Check your design before you submit, so it matches the requirements the first time.
Dhabt reads your drawings, checks them against the residential building requirements and the Saudi Building Code, and gives you a clear report on every issue before you submit to Balady.
Checking is manual today
The engineering office opens the requirements, reads the clause, and measures against the drawing by hand. Every setback, every stair width, every coverage ratio is checked by eye across dozens of sheets.
The errors that send an application back are usually small and repetitive: a setback ten centimetres short, a stair narrower than the limit, a coverage ratio over the allowance. Errors found by measuring, not by experience, and nobody has time to measure everything twice.
Some do not surface until after building, at site inspection, once the concrete is poured and the cost of changing it is real.
How it works
- 01
Upload the drawings
The office uploads the drawing set as one file, with the plot dimensions and the zone.
- 02
It scopes the rules
Building type, zone and municipality decide which of the loaded clauses apply to this project.
- 03
It measures and compares
Dimensions are read off the sheets and compared with the limits in the clauses, not with what a model remembers.
- 04
An Arabic report
Every issue with its location on the sheet, the clause number and page, and the reason behind it.
What it checks today
- Corridor width
- Plot coverage
- Door clear width
- Number of exits
- Travel distance
- Number of floors
- Building height
- Parking spaces
- Front setback
- Rear setback
- Side setback
- Going depth
- Riser height
- Stair width
Residential villas first: the highest permit volume and the simplest geometry.
Why Dhabt exists
The expertise exists, but it sits with a small number of large firms. Dhabt puts it in the hands of the people designing, before submission rather than after a return. A small office in Al-Ahsa or Abha gets the same review a large Riyadh firm gets.
Who it is for
- Balady-approved engineering offices and architects preparing permit submissions.
- Developers whose projects fall under the residential building requirements.
Saudi Architecture design guidelines
Coming soonOn 16 March 2025 the Saudi Architecture Characters Map launched with nineteen styles, each reflecting the geography, climate and culture of its region, and each with three patterns: traditional, transitional and contemporary. The guidelines are part of the building permit journey and are being applied city by city in phases, and they contain measurable rules such as limits on the share of a facade given to openings and on accent colours.
Checking elevations against these guidelines is not built in Dhabt yet. The current checks cover setbacks, height, coverage, parking, stairs, corridors, doors and exits.
What Dhabt is not
- Dhabt does not issue permits and is not affiliated with Balady, the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing, or the Development Authorities Support Center.
- It is a decision-support tool. The final design decision and sign-off stay with the licensed engineer.
- It does not replace the design studio review.
In development
Dhabt is being built. PDF reading and dimension extraction are not finished, and the clauses in the sample report are test data rather than regulatory clauses, each one marked as such.