Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s most active construction markets, driven by Vision 2030 giga-projects, and it is an important comparator because the evidence on its payment problem comes from peer-reviewed academic research rather than vendor surveys. It has no construction-specific Prompt Payment Legislation and no statutory Construction Adjudication; payment protection rests on contract and civil law.
Saudi Arabia [part-of] Middle East GCC Saudi Arabia [supports] Construction Payment Problem
A 2024 study in the journal Buildings — “An Investigation into the Causes of Payment Delays and Deliberate Delay Tactics in Public Construction Projects in Saudi Arabia” — is among the strongest evidence in this vault, because it both confirms the problem and names a mechanism that softer sources avoid. It finds that delays in progress payments by owners are one of the top direct causes of project delays and disputes, and it explicitly investigates deliberate delay tactics — that is, owners (here, public-sector owners) withholding or slow-walking payment as a choice, not merely an administrative failure. This is significant for the vault’s thesis: it distinguishes structural slowness from intentional non-payment.
Saudi Arabia [relates] Construction Payment Disputes Saudi Arabia [causes] Global Subcontractor Payment Delays
The multi-party structure of Saudi (and wider MENA) giga-projects means a delay or change in one segment cascades through a long chain of subcontractors and suppliers, spawning a complex web of claims. Because there is no fast adjudication remedy, those disputes flow into arbitration and litigation. Saudi Arabia thus combines a very large, fast-growing market with weak statutory payment protection and documented intentional delay — placing it firmly on the “weak protection” side of the comparative spectrum despite its wealth.
Saudi Arabia [relates] Construction Adjudication
Connections
- Middle East GCC — region Saudi Arabia anchors, source: 2024
- Global Subcontractor Payment Delays — documented by academic research, source: 2024
- Construction Payment Disputes — cascade through giga-project supply chains, source: 2024
- Construction Payment Problem — Saudi Arabia exhibits it, including deliberate delay, source: 2024