Saudi Arabia's top contracting body has finalized new binding forms for construction contracts within a drive to end disputes and tackle persistent project delays, the contractors chief was quoted on Sunday as saying.

The new 25 forms, covering various contracting activities, will be enforced before the end of 2020 and will allow all parties to reach out-of-court settlements, said Osama Al-Afaliq, Chairman of the Saudi Contractors' Authority (SCA).

"These new contract forms will guarantee the rights of the contractors and the project owners and they will be the basis of a settlement of any dispute that may arise during the project execution," Afaliq was reported by the Saudi Arabic language daily Al-Madina as telling a seminar at the Chamber of Commerce in the Eastern region.

SCA Secretary General Thabit Al-Suweid said the new forms include "clear mechanisms" for timely payments to contractors and dispute settlement.

"These forms provide for resolving all disputes that may arise between the contractors and the project owners away from courts...all contractors using such forms must first join SCA since the forms are approved by the government," he said.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@refinitiv.com)

#SaudiArabia #Construction #SaudiContractorsAuthority(SCA)

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