A recognition route for high-risk equipment
SASOEX is SASO’s conformity certificate for equipment intended for potentially explosive atmospheres. It exists so that international Ex evidence can be recognised rather than reproduced from scratch.
SASOEX Certificate & IECEx Compliance
In hazardous areas, the nameplate is the specification
Equipment going into a Saudi refinery, gas plant or petrochemical site is judged on its Ex evidence and on whether the marking agrees with it. The route is built around IECEx, it recognises rather than repeats good testing, and it is unforgiving about the details most suppliers treat as print detail.
The Short Version
What the Ex route actually is
Six things to settle before a supplier quotes you on the strength of certification they already hold.
Built on IECEx
The route is anchored on the IECEx system — the certificate of conformity, its test report and the quality assessment report behind them. This is the evidence the recognition is designed to read.
ATEX is not the same currency
European ATEX documentation is respected and is often accepted as supporting evidence, but the Saudi route is built around IECEx. A supplier holding only ATEX paperwork should expect questions an IECEx holder does not get.
Evidence, not entry
Recognition shortens the technical assessment. The document customs reads is still a SABER shipment certificate, raised against a live product certificate under the Saudi importer’s account.
The factory is part of the certificate
Ex manufacture is assessed as a system, not a sample. The quality assessment behind an IECEx certificate names a plant, and equipment produced somewhere else is not covered by it.
The Ex marking has to match
Protection concept, equipment group, category, gas or dust group, temperature class and ambient range are all on the nameplate. They are checked against the certificate, character by character.
The Question Everyone Asks
IECEx or ATEX
Both are credible engineering regimes. Only one of them is the currency the Saudi route is denominated in, and that distinction decides how long your assessment takes.
IECEx — the route Saudi Arabia is built around
- An international certification system with a public certificate register
- Certificate of conformity, test report and quality assessment report
- Names the manufacturing site and its assessed quality system
- Recognised directly by the Saudi recognition route
- Also the reference point for most Saudi end-user specifications
- Verifiable by a third party without asking the manufacturer
ATEX — useful, but not a substitute
- A European legal framework rather than an international scheme
- EU-type examination certificate plus a declaration of conformity
- Notified body numbering that means nothing outside the EU system
- Accepted as supporting evidence, rarely as the whole answer
- Frequently queried where the Ex marking conventions differ
- Usually leads to a longer assessment and more correspondence
The Route
How Ex evidence reaches a Saudi file
Five steps. The first two take hours and decide whether the remaining three are worth starting.
Confirm the equipment is genuinely in scope
Not everything sold into a plant is Ex equipment, and not every Ex-marked item is regulated the same way. The HS code and the protection concept together decide the route, and settling it in writing avoids certifying the wrong thing.
Verify the certificate on the register
The IECEx certificate, its status, its issuing body and the site named on the quality assessment are checked against the public register. Withdrawn, expired or superseded certificates are the most common stopping point.
Reconcile the marking with the certificate
Nameplate against certificate: protection concept, group, temperature class, ambient range, ingress rating and any conditions of safe use. A discrepancy here is a technical review query, not a formality.
Obtain recognition
The Ex evidence is presented for the Saudi recognition certificate, with the commercial and manufacturing particulars that go alongside it. Where evidence is thin, the gap is identified as named testing rather than a full programme.
Certify and ship on SABER
Recognition feeds the technical file behind the product certificate, and each consignment then draws a shipment certificate under the Saudi importer’s account.
Verification
What we check before anything is filed
Eight checks against the register, the certificate and the nameplate. Each one is cheaper now than at technical review, and far cheaper than on site.
- The IECEx certificate is live on the register, not withdrawn or superseded
- The issuing certification body is an IECEx certification body in good standing
- A quality assessment report exists and names the producing plant
- The test report covers the equipment as it is configured for sale
- Nameplate marking matches the certificate in every field
- Conditions of safe use on the certificate are reflected in the documentation
- The temperature class and ambient range suit the Saudi installation, not a temperate one
- Every certified accessory shipped with the equipment has its own live evidence
By Category
Equipment we see on this route
Eight families, and what carries the assessment in each.
Junction and terminal boxes
Enclosures with cable glands, usually under increased safety or flameproof concepts. The gland selection is part of the certified assembly and is where mismatches most often appear.
Control and instrument boxes
Local control stations and instrument housings. The certificate covers the enclosure and its declared configuration, not whatever has been mounted inside it on site.
Fixed lighting
Luminaires for hazardous areas, including linear fittings and floodlights. Temperature class and ambient range carry most of the assessment.
Plugs, sockets and connectors
Connection devices rated for the area classification, where the interlocking arrangement is part of the protection concept.
Pumps and motors
Electric pumps and driven equipment, assessed as the combination that will actually be installed rather than as a motor in isolation.
Gas detection
Detectors, transmitters and detection systems. Performance approval sits alongside the Ex protection, and both are expected.
Barriers and isolators
Intrinsic safety barriers and galvanic isolators, where the system documentation matters as much as the individual device certificate.
Cable glands and accessories
Small components that carry their own certificates and are the most frequently forgotten line on an otherwise complete file.
