Cost of Saudi construction materials 'shoots up'

Saudi labour and material prices have 'shot up' over recent months. Photo: Getty.

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A hike in the price of construction materials and labour costs is affecting low-income Saudis with aspirations of building their dream homes.

According to a report carried by Arab News, many Saudis have been forced to either scale back plans or halt construction altogether because the cost of materials for plumbing, electrical appliances and other building materials has sky-rocketed over recent months.

It has also had a flow-on effect for the construction industry as many contractors are reluctant to complete projects unless their clients are willing to foot the extra costs. The Ministry of Finance has stipulated that contractors are not entitled to claim any excess amount they spend to complete a project due to the unexpected hike in the prices of construction materials.

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Hamdan Saad Al-Hamdan, head of the contractors' section at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Al-Baha, told Arab News that the prices of all construction materials have “shot up”.

“Contractors are afraid of taking up new construction projects due to these unexpected hikes. The Ministry of Finance has prevented them from seeking the excess amount that they have to spend to complete the projects due to price increases. This was not the case in the past. All these factors lead to delays in finishing the project,” he added.

Saudi citizen Daifallah Al-Zahrani told the paper, “Apart from this, labour costs have almost doubled. Needless to say, the huge increase in the prices of electrical and plumbing materials has not helped,” he said while noting that contractors are also not in a position to complete construction work due to their inability to finish the work within the allocated budget.”

Khamees Atiyyah and Gharam Al-Zahrani, another home builder, told the paper, “A steep hike in the prices of construction materials has forced us to change our building plans in order to stick to our budgets. Therefore, we are forced to abandon many of the dream features we wanted in our homes.”