 BIG.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Saudi Consulting Services (Saudconsult) is one of Saudi Arabia's oldest and largest multi-disciplinary engineering and architectural firms. Founded in 1965 by president and chairman Dr Tarek M A Shawaf, it is a 100 per cent Saudi privately owned, sole proprietorship engineering consultancy firm.
Saudconsult now has a workforce of more than 850 engineers, architects, consultants, designers, technicians and support staff.
Projects done by the firm encompass every aspect of development from cities, industrial centres, hospitals, schools and universities, highways, bridges, airports, water, sewerage, drainage, irrigation, landscaping, dams, harbour, marine facilities, desalination plants, treatment plants, oil/gas and petrochemical plants, power and telecommunication systems.
"Saudconsult can provide all the services necessary to take a project from initial feasibility studies and conceptualisation through detailed design/engineering, project management, construction supervision, procurement assistance, commissioning and finally operation and maintenance. It can also furnish each of these services individually, or assemble them in a combination to meet a specific set of needs,' says Khurram Karamat, vice-president, director of business development (BD).
"The firm's familiarity with each region of the Kingdom is a special asset, assuring the successful completion of a project, including the securing and evaluation of bids, overseeing procurement and managing and supervising construction," says Karamat.
The de-centralised, flexible, structure of Saudconsult was created in response to the special demands of its vast operating area.
Because business and development requirements vary significantly across the Kingdom, Saudconsult has established four operation centres. In addition to the headquarters in Riyadh, Saudconsult has a Central Region office, also located in Riyadh, and Eastern Region office in Al Khobar, a Western Region office in Jeddah and an international office in Egypt.
Each regional centre has a general manager who has wide decision-making powers within his region. The individual project managers report to their respective regional general managers.
Saudconsult has acquired vast expertise and confidence during the last 30 years by successfully completing scores of projects in record time under highly demanding conditions, says Karamat.
"The firm is equipped with all the modern tools needed for efficiently accomplishing even the most complicated jobs," he says. "Saudconsult has designed and supervised more than 1,000 projects in planning, architecture and a variety of other disciplines.
Some of the key projects are:
Saudconsult is also in the process of completing the design of seven general rehabilitation centres and the Prince Salman Research Facility for the Handicapped and the centres for handicapped children in Riyadh and Makkah.
In addition, the company has designed and supervised numerous, water supply, sewerage and drainage, irrigation, water desalination, sewage treatment plants, highways, bridges and transportation studies, power generation, transmission and distribution, dams and flood control, and harbour and marine projects.
"The company is not only spearheading the present-day development of Saudi Arabia, it is also applying the techniques learned in many developing countries of Africa and the Middle East. Having originated in a developing country, Saudconsult possesses a unique understanding of the subtle and complex socio-economic considerations of the developing countries.
"What the developing world needs most is modern technology tempered with the sensitivity to its peculiar needs. This blend of modern technical know-how, sensitivity to local needs and an unflinching commitment to excellence is what makes Saudconsult unique," says Karamat.
