Quantora Saudi Arabia authority approvals for building systems
In Saudi Arabia the Saudi Building Code sets the design rules and a handful of authorities approve the result. Here is who governs what, and what it does to your quantities.
Saudi projects are designed to the Saudi Building Code (SBC) — SBC 801 for fire, SBC 401 for electrical, SBC 501 for mechanical, SBC 601 for energy and SBC 701 for plumbing — and approved by the authority that owns each system. Fire systems go through the General Directorate of Civil Defense on the Salamah platform; power goes to the Saudi Electricity Company; water and drainage to the National Water Company.
Who governs what
| System | Authority | Approval / standard |
|---|---|---|
| Fire alarm | General Directorate of Civil Defense (GDCD) | Design approval and installation permit via Salamah (998); SBC 801 |
| Sprinklers, hydrants and fire pumps | General Directorate of Civil Defense (GDCD) | Design approval and installation permit via Salamah; SBC 801 |
| Power distribution, DB panels, earthing | Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) | SEC electrical design approval and connection permit; SBC 401 |
| Lightning protection | Civil Defense, within the fire and electrical submittal | Reviewed within the SBC 401 / SBC 801 approval |
| HVAC and ventilation | Municipality (Amanah, MOMRAH) with Civil Defense for smoke control | Building permit compliance; SBC 501 and SBC 601 |
| Water supply and drainage | National Water Company (NWC) | NWC connection approval / NOC; SBC 701 |
| CCTV | Ministry of Interior | Prior approval under the Law of the Use of Security Surveillance Cameras |
| Structured cabling and Wi-Fi | Communications, Space & Technology Commission (CST) | CST type approval for equipment; TIA-568 / ISO/IEC 11801 for cabling |
| Access control | No statutory approval | Egress interlocks verified under the Civil Defense SBC 801 approval |
What this actually does to your BOQ
Fire is one submission, so price it as one package
Fire alarm, sprinklers, hydrants, fire pumps and smoke control all go to Civil Defense together. A change in one — a larger pump, a revised zone — reopens the submission. Keep these systems consistent in the BOQ and price the approval effort once, not per system.
Testing and certification are line items
- Civil Defense witness testing and completion certificate for fire systems
- Insulation resistance and earth testing before SEC energisation
- Pressure testing and NWC inspection for water and drainage
- Copper and fibre link certification for structured cabling
These belong in the BOQ as priced items, not absorbed into preliminaries.
CCTV needs approval before it is installed
Under the surveillance cameras law, camera locations, coverage and recording are approved before installation. Leave room in the programme, and in the BOQ, for the design submission and any changes it asks for.
Requirements change. The table above reflects the position as generally applied, but codes, approval routes and approved lists are updated, and local practice varies. Confirm current requirements with the relevant authority or your compliance consultant for any project you are pricing — this guide is a starting map, not a substitute for that check.
Building compliance into the BOQ rather than bolting it on
The practical habit worth adopting is to record, against each system in your BOQ, the governing authority, the required approval and the required test. It takes a few minutes per system and it prevents the two expensive failures: pricing equipment that cannot be used, and omitting testing that must be done.
Quantora attaches these requirements to each system automatically, based on the project's country and city, so the compliance position sits next to the quantities rather than in a separate document nobody opens.
Let Quantora do this from your drawings
Choose the project's country and city, upload a floor plan, and Quantora returns a complete bill of quantities in minutes — every item counted and located, with the governing authority, approval and test shown against each system.
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