Article 16 of the Saudi Building Code Law

This is the entry-into-force article, and it contains two provisions:

• Start of application: the Law takes effect one year after the date of its publication in the Official Gazette, not from the date it was issued.
• Repeal: the Law repeals every provision that conflicts with it, without naming those provisions.

This article is consistent with Article 15, which provides that the National Committee prepares the regulations within one year of the date the Law is published, including a regulation containing a classification of Code violations, adopted by decision of the Minister of Commerce and Investment, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization, and published in the Official Gazette. The period for preparing the regulations and the period before the Law takes effect are both one year from the same publication date, so that the Law and its regulations are ready together.

It is useful for owners, designers, contractors and supervisors, whom Article 1 defines, to know the publication date, because it is the basis for calculating when the Law takes effect. The text does not state the actual publication date; it ties the entry into force to it.

This is a procedural article that creates no particular obligation for the owner or contractor, but it fixes the time from which their obligations under the Law begin.