Building Contractor in Al Khobar – Duplex Villas, Apartment Buildings & Second Floors

A building contractor in Al Khobar takes your approved drawings and building permit and turns them into a finished structure on your plot: excavation and footings first, then every column, slab and wall up to the last roof, and the full fit-out as well if you want the house handed over turnkey. Aemar Al-Maryam General Contracting takes on detached villas and attached duplex villas, small apartment buildings, and second floors on top of existing villas across Al Khobar. Our rates are quoted per square metre of floor you build: SAR 325 is where a structure with our materials begins, SAR 74 where labour alone begins, SAR 1,110 where a move-in-ready house with an ordinary finish begins, and SAR 1,480 for the same with a premium finish. Treat every figure as an estimate until our visit and a signed scope. Phone or message 0547879578.

Being on the Gulf coast shapes almost every building decision in Al Khobar. Ground close to the sea is often damp and sandy, groundwater can sit only a short distance below the surface, and the humid, salt-laden air stays with a building for its whole life. Most of the people who contact us from Al Khobar want one of four things: a pair of duplex villas on a single plot, an apartment building of three or four storeys, a second floor on the family villa, or a complete house they can move straight into. This guide answers each of them with figures and steps, and explains what you need to know before you sign a contract, so that nothing surprises you halfway through the build.

Building contractor in Al Khobar: what we build and for whom

In Al Khobar we build residential buildings from an empty plot up to whatever stage the contract sets: shell only, shell with services, or a complete house ready to live in. Most of our clients here are landowners building the family home, two brothers sharing one plot and putting up a pair of attached duplex villas, small investors building an apartment block to rent out, or households whose villa has become too small and who want to build upwards.

What we know well is housing of up to roughly four storeys: a cast-in-place concrete skeleton, blockwork infill and foundations sized from the soil findings. We do not build towers, roads or industrial plants, and we would rather say so at the start than promise work we do not do well. If your project combines several kinds of general contracting beyond the building itself, you will find the full range of what we do on our home page.

Building contractor, engineering office or mason in Al Khobar: who does what?

The building contractor carries out the work and is responsible for it. The design office draws the plans and applies for the permit. The supervising office follows the work on site and signs off each stage before the next one starts. A mason or a day labourer does one defined part of the job under someone else’s management. All three of the first parties are named in the building permit file on the Balady platform, and no licence is granted until the contractor has confirmed the appointment. In other words, the contractor is part of the official file, not a side arrangement with the owner.

That is why we do not recommend building a whole house with day labourers who move from site to site. They are not part of the permit file, and nobody is responsible for quality, timing or the specification as a whole. Small jobs, such as one wall or a short boundary wall, may be fine with labour hired for that task alone. We come back to this comparison in the section on choosing a contractor.

Construction price per m² in Al Khobar: our estimated price table

In Al Khobar, building costs per square metre begin at SAR 74 where you supply materials and we provide labour, SAR 325 where we supply the structure complete, SAR 1,110 for a move-in-ready home at an ordinary finish level and SAR 1,480 at a premium level. Every one of these figures is per square metre of total built floor area, not plot area, and they are the same rates we use in Dammam and Dhahran, with nothing added for travel.

Read these as starting estimates; the firm price comes after a site visit and an agreed scope. They apply to the floor area you build on every level, and they move with the plans, what the soil investigation finds, the materials chosen, the quality of finish and the height of the building.

How is built-up area measured on a duplex villa?

The area of each floor is added up exactly as it appears on the approved drawings: ground floor, then first floor, then the roof annex. On a duplex, each villa is measured on its own and the two are added together if they are under one contract. Stairs, the stair core, projections and concrete canopies are where contractors differ most: some count them in full, some count a proportion, and some price them as separate items. We write the rule into the contract. The shared wall between the two duplex villas should never be counted twice, and that is worth checking when you compare offers.

What a per-m² rate does not usually include

• ✓The outer boundary wall and gates, the ground and roof water tanks, and a septic tank where there is no sewer connection.
• ✓Permit fees, design-office and supervising-office fees, and the latent defects insurance policy that is officially required for the permit.
• ✓Connection of electricity and water from the public networks and whatever the utilities require for it.
• ✓Dewatering or soil replacement if the excavation reveals something the soil report did not anticipate.
• ✓VAT, unless the offer states clearly that it is included.

