HomeReady-to-use templates and contractsProperty and leaseFit-Out Agreement
Fit-Out Agreement Template: A Ready Contract Certified by a Licensed Saudi Lawyer
- Category
- Property and lease
- Language
- Arabic + English
- Format
- Editable DOCX
CERTIFICATION RECORD
This template was prepared and reviewed by a licensed Saudi lawyer and is kept current as the Kingdom's regulations change.
Where an Arabic and an English text exist, the Arabic text prevails
A fit-out contract governing price, payments, retention, delay, handover, and the defects warranty, and bilingual.
A fit-out agreement is what governs turning a bare space into a shop, an office, or a branch ready to operate. It is among the most dispute-prone contracts because three things move together inside it: time, price, and quality. Sighaty template P-05 is written for the Saudi context and the contracting-for-works rules of the Civil Transactions Law, and it holds those three in place with clear provisions: the completion period, the price as a lump sum or re-measured against bill of quantities rates, payments tied to approval by the employer or its engineer, retention withheld from each certificate, capped delay damages, handover by a joint snagging report, and a defects warranty after handover, in two parallel languages with the Arabic text prevailing on any difference.
Get the Fit-Out Agreement TemplateP-05What this contract is and when you need it
You need this contract whenever you hand fit-out or finishing works to a contractor: a new branch, an office you are moving into, a restaurant being prepared before opening, or a warehouse being repartitioned. What separates it from a verbal understanding with a contractor is that it answers in advance the questions that surface late: who obtains the permits, who approves samples before installation, what happens if handover slips past the opening date, and who remedies the snags after taking possession.
- A tenant fitting out premises it has leased before starting its activity there.
- An owner or employer awarding finishing works against specifications and a bill of quantities.
- A fit-out contractor who wants a contract that protects its certificates and defines its liability after handover.
What the smart-fill asks and what you receive
The smart-fill opens with the question that fixes your role: whether the party ordering the works is an employer or a tenant, since that changes its position toward the premises. It then asks for both parties' commercial registration numbers, the contractor's name, the description of the premises, in whose name and with whose cooperation the permits are obtained, the completion period, and the price: a lump sum or re-measurement against bill of quantities rates, the advance payment or the payment at the first milestone, who approves the works, the employer or its engineer, and the retention percentage held from each certificate.
It then moves to what protects quality and schedule: sample approval before installation, the weekly delay damages percentage and its ceiling, handover by a joint snagging report with a period within which the contractor remedies the snags, the defects warranty period after handover, third-party liability insurance per the contract schedule, the cure period for breach before termination, and the dispute forum between the commercial court and arbitration before the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration. Within minutes you receive a formatted bilingual Word document, ready to sign and editable before approval.
Why a lawyer-certified template beats a free download
What most small business owners sign with a fit-out contractor is a quotation sheet carrying an amount, a duration, and little else. That sheet is of no use on the day work stops short of completion, because it holds no retention in your hands, no calculated delay damages, no handover report separating what was accepted from what was not, and no defects warranty after opening. A template certified by a licensed Saudi lawyer gives you those instruments in writing before you need them, and balances them so the contractor can still accept the contract rather than reject it on first reading.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a lump sum and re-measurement against bills of quantities?
A lump sum is a fixed amount for described works, so the contractor carries quantity variances unless the scope changes. Re-measurement means the entitlement is calculated against the quantities actually executed at the agreed unit rates. The template lets you choose the approach that suits your project: the first is clearer for budgeting, the second is fairer when the quantities are not final at signature.
Why does the employer withhold a percentage of each certificate?
Retention is a practical security that stays in the employer's hands until handover is complete and the snags are remedied, so withholding payment entirely is not its only leverage. You set its percentage and when it is released during fill-in, and that clarity reassures the contractor too, because it knows in advance the condition for getting it back.
What happens if the contractor misses the handover date?
The template provides delay damages calculated as a percentage of the price for each week of delay, up to a ceiling it may not exceed, so the effect is known to both sides before it happens. The ceiling is deliberate, because damages without a limit push a contractor to abandon the site rather than finish it, which is the worst outcome for the employer.
The content is general guidance, not legal advice; consult a licensed lawyer for your specific case.