ASME vs EN 81 in the Gulf: Which Standard Applies Where

By Nutan Mandal, ElevatorPlus · Published  18 August 2026 · Last updated  18 August 2026  · ~9 min read · Compliance reviewed by Mr. Sumeet Katariya

In short: There is no single Gulf answer to which lift standard applies. Dubai lets you choose one suite per project and expressly forbids mixing them. Saudi Arabia runs EN 81 for conformity and inspection while its building code points elsewhere. Qatar's construction specification calls up BS EN 81. This is written for contractors and consultants specifying across more than one Gulf market.

Key takeaways

• Dubai permits either suite, but only one per project. The Dubai Building Code says the suites "shall not be used interchangeably." That is the literal wording, and it is stronger than "do not mix."
• Saudi Arabia is split by instrument, not by preference. The SASO technical regulation for lifts lists SASO EN 81-20 and the EN 81-50 series with no ASME reference anywhere. Building-side design in the Saudi Building Code points elsewhere.
• Qatar's construction specification calls up BS 5655, which is the EN 81 family. That is verified in the 2010 edition text. Anyone stating that Qatar follows ASME A17.1 should be asked for the clause.
• But do not overcorrect. Qatar Civil Defence's own inspection and maintenance guideline references ANSI A17.3. An absolutist "Qatar never uses A17" line is as wrong as the opposite claim.
• "The Gulf follows EN 81" is false. Dubai's building code expressly permits the ASME A17 suite. There is no regional default.

What this guide covers: Dubai's one-suite rule · Abu Dhabi and what we could not confirm · Saudi Arabia's split · Qatar, and a correction · Bahrain · how to specify across markets · FAQs.

Dubai: choose one, and do not mix

The governing text is the Dubai Building Code, 2021 Edition, Part D on vertical transportation, clause D.5, issued under Decree No. 45 of 2021. It is worth quoting in full because the wording does more work than most summaries admit:

"Vertical transportation shall be designed, installed, tested, commissioned and maintained in accordance with one of the following suites of standards: a) ASME A17 suite of standards; or b) BS EN 81 suite of standards. One suite of standards shall be selected for a project. The suites of standards shall not be used interchangeably."

Three things follow that are worth being precise about.

Both suites are genuinely permitted. This is not a code that tolerates ASME while preferring EN 81, or the reverse. Either is compliant.

The selection is at project level, not at building level or unit level. A development with several buildings under one project sits on one suite.

"Shall not be used interchangeably" is stronger than "shall not be mixed." It rules out the common practice of specifying against one suite and then substituting a component certified to the other because it was available or cheaper. The clause reaches the whole lifecycle: design, installation, testing, commissioning and maintenance.

One addition in the same clause that gets overlooked. Firefighting lifts must additionally conform to the UAE Fire and Life Safety Code, Chapter 2 section 2.9 and Chapter 3 section 3.9. The suite choice does not displace that.

Only the 2021 Edition of the Dubai Building Code is published. If a specification cites a later edition, it is citing something that does not exist.

Abu Dhabi: what we can and cannot say

This is where we are going to be less useful than we would like, and we would rather say so than fill the gap.

The governing instrument is the Abu Dhabi International Building Code, issued by the Department of Municipalities and Transport and based on the 2009 International Building Code. That much is confirmed, including by the International Code Council. Chapter 30 of the 2009 IBC references ASME A17.1/CSA B44, so the lineage points that way.

What we could not verify is the claim you will hear repeatedly in the region: that Abu Dhabi mandates ASME only and prohibits EN 81. We looked for an instrument saying so and did not find one. The ADIBC text and its standards chapter were not retrievable from a Department of Municipalities and Transport source.

So we are not going to publish it, and we would suggest you do not specify against it either without asking the authority directly. The commonly repeated version may well be correct in practice. It is not something we can show you a clause for.