Cost of building a villa in Al Khobar: a worked example for a pair of duplex villas

The cost of building a villa in Al Khobar equals its total built-up area multiplied by the rate for the type of contract you choose, plus the items that sit outside the per-m² rate. Duplex villas are among the most common requests we get in Al Khobar, so we use them as an illustrative example with rounded figures. The areas below are an assumption for the explanation, not a rule:

• ✓One plot with two attached duplex villas. Each villa has a ground floor of 180 m² + a first floor of 180 m² + a roof annex of 40 m² = 400 m².
• ✓Total built-up area for both villas: 400 × 2 = 800 m².

On this calculation each villa’s share of a standard turnkey build is about SAR 444,000 before the items outside the per-m² rate. Because the boundary wall, tanks, utility connections and fees are not in that figure, a wise owner adds a planning contingency of 10 to 15%. With 12%, for example: 888,000 + 106,560 = SAR 994,560, roughly, as a planning budget for both villas. It moves down or up once we have reviewed the drawings and seen the site.

Duplex villa or detached villa?

A duplex saves land, saves one wall by sharing it, and lets one site set-up serve two buildings. It suits brothers sharing a plot or an investor building two units to sell or let. The Saudi residential code covers one- and two-family dwellings of up to three storeys, including villas joined on one or two sides, so a duplex is an ordinary residential building as far as permits and design are concerned. On the other hand, two villas need close coordination: one consistent structural design, a party wall or separation clearly shown on the drawings, separate meters and services for each unit, and a written agreement between the partners on specification and finish level, so that one villa does not drift away from its neighbour halfway through the job.

What to think about in a villa design in Al Khobar before you build

The design is the design office’s responsibility, but the owner’s decisions shape both the building cost and how the family will live in the house. These are the questions we raise with owners before the drawings are approved:

• ✓Space planning: are the majlis and its washroom close to the entrance and away from family circulation? Are the first-floor bedrooms away from street noise?
• ✓Light and ventilation: windows placed thoughtfully for orientation, with double glazing to cut heat and humidity in the coastal summer.
• ✓Facades: facade materials in a coastal city face salt and humidity, so choose ones that tolerate them and are easy to clean.
• ✓The roof annex: do you need it now, or is it enough to leave the starter bars and the structural design ready for it later?
• ✓Building ratios: the design office applies the current building regulations on setbacks and plot coverage, and we never build outside what the approved drawings allow.

Shell contractor in Al Khobar: what the shell includes and what it leaves out

A shell contractor in Al Khobar builds the structural frame and its walls: excavation, blinding, footings, neck columns, tie beams, backfill and the ground slab, then the columns, beams, slabs and stairs of every floor, and the blockwork with its lintels. Electrical conduit and plumbing sleeves that run inside the concrete are normally part of the shell as well, because leaving them until after the pour means breaking or coring the concrete later.

Where contractors differ is in where the word “shell” stops. Some include the bitumen coating on buried concrete, termite treatment before the ground slab and temporary site water and power; elsewhere those lines quietly become the client’s problem. So we write the limits of the shell line by line in the offer and spell out what is not included. That is the single most useful protection for an owner comparing two offers with two different rates per metre.

Shell with materials or labour only in Al Khobar?

When we supply the materials, we order the ready-mix concrete, steel and block to the drawings’ specification and carry the price movements, the waste and the job of getting deliveries to site on time. With labour only, the owner buys and stores the materials, follows up deliveries and carries waste and delays, and the concrete pump, transport and tests usually fall to the owner as well.

Rough quantities that help you read an offer

Proper quantities are taken off by the structural engineer, but a few general rules help you look at any offer with a critical eye. These are approximate figures for understanding only, not for ordering:

• ✓Steel in reinforced concrete usually runs between 80 and 120 kg per cubic metre of concrete, and more in columns than in footings.
• ✓Each square metre of 20 cm blockwork uses roughly a dozen blocks, give or take one.
• ✓Normal waste on block, concrete and steel is a small percentage; if an offer shows a large waste allowance, ask why.
• ✓External walls are built in insulated block because new homes must be thermally insulated by regulation. It costs more per block but lowers the air-conditioning bill for the life of the house.

