Riyadh Tightens Dust Rules at Construction Sites

The National Center for Environmental Compliance is running intensified inspection campaigns across construction sites in Riyadh during 2026 to curb dust pollution and improve air quality, focusing on compliance with the city's dust-control framework.

Under a unified executive regulation issued jointly by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City, Riyadh Municipality, and the National Center for Environmental Compliance, mandatory dust-control requirements apply to any project with a site area of 2,000 m² or more. Such projects must prepare a standalone Dust Management Plan and submit it for formal approval at least 30 calendar days before site preparation works begin.

The regulation sets a PM10 concentration ceiling of 340 µg/m³ and bans excavation and demolition activities when wind speed exceeds 25 km/h. The framework, issued in 2026, lists between 11 and 19 technical requirements that are mandatory for qualifying projects.

What sites must do

Required measures include using certified dust suppression materials with daily spraying of exposed areas, tightly covering materials during transport, installing wheel-wash systems at site exits, fitting misting systems on crushers, and setting speed limits on unpaved roads. Sites must also install on-site air-quality monitoring devices linked to Riyadh's unified dust monitoring platform, and submit periodic environmental performance reports.

Non-compliance carries financial penalties of up to 50,000 SAR applied individually rather than as a single lump sum. As of mid-2026, inspection tours documented at least 557 violations with cumulative fines exceeding 16 million SAR. By early September 2026, continued monitoring pushed total penalties on dust-generating projects to around 20 million SAR, following more than 3,000 site visits.

For residents living near active building sites, the tighter rules aim to reduce airborne dust that affects daily life and public health across the capital.

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