Independent programme assurance for owners, funders and giga-project boards

Sectors: Giga-projects · Rail & transport · Social & urban infrastructure · Energy · Tourism & leisure