about studies and research currently being conducted on the number of contractors who fall under the term «defaulter», indicating that these studies include all regions of the Kingdom that include many different and vital projects that require speedy implementation. The stalled projects have knocked out a large percentage of SMEs, leading to their withdrawal or closure.

Hammadi insisted on the need for contracting companies to implement projects according to the regulations and previously prepared plans, revealing at the same time that there is no statistic about the number of stalled projects so far.

It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs approved this week the classification mechanism for contracting companies and engineering offices prepared by a committee represented by the Ministries of Municipal Affairs, Commerce and Industry and the Saudi Council of Engineers.to beginApplications for classification under this mechanism will be submitted on 1/11/1436 H as a first "pilot" phase that will last for 6 months, after which the final results will be known to determine the model values and financial limits for each classification grade.