Methodology
How a record earns its place
Every figure on the platform traces to a source. These are the rules that decide what is recorded, how it is classified and what counts toward the totals.
Evidence first
Each record carries a source link, a unique evidence reference and a trust score. If we cannot point to a source for a figure, it is not recorded. Candidate items found by our news monitors are held back for review and are not published until they are checked.
Evidence classes
| Class | What the source link is |
|---|---|
| Primary | The link itself is an official, owner, exchange or procurement document, such as a government or authority statement, an exchange filing, a project owner or company release, or a tender portal notice. |
| Secondary | The link is professional media or research reporting the figure. We cite it, but it is not the originating document. |
Source tiers
| Tier | Source type | Class |
|---|---|---|
| A | Government or authority, or exchange filing | Primary |
| B | Project owner or company, including press-release pages | Primary |
| C | Procurement notice | Primary |
| D | Professional media | Secondary |
| E | Research | Secondary |
What a recorded value represents
A value is only ever the figure the source states, in the basis the source uses. Where a source gives a range we record the lower figure. Each value is labelled with one of these types:
| Type | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Contract award | The value of a contract awarded or signed. |
| Total project cost | The stated overall cost of a project. |
| Programme or pipeline total | A multi-project programme figure. Shown separately from awarded or committed value. |
| Investment pledge | A stated commitment to invest. |
| Financing amount | Debt or equity raised for a project. |
| Executive statement | A figure from remarks by an executive, flagged as such. |
What counts toward totals
- Contracts inside a larger programme are linked to it as child records and are not counted twice.
- Terminated work stays visible but is not counted.
- Bond issues, refinancings, development-bank policy operations, SME, social and humanitarian operations, lease-and-leaseback deals and sales agreements are not treated as capital projects.
- Headline totals are cumulative: everything tracked, not a rolling window.
Classification
Every project sits on one taxonomy: 16 master sectors, a subsector beneath each, a region and a delivery model. Giga-project and Mega-project ($5 billion or more) describe scale, not sector. Subsector references are indicative and mapped to ISIC Rev.4.
Coverage
Capital projects, tenders and companies across the GCC and wider MENA, including projects Gulf investors are delivering abroad. Coverage is deeper where official sources are accessible, so counts differ by country and are not a measure of market size.
Independence
The platform has not been certified by a third-party assurer. Our governance scorecard is computed live from the database and is a self-assessment.