Saudi Conventions & Exhibitions General Authority
The primary authority for exhibitions and conferences: event classification, organizer eligibility, venue suitability and programme approval.
SCEC & GEA
Event permits in Saudi Arabia, handled end to end
Most events are not lost to design or budget. They are lost to a regulatory file that started too late. AWJ prepares, submits and follows the file through to an issued permit — as part of a full package, or on its own.
How it runs
From classification to issued permit
01
Scope & classification
We classify the event against SCEC and GEA criteria and confirm exactly which authorities it falls under. Getting this wrong at week one is what costs dates at week ten.
02
Regulatory file preparation
Commercial registration, venue contract, layout drawings, safety plan, crowd capacity calculations, insurance and supplier credentials assembled into the format each authority expects.
03
Submission & follow-up
Filing with the General Entertainment Authority (GEA) or the Saudi Conventions & Exhibitions General Authority (SCEC), and chasing the file through review rather than waiting on it.
04
Civil Defence & municipality
Safety approvals, fire and evacuation compliance, and the municipal and venue permissions that sit alongside the primary permit.
05
Issuance & on-site compliance
Permit issued and handed over, with on-site compliance during build and show days so nothing jeopardises it once the doors open.
Standalone
Permits only
You are producing the event yourself and need the regulatory side handled. We prepare the file, submit it, follow it through review and hand you the permit.
Inside a full package
Permits with production
Licensing is scheduled alongside design, build and technical production from day one — so the permit timeline shapes the production timeline instead of colliding with it.
Questions
Permit FAQs
Exhibitions and conferences fall under the Saudi Conventions & Exhibitions General Authority (SCEC). Events with an entertainment component fall under the General Entertainment Authority (GEA). Many events touch both, plus Civil Defence and the municipality, and the classification decides which file you prepare.
Yes. Permits and licensing is offered as a standalone service. We prepare and submit the regulatory file and follow it to issuance whether or not AWJ is producing the event.
It depends on classification, venue and capacity. As a practical rule, start eight to twelve weeks before the event date. Files submitted late are not rejected for being late — they simply run out of review time.
Typically the commercial registration of the organizing entity, the venue contract or letter of availability, the event concept and programme, expected attendance, and floor layout drawings. We prepare everything else.
No. The primary permit from SCEC or GEA and the Civil Defence safety approval are separate tracks. We run both in parallel, along with municipality and venue approvals, so they land together.
Material changes to capacity, layout or programme usually require an amendment. We handle the amendment file, which is faster than resubmitting — provided it is raised before the event rather than discovered during it.