Article 23 of the Saudi Civil Defense Law

This article addresses private companies and institutions, providing for their cooperation with the General Directorate of Civil Defense to achieve two purposes:

• Verifying the adequacy and effectiveness of firefighters and rescue personnel, vehicles and equipment, and all firefighting and rescue supplies.
• Verifying the implementation of preventive safety rules and procedures.

In practice this means that a private facility that has firefighters or rescue personnel, or equipment and supplies for firefighting and rescue, or to which preventive safety rules apply, cooperates with the Directorate in verifying their readiness. The article describes this as cooperation and does not specify its form, such as visits, reports or inspection dates; these are details the text does not address.

It corresponds to Article 24, which sets almost the same rule for government bodies, providing for coordination between the General Directorate and the administrative bodies that have safety departments or firefighting teams for the same two purposes. Article 23 is for the private sector in terms of "cooperation", and Article 24 for administrative bodies in terms of "coordination".

It is also related to Article 22, which requires administrative bodies to build the necessary shelters within their buildings.

Facility owners who need to know their detailed obligations can refer to the civil defense regulations, or consult a lawyer specializing in administrative matters.