Cleaning manpower in Makkah is usually supplied as seconded workers under an Ajeer permit: the provider keeps the workers on its own sponsorship and payroll, and you direct their work on your site for the contract term. This guide explains how the Ajeer route works, what makes Makkah different from every other Saudi city, who provides housing, meals and transport, and what to check before you commit to a provider for a large cleaning crew.
The short answer is a crew of cleaners, supervised and paid by a licensed provider, working under your instructions at a hotel, a tower, a hospital, a mall, a project site or a public facility in the Holy City.
The provider’s role is wider than it looks, and a good contract spells out each part of it.
Makkah runs on a calendar set by Umrah and Hajj, and the scale of the cleaning effort around the holy sites shows what that means.
During Hajj 1447 the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing deployed more than 22,000 workers, supervisors and staff through the Holy Capital Municipality, removed more than 16,000 tons of waste at an average of over 200 tons a day, and carried out sanitation work at more than 46,000 locations in Makkah and the holy sites.
Access is the second difference: for Hajj 1447 the authorities required residents to hold an entry permit for Makkah from 14 April 2026, with workers of establishments based in Makkah applying through the Muqeem portal and other residents through Absher, while holders of a Makkah-issued residence ID or a work permit for the holy sites were exempt.
A provider that supplies cleaners to Makkah therefore has to plan the paperwork weeks ahead of the season, not days.
The third difference is the pipeline of work: the King Salman Gate project next to the Grand Mosque, announced in October 2025, is planned at up to 12 million square metres of built area with prayer space for more than 900,000 worshippers, and is expected to create more than 300,000 jobs by 2036.
Hotels, residential towers, retail and construction sites in the central area all need cleaning crews that can be scaled quickly, and the same is true for the hospitals, training facilities and government buildings across the city.
If your site is inside Makkah, ask the provider how it will handle the Hajj season entry permits for every worker on your roster, and ask for the plan in writing before the season starts.
A crew that cannot enter the city during the busiest weeks of the year is no crew at all.
Ajeer is the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development programme that lets one establishment make its workers available to another for a defined period without transferring their sponsorship.
The rules for seconding non-Saudi workers were set by Ministerial Decision 60339 of 28 October 2025 and came into force on 25 January 2026.
The points that matter most to a buyer of cleaning manpower are these.
For you the practical result is simple: no recruitment, no visas, no sponsorship transfers and no end-of-service liability, only a monthly invoice per worker and a permit you can check on the platform.
Compare Ajeer manpower with direct hiring in detail
This is the question Makkah buyers ask most, and the answer changes the price more than any other factor.
In the requests BICC received in late October 2026, one buyer wanted 1,000 cleaners for a year on a 10-hour day including an hour of overtime, with the client providing accommodation, food and transport, while others wanted the provider to cover all three.
Both models work, but they need to be written down clearly, because each one shifts cost, risk and management effort.
| Item | Client provides | Provider provides |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation | Lower monthly rate, but the client must hold a licensed collective housing facility with capacity for the crew. | Higher rate that includes a licensed bed, cleaning and a resident supervisor, with the compliance risk on the provider. |
| Meals | Client kitchen or caterer feeds the crew, and the rate excludes food. | Three meals a day from an ISO 22000 kitchen, priced per person per day inside the rate. |
| Transport | Client buses collect from the housing it chose. | Provider runs the buses on a route and timetable agreed with the site. |
| Overtime | Either way, the hours and the overtime basis must be stated in the contract and must stay within the Labour Law limits. | |
Whichever model you choose, the worker must still be housed in licensed collective housing, because since September 2025 establishments have been required to house their workers in licensed facilities, and a compliance drive announced in March 2026 asks every establishment with 20 or more workers to regularise its housing.
Read the labour camp requirements checklist
Large cleaning crews are built in waves, and the contract should say how each wave is approved, mobilised and paid.
For a crew of 1,000, ask the provider how many workers it can mobilise from its existing sponsorship in the first month, and how it will source the rest, because a provider that depends entirely on new recruitment cannot meet a short start date.
Rates differ widely between providers, so understand the factors before comparing offers.
Cost factor | Why it moves the rate |
|---|---|
Housing, meals and transport | The largest swing: a rate with all three included is far higher than a bare manpower rate. |
Working hours | A 10-hour day with built-in overtime costs more than an 8-hour day. |
Contract length | A one-year contract spreads permit and mobilisation costs and lowers the monthly rate. |
Headcount | Larger, steady crews earn better rates than small groups that start and stop. |
Skills and supervision | Trained housekeeping staff and supervisors cost more than general cleaners. |
Season | Crews mobilised for Ramadan or Hajj peaks carry permit and planning costs. |
Compliance and sponsor rating | A provider with a clean compliance record and a high Nitaqat band is a lower risk to your permits and your schedule. |
See how meals are priced per person per day
BICC (Basr International Contracting Co.) seconds cleaners, housekeeping staff and general labour under its Platinum Nitaqat sponsorship through the Ajeer platform.
BICC does not run its own camp in Makkah, so where the client does not provide housing, we source a suitable licensed facility, take care of the licensing and operate it for the contract term, with meals from our ISO 22000 kitchens and transport to site.
Our Jeddah camp is close enough to support Western Region mobilisations, and the same team runs housekeeping contracts for industrial and commercial facilities.
Send the headcount, sites, hours and start date, and you will have a plan and quotation within 48 hours.
Yes, in batches. The provider issues an Ajeer permit for each batch before it starts, and the contract sets the mobilisation schedule and the monthly rate per worker.
No. Under Ajeer the provider remains the employer and sponsor, and your establishment uses the workers for the term of the service contract.
Yes. Many Makkah buyers do, and the rate drops accordingly, but the housing must be a licensed collective housing facility.
For Hajj 1447 residents needed an entry permit from 14 April 2026, with workers of Makkah-based establishments applying through Muqeem, so the provider must plan this before the season.
For the term of the service contract and no more than three years, with renewal available before or after expiry.
BICC sends a plan and quotation within 48 hours of receiving the headcount, sites, hours and start date.
Sources: MALHR, October 2026, on Ajeer secondment contracts and Decision 60339, Saudi Press Agency, May 2026, on Hajj 1447 cleaning operations, Ministry of Municipalities and Housing, June 2026, on Hajj 1447 municipal operations, Al Jazeera, April 2026, on Makkah entry permits for Hajj 1447, Okaz, November 2025, on the King Salman Gate project, Al Jazirah, June 2026, on the licensed housing requirement since September 2025, People Matters, March 2026, on the 20-worker compliance drive
Tell us the headcount, sites, hours and start date, and we will send a plan and quotation within 48 hours.