Soil investigation in Al Khobar and groundwater near the coast

A soil report in Al Khobar is not a formality. It is one of the documents required to issue a building permit, and in a coastal city it becomes the reference for every decision below ground level. Several boreholes are drilled on the plot, samples from the different layers go to the laboratory, the groundwater level is measured in standpipes, and the report then recommends the foundation type, the founding depth and the bearing capacity of the soil.

Sabkha ground and shallow saline groundwater are widespread across the Eastern Province, and researchers at KFUPM documented damage to residential buildings in Dammam linked to sabkha soil. That does not mean every plot in Al Khobar is sabkha, and we never judge a whole district by its name. Two neighbouring plots can differ, which is why we keep repeating it: your own plot’s investigation decides, not your neighbour’s experience and not what people say in the market.

Decisions the designer takes from the soil report

• ✓Foundation type: isolated footings, strip footings, or a raft under the whole building if the soil is weak.
• ✓Excavation depth: and whether digging will reach the water table and need dewatering while work goes on.
• ✓Cement type and mix: where salts and sulphates are high the designer specifies a resistant cement or mix and a low water-to-cement ratio.
• ✓Concrete cover: the thickness of concrete over the steel in the foundations, which is the first line of defence against rust.
• ✓Replacement and compaction: removing a weak layer and replacing it with suitable fill compacted in layers.

Protecting buried concrete from salts

Concrete buried in damp, salty ground faces two threats: chlorides that reach the steel, make it rust and swell and crack the concrete around it, and sulphates that attack the concrete itself. Protection starts at the design stage and cannot be added after backfilling: the right mix, enough cover, water curing after the pour, and bituminous protection painted over every buried footing, stub column and ground beam before backfilling. You will find the detail of pouring and curing in hot weather in concrete pouring in Al Khobar, and roof and foundation waterproofing in our Al Khobar insulation guide.

Humidity and salt in the Al Khobar air: what they mean above ground

The sea’s influence does not stop at the soil. Humid, salt-laden air reaches facades, roofs and the steel in balconies and canopies. That is why, in coastal cities, the designer sets the exposure class of the concrete under the Saudi concrete code, and the concrete grade and cover for external elements follow from it. On site we stick to what the designer sets: concrete spacers of the required thickness under and beside the steel, thorough vibration to prevent honeycombing that lets moisture in, water curing after the pour, then plaster and an external paint system suited to humid conditions. Neglect here shows years later as cracks and rust.

Apartment building construction in Al Khobar: footings to the last slab with plumb columns

Building an apartment block in Al Khobar follows the same stages as a villa, but with heavier loads and more floors, so the accuracy of each floor matters even more, because any error on the first floor is carried into every floor above it. An apartment building with several flats falls outside the residential code that covers villas; the designer applies the general building code to it instead, together with the lift, car parking and fire safety requirements shown on the approved drawings.

Column forms and keeping columns plumb

A column that leans by a few centimetres on the first floor becomes a real problem by the fourth: beams out of line, block walls that are not straight and thick plaster to hide the error. On apartment buildings we therefore follow a fixed sequence before every column pour:

1. 1
   Set out the column grid
   Transfer the grid lines from the floor below to the new deck and check the dimensions before any form goes up.
2. 2
   Check the rebar cage
   Number and diameter of bars, ties and their spacing, and the lap length of the starter bars, exactly as on the structural drawings.
3. 3
   Close and brace the form
   A clean form treated with release oil, braced with adjustable push-pull props on at least two sides.
4. 4
   Check for plumb
   With a laser level or a plumb line on two faces at right angles, adjusting the props until the form is true.
5. 5
   Supervisor sign-off, then the pour
   We never pour a column before the supervising engineer has signed off the steel and the form; it is then poured and vibrated in layers.

Formwork and props: when do they come out?

