Article 15 of the Saudi Civil Defense Law

This article moves responsibility from the central level to the local level, providing that the civil defense director in his area is responsible for two things:

• Carrying out civil defense operations within his area.
• Coordinating other measures with the competent bodies.

"His area" means the scope in which he runs civil defense, and the article does not specify how these areas are divided or their boundaries, which is left to the administrative organization of civil defense.

To understand where this article fits, it should be linked to Article 14, which lists the powers of the General Directorate of Civil Defense, subject to what the laws provide and the decisions of the Civil Defense Council, including proposing civil defense plans, projects and measures and following up their implementation, carrying out those within its jurisdiction from the plans and decisions, and taking the appropriate measures to face disasters that the Minister of Interior, chairman of the Civil Defense Council, has issued a decision to treat as a disaster. The General Directorate thus plans and follows up at the general level, while the civil defense director in each area handles field implementation and local coordination.

The coordination provided for here matters in practice, because facing accidents and disasters usually requires several bodies in the same area to cooperate, such as the security, health and municipal bodies and others.

Article 16 provides for meals to be furnished at State expense to those carrying out civil defense work during emergencies, disasters and wars, under a regulation the Civil Defense Council issues.