Worked Example
Nine equipment types, two ATEX orphans
A supplier of hazardous-area lighting and control stations to a Saudi petrochemical contractor, nine equipment types across two plants.
Evidence inventoried
Seven types held live IECEx certificates. Two carried ATEX documentation only, inherited from a European product line that had never been sold outside the EU.
Marking reconciled
Three nameplates disagreed with their certificates on ambient range. The drawings were corrected before the order was released to production.
Ambient checked against site
The declared ceiling on the luminaires was below the summer design temperature at the installation. A higher-rated variant was selected rather than derated on paper.
Gap closed
The two ATEX-only types were taken through targeted testing against the Ex standard rather than a full requalification, using the existing reports where they held up.
Certified
One product certificate covering the range, with the accessory certificates listed in the file so shipment certificates could be raised per consignment without fresh queries.
Avoid These
Where Ex files come unstuck
Six failures, and the expensive ones are the two that surface after the equipment is already installed.
ATEX paperwork offered as the whole file
A complete European file with no IECEx certificate behind it. It is not worthless, but it turns a recognition exercise into an assessment, with the schedule to match.
Nameplate does not match the certificate
A temperature class or ambient range reprinted from a datasheet rather than transcribed from the certificate. It is checked field by field and it is checked every time.
Production moved to an unassessed site
The quality assessment names one plant and the goods were built at another. Under an Ex scheme this is a substantive failure, not an administrative one.
Ambient range copied from Europe
Equipment rated to an ambient ceiling that a Saudi plant exceeds in summer. It passes the certificate and fails the application, usually after installation.
Glands and accessories forgotten
The enclosure is certified, the glands fitted to it are not. The assembly as shipped is then uncertified, and the fix arrives with the equipment already on site.
Assuming recognition clears customs
Recognition is an input to the product certificate. Without the product certificate and the per-consignment shipment certificate, there is still nothing for customs to read.
Keep Going
Related pages
The parallel route for ordinary electrical goods, the certificate this feeds, and the file review behind both.
FAQs
Ex equipment questions
Hazardous-area equipment specifically. Ordinary electrical safety is answered on the IECEE page.
What is a SASOEX certificate?
It is SASO’s conformity certificate for equipment intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres. Rather than retesting high-risk equipment from scratch, the route recognises international Ex evidence — principally IECEx certification — and uses it to support the Saudi conformity assessment.
Is my IECEx certificate accepted in Saudi Arabia?
It is the evidence the route is designed around. A live IECEx certificate of conformity with its test report and quality assessment report, matching the equipment and the producing plant, is the strongest position you can arrive in. It is not an approval in itself — it supports the SABER product certificate rather than replacing it.
Will ATEX certification work instead?
Not on its own, in most cases. ATEX is a European legal framework, and Saudi recognition is built around IECEx. ATEX documentation is often accepted as supporting evidence, but expect a longer assessment, more technical queries, and in some cases targeted testing to close what the ATEX file does not demonstrate in the form required.
Does a SASOEX certificate replace the SABER certificate?
No. Customs looks for a shipment certificate raised against a live product certificate. Ex recognition is an input to the technical file behind that product certificate. Both exist, in that order, and neither does the other’s job.
Which equipment needs this route?
Equipment intended for hazardous areas — junction and control boxes, fixed lighting, plugs and connectors, pumps and motors, gas detection, intrinsic safety barriers and the certified accessories fitted to them. Scope follows the HS code and the protection concept together, so borderline items are worth settling before certification starts.
Why does the nameplate matter so much?
Because in Ex equipment the marking is the specification. Protection concept, equipment group, gas or dust group, temperature class, ambient range and conditions of safe use are what an inspector and an installer rely on. A nameplate that disagrees with the certificate makes both documents unreliable, so it is checked field by field.
My certificate names a different factory. Is that a problem?
Yes, and a serious one. Ex certification assesses the manufacturing quality system, not only the sample. The quality assessment report names the plant, and equipment produced at an unassessed site is outside the scope of the certificate regardless of how identical the design is.
Does the Saudi climate affect Ex equipment certification?
It affects the selection rather than the certificate. Equipment rated to a European ambient ceiling can be certified correctly and still be unsuitable for a Saudi plant in summer. Checking the declared ambient range against the actual installation conditions is part of a sound file, and it is frequently skipped.
Do cable glands and accessories need their own certificates?
Yes, where they form part of the protection. An enclosure is certified with a declared range of entries, and the glands fitted to it carry their own evidence. Shipping a certified enclosure with uncertified glands produces an uncertified assembly, which is one of the most common gaps we find in otherwise complete files.
Who holds the certificate, the manufacturer or the importer?
The Ex evidence belongs to the manufacturer. The Saudi product and shipment certificates are raised under the Saudi importer’s SABER account. That split means your recognition work is portable across buyers, while the SABER side has to be repeated if you change importer.
Find out what your Ex certificates are actually worth
Send the certificates, the nameplate drawings and the equipment list. We verify them on the register, reconcile the marking field by field, and tell you what remains before a conformity body sees the file.