On apartment buildings the floors follow one another quickly, and there is always a temptation to strip the slab formwork early to reuse it on the next floor. How long the props must stay under a slab depends on the span, the concrete grade and the air temperature, and typically ranges from about a week to around three weeks according to the span and the engineer’s instructions. Removing props before the concrete has gained its strength can leave a slab sagging or cracked in ways that are hard to repair, so we plan enough formwork on site to keep work moving without rushing the strip.

What drives the cost of building an apartment block in Al Khobar?

We price an apartment building from its drawings, using the per-m² rates in the table as a starting point and then adding what belongs to the building type:

• ✓The total floor area of every storey, plus roof rooms and a basement if there is one.
• ✓The foundation type: an apartment building usually needs heavier foundations than a villa and may need a raft, depending on the soil report.
• ✓The stair core and lift shaft; the lift itself is priced by its supplier as a separate item.
• ✓Fire requirements, emergency exits and car parking as shown on the approved drawings.
• ✓The number of flats, since each one needs bathrooms, a kitchen and meters, which shows in both services and finishes.

For investors: fix one finish standard for every flat at the outset. Changing the specification from one flat to another in the middle of the job upsets the programme and pushes the cost up.

Second-floor addition in Al Khobar on an existing villa

Adding a second floor in Al Khobar is possible when the existing frame was sized for the extra load or can be upgraded to take it. It is licensed through the “addition and modification of building components” service on Balady, and it never starts before a structural engineer has inspected the house. Before anyone talks money, the real question is whether the structure can carry the load, which is why this work is priced at inspection, after the check and not before.

The engineer’s check comes first

The engineer starts with the original structural drawings if they exist: were the footings and columns designed for an extra floor? Then he inspects the frame as it stands: cracks, visible rust on the steel, and the state of the roof slab that is about to become the floor of the new storey. In older houses near the coast, corroded steel in columns and slabs is common, and the frame may need repair and strengthening before anything is added. Where a full storey is too much for the structure, a lightweight roof annex may be the better answer.

Splicing the steel and the starter bars

If the original builder left starter bars standing above the roof, they are cleaned of rust and checked for length, and the new column steel is then spliced to them with a lap length set by the structural engineer according to the bar diameter and the concrete grade. If the starter bars were cut off, are too short or have corroded, the engineer decides the solution: new bars fixed into the column heads with chemical anchoring, or strengthening of the column itself. What we never do is weld new steel onto old without a design, or build new columns on the roof anywhere other than directly over the columns below.

If the new floor needs openings in the existing slab for a staircase or services, it is better to make them by machine sawing and coring rather than breaking, through concrete cutting in Al Khobar and core drilling, once the engineer has approved their positions.

Licensing the second floor

An extra floor on a licensed building is permitted through the “addition and modification of building components” service on Balady, and a design office applies with the drawings for the addition. A building whose permit does not match what is actually standing first needs the “correcting the status of an existing building” service. We do not start any addition until the permit has been issued.

Construction stages in Al Khobar, in order

Every residential building in Al Khobar goes through the same stages; what changes is how deep and how long each one is, depending on the plot and the design. This is the order we follow, with what gets checked at each stage before moving on:

Each of these stages has its own detailed guide if you want to go further: concrete pouring, plastering, plumbing, electrical work and tiling. As for how long a build takes, we do not give a fixed figure before seeing the drawings. It differs between a single-storey villa, a two-storey duplex and an apartment building, and it is affected by the summer heat, material deliveries and the owner’s own decisions. What we do is write a stage-by-stage programme into the contract and follow it with you week by week.

An old house on the plot?

Some plots in Al Khobar’s older districts still carry traditional houses or run-down villas. A new build there starts with demolition and removal of the debris, followed by a fresh look at the soil, because filling over old footings and their remains changes the ground. This stage is licensed and carried out separately, as explained in our Al Khobar demolition guide; we then take over a clean plot and start from setting out.

