Designers’ and Contractors’ 10-Year Guarantee Under Saudi Building Code

Nasser Jameel Al-Shamayleh

https://doi.org/10.62271/pjc.16.1.1191.1216

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to demonstrate the adequacy of legal guarantees to protect building owners who are not experienced in construction operations from the risk of collapse of buildings or fixed structures constructed by the supervising designer and contractor and any defects that may threaten their durability and safety, as defined by the Saudi Building Code Implementation Law and its regulations. The study also highlights the role of mandatory insurance against hidden building defects in protecting building owners and successive owners, as beneficiaries of the insurance contract, from decimal civil liability, which may arise as a result of the confirmed possibility of defects appearing in the building within ten years commencing from the effective date of the policy. Furthermore, it outlines a set of legal procedures and measures to enhance this protection through the provisions of the Building Code Implementation Law and its regulations and to impose penalties on anyone who violates the code or any of its provisions. The seriousness of the damages that may result from defects that constitute a real danger to buildings and fixed structures, which may endanger lives or property or directly cause damage to human health or the environment, has led the Saudi legislator – similar to most contemporary civil legislation – to depart from the general rules of civil liability in the Civil Transactions Law with regard to building and construction contracting, by establishing special rules for the liability of the supervising designer (contractor) in the Saudi Building Code Implementation Law and its regulations, the purpose of which is to test the strength and solidity of these buildings and fixed structures from the date of issuance of the (occupation certificate) from the municipal authority after ensuring its compliance with the building code.

Keywords:      Decennial liability, Saudi Building Code, designer, Contractor, Law