PEC Registration for Foreign Firms: The FC/FO Ladder, the 30% JV Rule and the Provisional Licence

01Who PEC treats as a foreign firm

Under PEC’s registration policy (amended up to June 2024), a foreign firm is one owned by one or more foreign nationals with at least 51% of the shares, registered with SECP, and with at least 70% of its engineering staff from Pakistan. In practice that means the SECP company comes first, and the Pakistani engineers are part of the plan from day one, not an afterthought.

02The three foreign categories

• FC-1 / FO-1 — projects up to US$25 million · paid-up capital US$0.8 million · 90 PCPs · two trainee engineers · full fee US$10,000
• FC-B / FO-B — up to US$40 million · paid-up capital US$1 million · 120 PCPs · three trainee engineers · full fee US$12,000
• FC-A / FO-A — no limit · paid-up capital US$1.5 million · 200 PCPs · five trainee engineers · full fee US$24,000

The constructor (FC) and operator (FO) tables carry the same figures. Financial soundness can be shown as paid-up capital or net worth under the bye-laws’ Tables C and D.

03The joint venture is not optional

A foreign firm has to enter a joint venture with a Pakistani firm of equivalent or compatible category and submit it to the employer before bidding. PEC’s Governing Body restored the rule that the Pakistani firm holds at least 30% of that joint venture. Choose the partner by category first — a partner whose licence cannot carry the project weakens the whole bid.

04Provisional licence, then standard licence

1. 01Pay 50% of the category fee and show 50% of the PCPs
2. 02Receive a provisional licence stamped “Only for Bidding”
3. 03Bid in joint venture with the Pakistani firm
4. 04On award, pay the balance and complete the PCPs for the standard licence — before work starts

If no work comes, the provisional licence is renewed after it expires, until the firm wins a project in joint venture.

05Documents that take the longest

The company profile, the owners’ passports and the financial statement need verification abroad — by the Pakistani embassy, your country’s embassy in Pakistan, or by apostille — and the financials must be in English and verified by a registered chartered accountancy firm. Start these first; they run on other countries’ clocks.

06Consulting firms follow a different route

Foreign consulting engineers pre-register with PEC and then register separately for each project, in association or joint venture with a Pakistani consulting engineer, limited to expertise that is not available in Pakistan.