Turnkey handover in Al Khobar: what you receive on handover day

Turnkey in Al Khobar means we build the shell and then complete on through every trade until the family can move in: electrical and plumbing services, plaster, roof insulation, tiles and marble, paint, suspended ceilings if they are in the specification, doors and windows, bathrooms and kitchen prepared to receive their fittings, and then the handover walk-through. Rates begin at SAR 1,110 per square metre for an ordinary finish and SAR 1,480 for a premium one.

Finish levels: standard, excellent and luxury

Is your frame already standing and you just need the inside done? Talk to a finishing contractor in Al Khobar, with its own prices and packages.

Thermal insulation is part of turnkey

Every new home has to meet the thermal insulation requirement, which is checked on site in the walls, the roof and the windows before the coordination certificate with the electricity company is issued. So we build external walls in insulated block, fit double-glazed windows to the specification, and complete the roof waterproofing and thermal insulation before the roof tiles. In Al Khobar’s hot, humid summer the difference shows straight away, both in how comfortable the house feels and in the electricity bill.

The handover walk-through and the snag list

Before we hand over the keys we walk through the house with the owner room by room: doors and windows open and close smoothly, tiles are level with no hollows beneath them, bathroom and roof falls carry water to the drains, switches and sockets work, and there are no leaks in the pipework. Every point goes on a dated list, we fix it, and we review it with the owner again before the final handover is signed.

Completion certificate and utility connections

Once the building is complete, the completion certificate is issued through Balady. Its published requirements include a technical report from the supervising office confirming that the work matches the drawings and the code, the thermal insulation certificate and photographs of the facades. The certificate is needed to connect electricity and water, so we prepare our part of it during construction, not afterwards.

Building permit in Al Khobar: who applies and which documents are needed

A building permit in Al Khobar is issued electronically through the Balady platform. The applicant is the engineering firm you appoint to design the house, not the builder. Our part is to appear in the file as the construction contractor and confirm that role from our own account, and we mobilise only after the permit has been issued and the insurance policy is in force.

Required documents

• ✓The electronic ownership deed, kept current.
• ✓A survey (cadastral) report for the land that has not expired.
• ✓The contract with the design office, and the contracts with the supervising office and the executing contractor.
• ✓The soil investigation report.
• ✓The latent defects insurance policy.
• ✓A traffic study where the activity requires one, the declarations and undertakings, and payment of the fees.

Permit steps in order

1. 1
   The owner picks a designer
   and grants an engineering office authority on Balady to produce the architectural and structural plans.
2. 2
   Technical review
   A technical inspection body reviews the plans for code compliance, and anything it flags goes back to the office for correction.
3. 3
   Municipal approval
   The municipality reviews the application and issues the design approval certificate.
4. 4
   Supervisor and contractor
   The supervising office is selected and approves, and the work is assigned to the contractor, who accepts.
5. 5
   Insurance and fees
   The latent defects policy is issued once paid, the municipality is paid and the licence follows.

Latent defects insurance

Latent defects insurance is an official requirement for a building permit. It is an insurance policy the owner obtains under the regulations, covering hidden structural defects that may appear after completion and affect the strength and stability of the building, and the insurer’s inspector follows the construction stages. Its cost is calculated according to the policy, and it is part of the permit file, not a service provided by the contractor.

The Saudi Building Code and engineering supervision

Our crews work from plans approved under the edition of the Saudi Building Code now in force, and the supervising engineer is involved at each step. What the supervisor checks before every pour is mainly the steel (diameters, numbers and spacing), the concrete cover provided by the spacers, the lap length of the starter bars, clean and stable formwork, and conduits and pipes in their proper places. We do not pour before the supervisor signs.

Stage payments and the contractor’s contract in Al Khobar

The fairest way to pay a building contractor is to tie each payment to a completed stage that can be inspected on site, rather than to the passing of time or to a large sum up front. The percentage for each payment is set in the contract according to the size and type of the project.

If you are building with self-build financing, the lender releases funds in stages, so the contractor’s payment schedule should match the lender’s release stages to avoid work stopping while a payment is awaited.

