How to add an activity to a commercial registration and pick its code

To add an activity to a commercial registration in Saudi Arabia, open the amendment service for your establishment or company on the Business Platform, choose the activity from the national ISIC4 list, attach any licence it needs before registration, and pay the SAR 100 fee. A company's new activity must also fall within its objects.

This guide explains what the 2025 Commercial Register Law allows, how the national activity code is built, how to choose the code that matches what you actually do, the steps and conditions for establishments and companies, and the licence deadlines that follow. Fees and conditions are as listed on the official pages on 14 October 2026. It is general information, not legal advice; for a specific case, check the service page or ask a licensed advisor.

One registration, many activities: what the 2025 law allows

The Commercial Register Law issued by Royal Decree M/83 dated 19/3/1446H lets a trader register different activities without requiring any link between them, as long as other laws are respected (Article 9) [1]. Its Implementing Regulations add that a trader is registered once, however many activities and branches it has (Article 6) [2]. When both took effect on 3 April 2025, the Ministry of Commerce described the result as one registration per business for the whole Kingdom, covering all its activities [3].

In practice, adding a line of business means amending your existing registration rather than opening a new one. Three rules then apply:

• Update within 15 days. Any change to the registered data must be updated within 15 days of the change (Article 10 of the law) [1].
• Activities are public. A trader's activities are among the basic data anyone may view in the register (Article 15 of the Implementing Regulations) [2]. Clients, banks and agencies read your activity list as your official scope.
• The register binds you. Registered data can be relied on for or against the trader from the date it is registered, and data that should have been registered cannot be relied on against others until it is (Article 17 of the law) [1].

What is the ISIC4 activity code, and how is it built?

Every activity you pick on the platform belongs to the national classification of economic activities, known as ISIC4. The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) explains that it derives from the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities, Revision 4, issued by the United Nations. A royal order (No. 44302 dated 25/9/1438H) directed ministries and agencies to adopt it as the single approved classification and to apply it before 1 January 2018 [4].

GASTAT describes the levels of the national classification as follows [4]:

The first four levels follow the United Nations structure, where the first two digits of a code give the division, the first three the group and all four the class [5]. The two national levels sit under the class and give the most detailed description of an activity [4]. When you add an activity to a commercial registration, read the full description of the activity you select, not just its code, because licence requirements attach to the specific activity [6].

How to choose the right activity code for what you actually do

The United Nations manual defines a business's principal activity as the one that contributes most to its value added [5]. The register, though, records every activity you carry out, so the task is to describe each real activity precisely. A six-point check helps:

1. Write one sentence per activity. What you sell or do, to whom, and how: on your premises, online, wholesale or as a service.
2. Find the section and division first, then read the neighbouring classes and their inclusions and exclusions [5].
3. Prefer a specific class over a catch-all. Classes marked "not elsewhere classified" exist for what fits nowhere else [5]; use them only when nothing specific matches.
4. Split distinct activities. Serving coffee, roasting it and selling it online are three different classes, as the example below shows.
5. Check the licence flag. Some activities need a licence before they can be registered, and others within 90 days of registration (see below) [6][2].
6. For a company, check the objects. The activity must fall within the company's objects in its articles of association [7].

Illustrative example: a café in Al Khobar adds roasting and online sales

Illustrative example. Noura runs a café in Al Khobar as a sole proprietorship. She starts roasting her own beans in the back room and selling sealed bags through her website. The United Nations classification places these in three classes [5]:

Her registration already shows the café activity, so she adds the other two through the amendment service, which lists a fee of SAR 100 [6]; the fee annex of the Implementing Regulations sets SAR 100 for each update to the registration [8]. Before submitting, she checks whether either activity needs a licence, and she completes the e-commerce details the form asks for [6]. Once online sales start, she must also show the unified electronic code with her registered data on her website (Article 14 of the Implementing Regulations) [2]. If the store is being built by an outside firm, our guide to choosing an app development company lists the questions to ask first.

Steps to add an activity to a commercial registration

The service differs for establishments and companies. Both run on the Business Platform, through the National Single Sign-On, and both are listed as immediate with a fee of SAR 100 [6][9].

For a sole proprietorship

1. Open Business operations > Ministry of Commerce > amend the establishment's commercial registration; an authorised user can also start from the registration's procedures menu [6].
2. Choose the registration, read the conditions and accept them.
3. Update the activities and licences; the same form covers prior licences, professional licences and licence cancellations, as well as capital, e-commerce details, the trade name, addresses, contact details and managers [6].
4. Review, confirm the declaration and submit [6].

The conditions are an active registration, a branch manager who is at least 18 and not a government employee, a valid licence for any activity that needs one before registration, and a statement of licence cancellation when removing such an activity [6]. A foreign-owned establishment needs a valid investment registration certificate with at least 90 days remaining [10].

For a company

The company version adds conditions: the activity must fall within the company's objects; a foreign company needs a valid investment licence with at least 30 days remaining and activities that match it; and a joint stock or simplified joint stock company needs the assembly minutes, a letter requesting the change to the company's printed materials certified by the chamber of commerce, and board members who are not government employees [9]. The applicant also states whether the company trades online [9].

When the activity is outside the company's objects

Amend the articles of association first. The Ministry's service lists SAR 1,500 for amending the articles and SAR 100 for the registration update, plus 15% VAT [7]. Then add the activity to the registration.

Adding activities during the annual confirmation

The annual confirmation service for a sole proprietorship includes adding activities and licence data in the same request; the confirmation itself is listed at SAR 500 [11]. If your confirmation is due soon, one request can cover both, but changes cannot wait past the 15-day update rule [1].

Licences: before registration or within 90 days

Commercial registration activities fall into two groups when it comes to licences.

• Licence first. For an activity that requires a licence before registration, the amendment service asks for a valid licence when you add it [6][9].
• Licence within 90 days. For other activities that need a licence, the trader must obtain it within 90 days of the activity's registration, and the licensing body notifies the registrar when it issues or updates the licence. If 90 days pass without a licence, or without proof that the activity needs none, the registrar removes the activity from the registration; the registrar may extend the period (Article 4 of the Implementing Regulations) [2]. The Ministry's announcement of the new law adds that the 90 days apply unless the licensing body sets a longer period [3].

Two related points save time. The authority that issues municipal licences notifies the registrar when it issues one for a new branch or updates one (Article 4, paragraph 3) [2]. And when you hold a licence that the registration does not yet reflect, the service for updating operational licence data is free and immediate; it requires a valid licence that includes the registered activity [12].

Fees and penalties at a glance

Common mistakes in commercial registration activities

1. Picking a broad code. A catch-all class can leave out what you actually do and the licence it needs [5].
2. Adding a licensed activity without the licence. For activities that need a licence before registration, the request needs a valid licence [6].
3. Missing the 90-day window. The activity is removed if the licence or proof does not arrive in time [2].
4. Adding an activity outside a company's objects. Amend the articles first [7].
5. Trying to amend a suspended registration. The Ministry's FAQ states that a suspended registration cannot be amended, and suspension also suspends the licences issued for it [13][1].
6. Opening a new registration for a new line or branch. Under the 2025 rules a trader is registered once [2].

Your next step

List the activities your business actually runs today, one sentence each, and compare them with the activity list on your registration. For each gap, find the class, read the full description of the activity you select, check the licence requirement and, for a company, the objects; then add an activity to the commercial registration in one amendment request within 15 days of the change. You can read about O AI, a software and AI company in Al Khobar, on our home page.