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Baseline surveys

We record the environment as it is before your project starts, so the EIA, the permit and every later comparison rest on real data.

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Overview

A baseline survey documents air quality, noise, water, soil and ecology at and around your site before work begins. It is the evidence an EIA is built on, and the reference point for monitoring during construction and operation.

Our own field teams plan and carry out the surveys, and measurements and laboratory analysis come from providers licensed for monitoring environmental media, as NCEC requires.

In brief, from our library

Only a service provider licensed by NCEC may prepare EIAs, plans and audits or carry out monitoring and laboratory work, and the licence must cover the specific service type. The 1446H service providers regulation lists 17 service types, with studies, plans, auditing, monitoring and laboratory analyses as separate types. A licence is valid for up to 3 years, depending on the size of the provider's activity and its classification, and renewal must be filed at least 3 months before expiry. You are responsible for choosing a provider from the approved list, and using an unlicensed provider under the air quality regulation carries a 50,000 riyal fine.Executive Regulation for Environmental Service Providers (Ministerial Decision 1442/1/582979)

Read the full guide: Who is allowed to prepare my EIA, EMP or monitoring report?

When you need it

  • You are preparing an EIA or an environmental management plan for NCEC.NCEC guide LO-1-M-005, technical requirements
  • Your project is on the coast or affects the sea, where marine baselines are part of the permit work.Marine reg. (1448H)
  • You want a record of site conditions before construction or acquisition.

What we deliver

  • Air qualityAmbient PM10, PM2.5 and gases.
  • NoiseDay and night levels at the site and nearby receptors.
  • Water and soilGroundwater, surface water and soil sampling and analysis.
  • EcologyFlora, fauna and habitat surveys.
  • MarineSeawater, sediment and marine habitat surveys.
  • Baseline reportMethods, maps, results and comparison with the applicable standards.

How we work

  1. Plan the survey

    Parameters, locations and timing are set from the project and its receptors.

  2. Survey the site

    Every point is located, photographed and logged.

  3. Analyse

    Samples go to licensed laboratories and results are checked against the standards.

  4. Report

    The baseline feeds straight into the EIA or plan.

Guides on this topic

References

Show all 3 references
  1. NCEC guide LO-1-M-005, technical requirements
  2. Marine reg. (1448H)
  3. Executive Regulation for Environmental Service Providers (Ministerial Decision 1442/1/582979)
How to read these references 2 texts cited
  • Art. 7(4)(b) means Article 7, paragraph 4, item (b).
  • Decision followed by a number is a ministerial or Council of Ministers decision. Most of the 1446H decisions replaced a regulation's penalty table.
  • H after a year marks the Hijri (Islamic calendar) year. 1446H ran from July 2024 to June 2025.

Every text we cite is listed on our regulations page.

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