Clauses that belong in a building contract

• ✓The parties, the permit number, the design and supervising offices and the list of drawings.
• ✓The scope of work item by item, with exclusions written out explicitly.
• ✓Technical specification: concrete strength, which cement, which steel, insulated block and its width, and the waterproofing and thermal insulation build-ups.
• ✓How built-up area is measured: stairs, projections, annex, roof rooms, boundary wall and tanks.
• ✓The price and VAT, and the payment schedule tied to stages.
• ✓Duration and programme, what happens in case of delay, and how changes are approved and priced.
• ✓Who pays for fees, insurance, tests, the concrete pump and utility connections.
• ✓Site safety, removal of debris and the final handover procedure.

The Saudi Contractors Authority offers a unified construction contract through its “Muqawil” platform; once both parties accept it there, it becomes an enforceable instrument, and it is worth asking about.

How to choose a building contractor in Al Khobar

Choose a building contractor in Al Khobar on what you can verify, not on what you are told: a commercial registration and classification, previous work you can visit or see in real photographs, a detailed offer with items and exclusions, and clarity about who does what in the permit file. Put these questions to every contractor you speak to, including us:

• ✓Is the price per metre of built-up area or of land? How do you count stairs and projections?
• ✓What does the offer not include? Ask for that list in writing.
• ✓What concrete grade and cement type will you use in foundations near the coast, and where will the concrete come from?
• ✓Who is the responsible engineer on site, and how will you keep me informed of progress?
• ✓How are payments tied to stages, and what happens if the work runs late?
• ✓Can I see projects you have built in Al Khobar or Dhahran? Photos of our real work are on our projects page.

A contractor or day labourers?

Day labour can be cheaper for a small, well-defined task, but on a complete house it hands you the management of the whole site: buying materials, coordinating carpenters, steel fixers, masons and plumbers, dealing with the supervisor and carrying every mistake. The building permit itself requires a named executing contractor who accepts the assignment, so there is no place in the official file for unnamed labour. A blockwork mason on his own may be enough for a boundary wall, a partition or a small room that needs no structural frame.

Common building mistakes in Al Khobar and how to avoid them

How to order a building contractor in Al Khobar

Send us the details of your project on WhatsApp at 0547879578 and we will reply with an itemised cost estimate, then arrange a site visit in Al Khobar. It helps if you send:

• ✓Plans, if the design office has issued them; if not, your plot dimensions, the number of storeys and whether you have a duplex or a single villa in mind.
• ✓Location: the neighbourhood, a picture of the land and its access road, and whether the soil has been investigated.
• ✓What you want from us: labour for the frame, the frame with our materials, or a finished home and how high-end.
• ✓Adding a storey: pictures of the roof, the tops of the columns and any bars left sticking out, plus the original plans if they survive.
• ✓Start date: the month you are aiming for, and whether a bank or fund is financing the build.

1. 1
   You send the details
   On WhatsApp or by calling us directly.
2. 2
   An estimated cost
   We work it out from the drawings and the price table, and tell you what cannot be confirmed before seeing the plot.
3. 3
   Site inspection
   We visit the plot or the villa in Al Khobar and review the drawings and soil report with you.
4. 4
   Signing
   Once we have written down together what is included, how it is built, how it is measured, when you pay and how long it takes.
5. 5
   Building and keys
   Licence first, then one stage at a time with the supervisor watching, ending with a joint inspection.

Why Aemar Al-Maryam as your building contractor in Al Khobar?

• ✓Our base in Dammam is a short drive away, so site visits are frequent and Khobar clients pay Dammam rates with no travel surcharge.
• ✓Clearly published starting prices, and an itemised offer with inclusions and exclusions before you sign.
• ✓We build to the soil report and the approved drawings, and we never pour before the supervising office signs off.
• ✓Experience with duplex villas, small apartment buildings and extra floors on top of occupied houses.
• ✓Direct contact, with photos and progress reports for every stage on WhatsApp.

Where we build: Al Khobar neighbourhoods and the cities around them

Recent and regular sites of ours sit in these Khobar neighbourhoods:

We carry out the same projects in Dhahran and Dammam at the same prices, and in the rest of the Eastern Province, where travel is priced at inspection. You can find our Al Khobar services on the Al Khobar page, the broader building guide in building contractor in Dammam, and our construction service page.