Overview
The Contracting License is the foreign-investment authorization that lets your company practice construction and building contracting inside Saudi Arabia. It is issued by the Ministry of Investment (MISA) and, under the 2025 Investment Law, now takes the form of a streamlined investor registration that confirms your eligibility, fixes your permitted contracting activities, and authorizes you to form a Saudi company with the Ministry of Commerce. With it, your entity can lawfully execute civil works, building construction, infrastructure, electromechanical installation, and related on-site execution as a principal contractor or subcontractor.
In most contracting activities, full 100% foreign ownership is now permitted without a mandatory Saudi partner, though certain specialized or professionally licensed scopes may still require a local shareholder; we confirm your exact case before filing. Crucially, the MISA registration alone does not let you win public or large private tenders: you must also obtain a contractor classification (تصنيف المقاولين) from the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing (MOMRAH) via the Balady platform, which ranks your firm by field and grade (1–5) and caps the project value you may bid for. We manage the registration, the company formation, and the classification together so your firm is genuinely tender-ready.
Activities covered
General building construction — residential, commercial, and mixed-use buildings from foundations to handover.
Civil and infrastructure works — roads, bridges, earthworks, water and sanitation networks.
Electrical works and installations — power distribution, low-current systems, and site electrification.
Mechanical and HVAC works — piping, plumbing, heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems.
Industrial and structural construction — steel structures, plant facilities, and specialized concrete works.
Finishing and fit-out works — façades, interiors, joinery, and final delivery scopes.
Who is it for?
International construction and engineering firms wanting to deliver projects in Saudi Arabia's giga-projects and infrastructure pipeline.
Specialized subcontractors (electrical, mechanical, HVAC, finishing) seeking a licensed Saudi entity to bid alongside main contractors.
Developers and investors planning to build, develop, or operate real estate and infrastructure assets and execute through their own contracting arm.
How we issue it for you
Scope and structuring
We confirm your exact contracting activities, the ownership structure (and whether any local-partner condition applies), the target classification grade, and the capital your bidding ambitions require.
MISA contracting registration
We prepare and submit your investor registration to MISA, handling document attestation, translation, and the full application until the contracting registration is issued.
Company formation and CR
We incorporate your Saudi company with the Ministry of Commerce, obtain the commercial registration, and complete the Chamber of Commerce, ZATCA (tax), and GOSI registrations.
Contractor classification
We file your classification request with MOMRAH on the Balady platform, presenting your technical, financial, and manpower evidence to secure your field and grade.
Operational readiness
We set up the bank account, national address, Qiwa/Muqeem labor files, and visa quotas so your firm is ready to mobilize crews and bid for projects.
Requirements
Attested corporate documents of the parent/founding company (commercial register and articles of association), legalized by the Saudi Embassy and translated into Arabic.
Audited financial statements (typically the latest fiscal year) demonstrating the financial capacity required for both the MISA registration and the contractor classification.
Passports of the shareholders and the appointed manager, plus a power of attorney authorizing us to file on your behalf.
Proposed paid-up capital aligned with the activity (commonly around SAR 500,000 for contracting, confirmed against your target classification grade).
Cost & timeline
Costs combine MISA government fees, company formation and commercial registration charges, and contractor classification fees, plus our professional service fee. Government fees are paid at cost and confirmed by your consultant before any payment. As a guide, a contracting setup is typically completed within several weeks for the MISA registration and CR, while the MOMRAH classification review commonly takes around 10 to 15 working days and may extend further depending on the grade and documentation. Final figures and timelines are confirmed once your activities and target classification are fixed.
Frequently asked questions
In most general contracting activities, yes — full foreign ownership is now permitted without a Saudi partner. Some specialized or professionally licensed scopes may still require a local shareholder, so we verify your specific activities before filing and advise on the optimal structure.
No. The MISA registration and commercial registration let you operate, but to bid on public and large private tenders you also need a contractor classification from MOMRAH via the Balady platform, which sets your field and grade and the maximum project value you may pursue. We secure both.
MOMRAH assesses your technical experience, financial capacity, completed projects, and human resources to assign a field and a grade from 1 to 5, where grade 1 allows the largest projects. The classification is generally valid for a fixed term and can be upgraded as your track record and financials grow.
Contracting setups typically require a paid-up capital around SAR 500,000, but the figure should be aligned with the classification grade you are targeting, since higher grades demand stronger financials. We confirm the exact amount during structuring; all government fees are quoted at cost beforehand.