We also cannot give you an ADIBC edition year with confidence. Sources conflict between 2013 and 2023 or 2024. If an edition year matters to your specification, get it from the department.

One correction while we are here, because it appears in a lot of older material. OSHAD no longer exists under that name. Abu Dhabi's occupational safety framework became ADOSH-SF under the Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre with effect from 1 January 2024.

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Saudi Arabia: split by instrument

Saudi Arabia is the market most often described wrongly, in both directions.

For product conformity and periodic inspection, it is EN 81.

The SASO Technical Regulation for Electrical Lifts Used in Buildings and Facilities lists in its Annex 1 the SASO 466, 467, 468, 584 and 978 standards together with SASO EN 81-20 and the EN 81-50, 70, 71, 72 and 73 series. There is no ASME or A17 reference anywhere in that regulation.

For building-side design, the Saudi Building Code points elsewhere.

SBC 201 Chapter 30 covers elevators and conveying systems, with a scope running to hoistways, machine rooms, elevator lobbies, fire service access elevators and occupant evacuation elevators, and its referenced standards include ASME A17.1/CSA B44.

One honesty note on that second point. We were able to confirm Chapter 30's scope and title, but the standards list came from a mirror of the Arabic text rather than from the Saudi Building Code National Committee's own site, which was unreachable. Re-verify on sbc.gov.sa before quoting a specific clause.

The safe formulation, and the one we use: conformity and inspection run on EN 81 through SASO, while building design sits under SBC 201. Neither "Saudi Arabia is an EN 81 country" nor "Saudi Arabia is an ASME country" is accurate.

Qatar: a correction, including to ourselves

We have previously described Qatar as following ASME A17.1/CSA B44 with NFPA. That was not well sourced and we are correcting it.

What is verified is that Qatar Construction Specifications, Section 21 Part 20, Elevators and Escalators, in the 2010 edition text, requires compliance with:

"BS 476 Fire tests on building materials and structures; BS 5655 (EN 81) Lifts and service lifts; BS 5656 (EN 115) Safety rules for the construction…"

The body text of that Part repeatedly specifies EN 81 provisions for buffers, pit stop switches, toe guards and car controls. There is no ASME reference in it.

Two caveats we are not going to skip.

We could not obtain the full text of QCS 2014. Ashghal publishes only amendment notes, and the circulating mirrors are either paywalled, table-of-contents only, or a different year entirely. The structural continuity between editions is well attested, but we have not read the 2014 clause. So we say "verified in the 2010 edition text" and leave it there.

Qatar does use ASME references in at least one place. Qatar Civil Defence's own guideline on inspection, testing and maintenance of fire protection and life safety systems lists ANSI A17.3, Safety Code for Existing Elevators and Escalators, among its references. So a flat "Qatar never uses A17" is not supportable either.

The accurate sentence is narrower than either extreme: the construction specification calls up BS 5655 and BS EN 81 for lifts, while Civil Defence's fire and life safety guidance draws on an ASME document for existing installations.

Bahrain: not enough to publish

We looked and came up short, so we are not going to invent a position.

Bahrain's Unified Guidebook of Building Permit Regulations mentions lifts only in floor-area and height contexts, with no installation, testing or inspection requirement. Ministry of Labour Ministerial Order No. 5 of 2014 sets a six-month examination interval for hoists, but its scope covers workplace lifting machines where persons operate or work on them, and defines a hoist as a driver-operated carriage or cage. That is a construction and workplace regime, not a building-lift regime.

No dedicated Bahraini building-lift instrument was found. If you are specifying into Bahrain, ask the authority rather than relying on a regional assumption.

One administrative correction: the responsible body is now the Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture. The older "Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning" name is stale.

How the markets compare

Specifying across markets without getting caught

The practical risk is not choosing the wrong suite. It is losing track of which suite a given project was specified against, and then substituting a component during a shortage.

