Construction Site Hoarding Requirements in Saudi Arabia: Height, Materials, Gates and Fines

We found no separate Balady or Ministry service for licensing a construction-site fence. The guide ties the temporary fence to the building permit: the fence stays up while the permit is valid and is renewed with it.

Where the fence or the storage zone extends beyond the property line, the licence runs for one year and can be renewed, and the fence may not stay outside the property line for more than 5 years from the building permit. On residential projects there is no fee when the building permit is issued, and the sidewalk and road occupation fee applies at renewal. On commercial projects the fence is free from permit issue until excavation ends, up to 6 months, after which the fee applies.

The sidewalk and road occupation fee for construction purposes in Category 1, which includes Riyadh city, is charged per square metre: SAR 0.25 up to 100 m², 0.13 for 100–300 m², 0.06 for 300–1,000 m² and 0.03 above 1,000 m². The table does not say whether this is per day, month or year, so confirm with the Amana.

On streets wider than 40 m, an explanatory plan goes in with the building drawings before the permit is issued, showing the equipment route and gate, the fence layout, unloading areas, where the concrete pump stands, the proposed rendering and the fence material. Streets 40 m wide or less need no such plan.

Note that Balady's vacant-land fencing licence (إصدار رخصة تسوير أراضي فضاء) is for permanent fences around empty plots, not for a temporary construction-site fence.

From the guide's summary table. A residential project larger than 1,500 m² follows the commercial rules for streets under 40 m:

• Residential projects: white corrugated aluminium sheets of one size, with gaps between panels of 15 cm or less.
• Commercial projects on streets 40 m wide or less: white corrugated aluminium, although the guide's summary table also lists timber or metal.
• Commercial projects on streets wider than 40 m: timber or metal that resists the weather.
• Banned in every case as the site fence: concrete barriers, metal mesh and fabric screens.
• A commercial fence must not be fully solid: viewing openings of 20 × 40 cm at 150 cm height, or slats with 15 cm gaps.

• Commercial projects: galvanised, rust-resistant steel posts on concrete bases, fixed from inside the site so the fence is not affected by wind; the guide recommends an engineering office for the foundation design. It gives no wind-load figures.
• Residential projects: aluminium bases or steel tubes held with removable bolts; digging into the sidewalk, pouring concrete on it or anchoring posts with stones is banned.
• A temporary walkway at least 1.2 m wide along a commercial fence, protected by clear plastic barriers, with ramps for disabled users, and steel plates over the sidewalk where heavy equipment crosses.
• One front gate on a commercial project, at least 3 m wide, opening inward or sliding, with an emergency side gate allowed on internal streets. Residential gates are at least 3 m wide, and more than one is allowed where needed.
• Gates stay unlocked during working hours so Civil Defence can get in and people on site can get out, and the bottom of the fence is closed so children cannot get in.

• Reflective guidance and warning signs on every fence, and night lighting on commercial streets wider than 40 m, with electrical safety and earthing.
• A plastic or metal board with the responsible person's contact details, the licence number and the contractor's details, including its commercial registration.
• Commercial projects on streets wider than 40 m: the fence is fully covered with a high-quality rendering of the project, with no unrelated wording and no names or photos of individuals.
• Residential projects: a rendering is optional, the owner's, designer's and contractor's names may appear in small type, and commercial advertising is not allowed at all.
• Advertising on fences is its own category in the advertising-sign requirements: up to the plot length, no more than 10.5 m tall, at least 1 m above the road and 2 m from the neighbour's boundary, allowed on arterial or main roads 40 m wide or more, and it needs a sign operating licence, which requires a commercial registration, a business licence and an investment contract.

All storage, portable toilets and material unloading stay inside the fence; mixing cement on the sidewalk or asphalt and cutting street trees are banned. The contractor is fully responsible for the fence, its maintenance and any damage. The fence comes down only after the façade finishing on commercial projects, or the building's permanent boundary wall on residential ones, and the outer sidewalk are complete. Civil Defence instructions and the Saudi Building Code safety requirements apply.

Commercial buildings under construction with 3 floors and an upper annex or more have a separate covering guide: the covering starts at least 2.5 m above the sidewalk, lets air through, is designed with a wind-load calculation, and uses galvanised fixings of at least 12 mm.

From the municipal penalties schedule (revision 4, updated 16 March 2026). Riyadh city is Category 1, and every item comes with correcting the violation:

Ask the hoarding contractor to base the quote on the street width and the project type, because they set the height, material and permitted extension. Check that the quote covers gates of the required width, the pedestrian walkway and its barriers where needed, reflective signs and lighting, the licence-data board, printing that meets the requirements, and maintenance until removal.

Road and excavation work zones have their own items in the penalties schedule (3/8 to 3/10) and are not covered by the construction-site fencing guide. Many clients send us these details before pricing; our site hoarding quote checklist explains what we need.