Article 21 of the Saudi Civil Defense Law

This article regulates public shelters, the places prepared to protect people in times of danger, and specifies two things:

First: where they are built

• Parks.
• Public squares.
• Plazas.
• And other crowded and suitable places for building public shelters.

The criterion common to these places is that they be crowded and suitable, because the aim is for the shelter to be near gatherings of people.

Second: the controls on building them

Building is according to the rules, conditions and specifications set by the Civil Defense Council. The article does not itself set the capacity, design or equipment of the shelters, but refers all of that to the Council.

This article is linked to Article 22, which requires all administrative bodies to build the necessary shelters within the buildings belonging to them as the Civil Defense Council decides. Article 21 concerns shelters in public places, whereas Article 22 concerns shelters inside administrative bodies' buildings.

It also differs from Article 20, which deals with making compliance with safety rules a condition for granting licenses. The article does not specify the body that carries out construction or finances it, so that cannot be asserted from its text.