In Dubai that is a direct breach of D.5, because the clause covers maintenance as well as installation. A lift specified to EN 81 that receives an ASME-certified replacement component two years into its maintenance contract has been maintained interchangeably.

So the record that matters is not a company-level policy. It is a per-project, and ideally per-unit, note of the suite that applies, carried forward from specification into the maintenance contract so that whoever orders the part five years later can see it.

Frequently asked questions

Does Dubai require ASME or EN 81 for lifts?

Either. The Dubai Building Code 2021 clause D.5 permits the ASME A17 suite or the BS EN 81 suite, but requires one suite to be selected for a project and states that the suites shall not be used interchangeably.

Can a Dubai project mix ASME and EN 81 components?

No. Clause D.5 states the suites shall not be used interchangeably, and it applies across design, installation, testing, commissioning and maintenance.

Which standard applies to lifts in Saudi Arabia?

It depends on the instrument. The SASO technical regulation lists SASO EN 81-20 and the EN 81-50 series for conformity and inspection, with no ASME reference. SBC 201 Chapter 30 governs building-side design and references ASME A17.1/CSA B44.

Does Qatar use ASME A17.1 for lifts?

Qatar Construction Specifications Section 21 Part 20 specifies BS 5655 and BS EN 81, verified in the 2010 edition text. Separately, Qatar Civil Defence's inspection and maintenance guideline references ANSI A17.3 for existing installations, so neither an ASME-only nor an EN-81-only description is complete.

Does Abu Dhabi prohibit EN 81?

We could not verify any instrument stating that. The Abu Dhabi International Building Code is based on the 2009 International Building Code, whose Chapter 30 references ASME A17.1/CSA B44, but an express prohibition on EN 81 is not something we can show a clause for.

Which standard applies in Bahrain?

We could not locate a dedicated Bahraini building-lift instrument. The building permit guidebook mentions lifts only in floor-area contexts, and the 2014 Ministerial Order on lifting machines covers workplace equipment rather than building lifts.

Is there a single Gulf standard for lifts?

No. Dubai permits both suites, Saudi Arabia splits by instrument, and Qatar's construction specification calls up EN 81. Any statement that "the Gulf follows EN 81" is contradicted by the Dubai Building Code.

Do firefighting lifts in Dubai follow the same suite?

They follow the selected suite and must additionally conform to the UAE Fire and Life Safety Code, Chapter 2 section 2.9 and Chapter 3 section 3.9.

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The Gulf gets described as one market more often than any other region we work in, and on standards it is the least true.

Dubai gives you a genuine choice and then binds you to it for the life of the installation. Saudi Arabia splits the question between two instruments that answer differently. Qatar's specification points to EN 81 while its fire authority cites an ASME document. Abu Dhabi has a widely repeated position we could not find a clause for, and Bahrain has no instrument we could locate at all.

What that means practically is unglamorous. The applicable suite belongs on the project record and then on the unit record, carried into the maintenance contract, so that a decision made at specification is still visible to the person ordering a replacement part years later.

👉 See the applicable standard held per project and per unit across a Gulf portfolio. Book a demo →

Related reading

• Elevator project management software for the Gulf
• Dubai Lift Inspection: What EIAC Rules Actually Say
• SASO Lift Registration: Saudi Arabia's Annual Clock
• Gulf Lift Installation: Contract Award to Handover

About the author. Nutan Mandal is part of the ElevatorPlus team, which builds the Elevator Business Operating System used by 200+ elevator companies across 20+ countries. Compliance reviewed by Mr. Sumeet Katariya.

Sources: Dubai Building Code 2021 Edition (PDF) · SASO Technical Regulation for Electrical Lifts, Version 1 Amendment 1 (PDF) · Qatar Civil Defence, Guidelines for Inspection, Testing and Maintenance of Fire Protection and Life Safety Systems (PDF) · Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre, ADOSH-SF Code of Practice 34.0 (PDF) · Bahrain Ministerial Order No. 5 of 2014 (PDF)

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