Article 1 of the Saudi Real Estate Investment Schemes Law

This article is the Law's dictionary: each term defined in it is understood in the sense stated next to it wherever it appears in the Law, unless the context requires otherwise.

• Real estate investment scheme: a real estate development project in which a group of persons participate to achieve a benefit, by owning real estate and developing it into residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural or other use, then selling it and ending the scheme. The definition expressly excludes real estate investment funds, which are not a real estate investment scheme in the sense of this Law.
• Participant: a person who owns an undivided share in the scheme, that is, a shared portion of the whole project and not a separate part of it.
• The license and the licensee: the license is the scheme license issued by the General Authority for Real Estate, and the licensee is the person who holds it.
• Scheme manager: the person appointed to manage the scheme.
• Escrow account: the bank account specific to the scheme.
• Register of participants: a register in which the names of participants, their shares and any change in the ownership of their shares are entered.
• The assembly: the assembly of participants.

The article also specifies that "the Authority" is the General Authority for Real Estate, "the Board" is its board of directors, "the Chairman" is its chief executive officer, and "the Regulations" are the Implementing Regulations of the Law. Understanding these definitions helps in reading the remaining articles, and in knowing whether a project offered to a person falls within the scope of this Law or not. Anyone with a question about a specific project may consult a lawyer specialized in real estate matters.