Which Ex certification is needed in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other Gulf countries?

It depends on the country, but the technical basis is almost always an IECEx or ATEX certificate. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, both IECEx member countries, add a national conformity certificate: the SASOEX certificate issued by the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO), and the ECAS-Ex certificate under the UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT). In the other Gulf states the requirement is usually set by the project specification and the national regulator, which normally ask for IECEx or ATEX.

Short answer

On every project, the client's specification can add requirements beyond the law, such as a preferred scheme, a third-party review or a maximum ambient temperature rating.

Saudi Arabia: the SASOEX certificate

SASO lists, among its IEC certificates, a SASOEX conformity certificate for equipment intended for explosive atmospheres. It is issued on the basis of the test certificate and test report under IECEx, the EU ATEX directive, or other Ex schemes, and confirms conformity with the Saudi technical regulation and standards, taking national differences into account.

SASO names the products that need it: junction boxes and control boxes with cable glands, gas detectors and gas detection systems, plugs and sockets, electrical pumps, linear lighting, and products subject to the Saudi technical regulation for electrical appliances and equipment intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres. The application requires, among other things:

• a Saudi commercial registration (and industrial registration for a local manufacturer), with declarations by importer and manufacturer;
• for IECEx products, the certificate of conformity, the ExTR and the QAR; for ATEX products, the certificate, the declaration of conformity and the QAN;
• if the test report is more than three years old and the product is unchanged, a declaration and commitment to update the requirements;
• evidence of compliance with Saudi national differences, for example for electrical plugs.

United Arab Emirates: ECAS-Ex

The UAE runs ECAS-Ex, the conformity assessment scheme for electrical equipment for explosive atmospheres under MoIAT, the country's IECEx member body. Its legal basis is Cabinet Resolution No. 23 of 2016 on electrical equipment for potentially explosive atmospheres, which later UAE regulations, such as the 2026 safety requirements for industrial gas facilities, require facilities to follow. Certification bodies working in the scheme describe it as applying the IECEx rules: an application normally uses the IECEx certificate, the test report and the QAR (no QAR for unit verification), and the resulting certificate of conformity is issued for a limited period, so its expiry date needs to be tracked.

Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain

These countries are not IECEx member countries, and no separate national Ex product certificate comparable to the Saudi or UAE schemes was found for this article. In practice, oil, gas and petrochemical operators and the EPC contracts written for them specify the accepted certification, typically IECEx, ATEX or both, often with requirements on documentation, marking and ambient temperature. Before quoting, ask the client and the authority with jurisdiction which certificates they accept, and confirm whether any import registration applies to the product.

Common mistakes

• Shipping with an IECEx certificate only. In Saudi Arabia and the UAE a national certificate is needed for the products in scope.
• Ignoring the ambient rating. The normal ambient range of Ex equipment is -20 to +40 °C; Gulf projects often need a higher rating on the certificate and marking (IEC 60079-0 edition 8 requires the rated ambient range always to be marked).
• Letting national certificates lapse. Time-limited national certificates need renewal, and in Saudi Arabia a test report more than three years old needs a commitment to update the file, even when the IECEx certificate is unchanged.
• Assuming one Gulf rule. Each country, and often each operator, decides separately.

Related on excodex

• Ex certification in other markets: UKEX, EAC, INMETRO, CCC, PESO and others
• ATEX vs IECEx: differences, similarities and which one you need
• The IECEx scheme explained: CoC, ExTR, QAR and the online certificate database
• Can Ex equipment be used above +40 °C ambient, for example in the Middle East?
• Standards space: IECEx

Standards and further reading

• SASO, IEC certificates including the SASOEX conformity certificate and its requirements: saso.gov.sa
• IECEx, member countries and member bodies: iecex.com
• UAE Cabinet Resolution No. 23 of 2016 on electrical equipment for potentially explosive atmospheres, and the ECAS-Ex scheme of the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology; cited in Cabinet Resolution No. 15 of 2026 on safety requirements in industrial gas facilities: uaelegislation.gov.ae
• IEC 60079-0, explosive atmospheres, general requirements for equipment (ambient temperature range and marking).

This article is general technical information prepared by the excodex editorial team. It does not replace the applicable standards, the equipment certificates and instructions, national regulations or the assessment of a competent person.