Classification and permit to establish

Overview

Every new activity in Saudi Arabia needs an environmental permit to establish from NCEC, and so does every expansion, modification or added activity. The route depends on the category NCEC sets from your classification form: an environmental management plan for Category 1, an EIA for Category 2, or a scoping report followed by an EIA for Category 3.

As an NCEC licensed service provider we handle the whole route for you: the form, the baseline surveys, the study, the submission and the answers to NCEC’s comments.

When you need it

• You are starting a new activity, expanding or modifying an existing one, or adding an activity on the same site.^{1NCEC guide LO-1-M-005, controls section}
• Your Category 1 project is within 500 m of sensitive areas or receptors, so NCEC asks for a detailed EIA instead of an EMP.^{2NCEC guide LO-1-M-005, technical requirements}
• Your project is Category 3, which starts with a scoping report that NCEC must approve before the EIA.^{2NCEC guide LO-1-M-005, technical requirements}

What we deliver

• Classification form and category adviceWe screen the project against NCEC’s criteria before anything is filed.
• Baseline surveysAir, noise, water, soil and ecology, by our own field teams.
• Environmental management planFor Category 1 projects.
• Scoping report and EIAFor Category 2 and Category 3 projects.
• Submission and NCEC commentsFiled through NCEC’s electronic system, with every comment answered until approval.

How we work

1. Screen the project

   We review the location, activity and scale against NCEC’s classification criteria and plan the timeline and budget.

2. File the classification form

   NCEC decides the category within 10 working days of the form.^{3Permits reg. Art. 5(2)(b)}

3. Prepare the study

   Our team writes the EMP, the EIA, or the scoping report and then the EIA, from our own survey data.

4. Review and decision

   NCEC decides a Category 2 EIA within 30 working days and a Category 3 EIA within 60. A request for corrections starts a new review period.^{4Permits reg. Art. 7(4)(b) and Art. 8}

Guides on this topic

References

Need help with this? Talk to our team.