The head of the National Committee for the Saudi Building Code Dr. Saad Al-Qasabi said that the code will be applied to buildings including designs that begin with the reports of the spatial elevation issued by the municipalities in July 2018, Makkah daily newspaper reported.

He said that application is mandatory for large engineering projects and will begin on Jan. 1, 2019. He noted that compulsory application for small residential buildings will start on Jan. 1, 2021, and that non-mandatory application will be available to all after the code is launched.

Al-Qasabi said that the proposed mechanism for the implementation of the code will allow the private sector to provide inspection services related to the work of the Saudi Building Code, after the approval of the private bodies and their acceptance by the Saudi Organization for Standardization, Metrology, and Quality and the Saudi Accreditation Committee. He added that the mechanism was presented to the National Committee, such as the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, the Civil Defense, and the Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources.

He pointed to the formation of a working team to follow up on the latest developments in the field of modern construction techniques headed by the Ministry of Housing, where the team examines those technologies and the possibility of their application and then adapt them to the requirements of the code.

He stated the National Committee for the Saudi Building Code is about to issue the executive regulations for the building codes and the classification of violations by the end of this April. He added that the committee has prepared programs, training, and rehabilitation plans for engineers and all concerned following the implementation of the code.

The National Committee for the Saudi Building Code in Jeddah, meanwhile, organized the third awareness workshops with the participation of more than 250 specialists in various governmental and private sectors concerned with the code.

Al-Qasabi said that these workshops complement the methodology of integration and partnership adopted by the committee with the government and private sectors and are in preparation for the implementation phase of the Saudi Building Code according to an ambitious work plan that includes the technical and legislative aspects. The most important of which is the preparation of the executive bylaws of the code system and the classification of violations in coordination with the stakeholders.

saudigazette