Saudi Building Code compulsory for large construction projects in the kingdom

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

According to him, applications are compulsory for the large engineering projects in Saudi Arabia that will begin on 1 January 2019.

The proposed mechanisms of Saudi Building aim to address some of the crucial pointers in the building and construction sector that the kingdom is facing today.

According to the Saudi Building Code National Committee, in spite of construction and building sector is one of the major economic pillars in the country, there are examples of chaos in studies, technical planning and implementation between parties operating in building and construction sector.

The presence of a legal and scientific reference for the code is expected to remove these negative aspects in the construction industry. Some of the strategic objectives to implement the Saudi Building Code are:

? Improve efficiency, safety, strength and sustainability of buildings in the region

? Increase the span of life of the buildings in compliance with the Saudi Standards, Metrology & Quality Organisation (SASO)

? Rationalise all kinds of power consumption and reduce the cost of operation and maintenance of buildings

? Increase of buildings resistance to natural disasters

Al-Qasabi said that with the implementation of the codes, Saudi Arabia aims to allow the private sector to provide inspection services across the buildings after the approval of the private bodies and by the Saudi Organisation for Standardisation, Metrology and Quality and the Saudi Accreditation Committee.

He further added that to the source that the mechanism was presented to a number of government organisations in Saudi Arabia for their compliance.