The Eastern Province Civil Defense has warned wedding hall owners not to neglect the safety conditions specified in their licenses, especially during the summer season, when many compete to attract clients.

Several halls had been fined SR5,000 for violating safety rules and more than SR391,200 has been collected in fines from several tourist facilities, such as hotels, furnished apartments and shops, during the first half of the year.

Col. Mansour Al-Dosari, Eastern Province Civil Defense spokesman, said that Civil Defense teams recently intensified periodic inspections at wedding halls to ensure their commitment to safety and fire protection regulations and their compliance with the standards mentioned in the Gulf safety code.

“Periodic inspection tours have led us to the discovery of several violations that have prompted immediate action, while other less serious violators have been given a maximum grace period of one week to implement safety measures,” he said.

Owners who fail to respond to requests will have their cases forwarded to the violations committee.

“The most common fire hazards at wedding halls are the flammable decoration sets, in addition to having closed emergency exits and not having fire extinguishers on site,” said Al-Dosari. The Civil Defense closes down wedding halls that do not comply with regulations, he added.

According to statistics, there are 257 wedding halls in the Eastern Province.