The Saudi Council of Engineers is set to launch a national committee to “regulate operation and maintenance work.” The committee is the result of a new regulation recently approved by the Cabinet. The new draft regulation stated that the committee's goals include studying the conditions and ways of carrying out operation and maintenance work, developing methods of operation and maintenance in accordance with modern techniques, unifying standards and procedures, setting technical standards and criteria, specifying requirements that guarantee quality with cut costs, constant upgrading of standards and procedures, coordination and follow up with relevant bodies for training of workers in the field of operation and maintenance, a report in Al-Hayat Arabic newspaper said. The committee will consist of several specialists and representatives from the ministries of defense and aviation, municipal and rural affairs, health and transport, as well as the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization, the Saudi Council of Engineers, the Civil Defense, Saudi Aramco, and three university faculty members specialized in the field of operation and maintenance. According to the draft regulation, the committee is to convene its meetings periodically. The meetings should not be less than six per year. Meetings must be attended by more than half of the members. The committee's tasks, after the first two-year stage that includes surveying and studying operation and maintenance works and assessing them, will include offering technical consultations to government bodies and the private sector on quality control and conduct studies, research and surveys creating a database, cooperating with local and international bodies in the field and issuing guidance publications.
