Mr. Tamis bin Ali Al-Hammadi, Deputy Governor of SASO for Standards and Laboratories, explained that the project of updating Saudi standards for cables was a proposal resulting from an actual need for market requirements. Procedures for approving the update of standards as mandatory Saudi standards from SASO’s Board of Directors (BoD) are currently being completed.
      The Deputy Governor said, in his opening speech during a virtual workshop organized by SASO yesterday to discuss updating Saudi standards for cables, Series No. (SASO IEC 60227), that the project of updating standards started in 2018 to June 2020 with the participation of representatives of various sectors, members of the technical teams at SASO from the governmental, private and academic sectors. “Today, praise be to Allah, with the tireless efforts made by the technical team, it has turned from a proposal to a tangible reality,” he said. “We emphasize the role of technical committees and working groups in converting project proposals into a reality that serves our commercial and industrial sector as hoped”, he added.
      The Deputy Governor indicated that updating standards would have an impact on the national level, through the presence of standards and requirements covering all types of cables in the Saudi markets to ensure their quality and conformity to standards. These types of cables are widely used in the Saudi market, especially in residential buildings. Because of that, this will achieve economic benefits as these types of cables reduce costs, and they are proper for applications and needs that suit consumers. Cables will be designed to withstand high temperature during use.    
      Al-Hammadi affirmed SASO belief in the pivotal role that the private sector plays in the field of standards. The private sector plays a vital role whether in active participation in technical teams specialized in preparing and developing standards, or in the developmental suggestions shared with SASO to enable the application of standards in various sectors in a way that guarantees its primary goal, which is to protect the consumer, support the national economy, and enhance competitiveness.  
      The workshop witnessed an intense presence of interested individuals and specialists in the electrical field from various government and private agencies. It also shed light on standards of the various types of cables that were updated and their methods of use.