Leasing commercial premises in Saudi Arabia no longer ends with a signature on paper. As of 2026, registering the commercial lease on the Ejar platform — part of the Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing ecosystem — is an operational prerequisite standing between a business and its municipal license, and between both parties and the protection of their rights. This page covers why registration became practically mandatory, plus the steps and fees as documented up to June 2026, within the business guides and real estate guides on Hala Law.

Why registration became an operational prerequisite

Two documented reasons make an unregistered contract a liability:

  • Executive bond status: a contract registered through Ejar legally constitutes an executive bond recognized by the Ministry of Justice. This classification allows the landlord, on tenant default, to petition the Execution Court directly — bypassing protracted civil litigation. In return, the tenant holds a documented contract with fixed terms that cannot be altered unilaterally.
  • Municipal license linkage: municipalities rely on Ejar data to issue Balady commercial operation licenses, and the digital system automatically rejects commercial license applications if the physical property is zoned for residential use. A lease over a wrongly zoned property means the licensing process stalls entirely.

Required documents

  • The tenant's Commercial Registration — if not yet issued, that earlier step is covered in the guide to issuing a Commercial Registration.
  • The landlord's electronic title deed for the property.
  • Valid National IDs or Iqamas for the authorized signatories of both parties.

Registration steps on Ejar

  1. A FAL-licensed real estate broker initiates the draft contract on the Ejar platform — the platform restricts contract generation to licensed brokers.
  2. The landlord and tenant each receive SMS prompts to review the contract.
  3. Both parties authenticate and approve the contract terms via Nafath.
  4. Fees are settled through the Ejar wallet to complete registration.

The steps above reflect the last verification in June 2026; labels and screens may change as the platforms are updated.

Fees

Per the June 2026 baseline — fees change by subsequent decisions:

| Item | Amount | | --- | --- | | Year 1 registration | SAR 200 | | Each subsequent year | SAR 400 annually (plus 15 percent VAT) | | Broker commission | Capped at 2.5 percent of Year 1 rent |

Expected timeline

Registration typically takes one to three days, and the single decisive factor is how quickly both parties complete their digital approvals via Nafath.

The unified template and preserving executive bond status

One documented point deserves attention: to preserve the contract's status as an executive bond, the sources point to using the unified Ejar template without unilaterally appending custom legal clauses. Clauses added outside the unified template can affect the standardized treatment on which the contract's enforcement strength rests. A party that needs bespoke terms — fit-out works, grace periods, non-standard rent escalation — faces a trade-off between drafting flexibility and enforcement strength, and that trade-off differs from one deal to another.

When do you need a licensed lawyer or advisor?

The information above is a general framework for the procedure, not an assessment of any specific contract. Engaging a licensed lawyer or certified advisor carries direct weight when:

  • The deal needs bespoke clauses beyond the unified template, with the resulting trade-off between drafting and executive bond status.
  • There is an active dispute over eviction, rent, or handover, where each party's position turns on the registered contract and the facts of performance.
  • The lease is intertwined with wider arrangements — a long lease with a purchase option, subleasing, or premises within a development project.
  • A question arises over the property's zoning, the validity of the title deed, or the signatories' authority.

In those situations, every assessment depends on the deal's documents and facts — not on a single general rule.