Staff accommodation rules decide the furniture before anyone picks a bed. Whether bunks are allowed, how many beds fit a room and what storage each worker gets all come from the rule the camp is built to. This page sets the main rules side by side for Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and lender-financed projects (IFC/EBRD), and turns each one into the furniture kit it needs. Rovers supplies those kits from Turkish partner factories; the workforce housing page lists them line by line.
The rules side by side
| Rule | Space per person | Per room | Bunks | Storage and other furniture | Kit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia: collective-housing licence (Balady), 2025 | At least 4 m² | Up to 10 | Allowed | Not set in the sources read | A. Labour kit |
| Saudi Arabia: MOMRA guideline, 2021 | At least 4.8 m² | Up to 4, or single rooms | Not set in the sources read | Not set in the sources read | A or B |
| Qatar: Ministerial Decision 18 of 2014 | At least 6 m² per bed | Up to 4 | Two tiers at most | Not set in the sources read | A (two tiers) or B |
| UAE: Dubai decision, 21 March 2025 | Set by municipality rules | Set by municipality rules | Set by municipality rules | Set by municipality rules | A, B or C per the approval |
| IFC/EBRD guidance, 2009 | 4 to 5.5 m², or 10 to 12.5 m³ | 2 to 8; dormitories kept to a minimum | Double “not advisable”, triple prohibited | Cupboard per worker up to a 475-litre locker and 1 m of shelf; table, chair, mirror, bedside light | B. IFC/EBRD kit |
“Not set in the sources read” marks a point the cited source leaves open. The full licence conditions sit with the issuing authority, and a project’s own contract or lender standard can add to them.
Saudi Arabia
| Rule | What it says | Furniture effect | Source, date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who needs a licence | Establishments with 20 or more workers need a collective-housing licence, issued online through Balady. Field inspections check compliance | Any camp or staff building above 20 workers is furnished to licence terms | Saudi Press Agency, 17 Sep 2025 |
| Space and room size | At least 4 m² per person, no more than 10 per room, one bathroom per 8 | Two-tier steel bunks fit the space; lockers line the walls | Gulf Business, 2025 |
| Earlier guideline | Up to 4 per room at 4.8 m² per person, or single rooms | Fewer beds per room; single beds become practical | JLL on the MOMRA guideline, May 2021 |
| Giga-project and staff-housing operators | Some operators state they build to IFC guidelines or above, with bed partitions and personal safes | IFC/EBRD kit with a safe in the locker and a privacy screen | sarcc announcement, 2024 |
The 2025 licence is the floor. A camp built for a giga-project, an oil and gas operator or a lender usually follows the stricter document named in its contract.
Qatar
| Rule | What it says | Furniture effect | Source, date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ministerial Decision 18 of 2014 | No more than 4 workers per room, at least 6 m² per bed, beds two tiers at most | Single beds, or two-tier bunks at most; one locker per worker | Qatar Ministry of Labour, 2014 |
Qatar’s 6 m² per bed is the largest space figure on this page. With 4 workers in a room, the room is at least 24 m², which leaves space for single beds, lockers and a small table.
United Arab Emirates
| Rule | What it says | Furniture effect | Source, date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dubai housing duty | Commercially licensed establishments with 50 or more workers earning AED 2,000 or less must house them; in force 90 days after publication, with a year to comply | More beds to furnish; the room standard comes from the municipality approval | DLA Piper on the decision of 21 March 2025 |
The UAE’s room standards (space, persons per room, bunks) are set by each emirate’s municipality and approved per camp. No official text giving those figures could be checked for this page, so the table leaves them blank.
IFC and EBRD (lender-financed projects)
The IFC/EBRD guidance note applies where the lender’s performance standards apply. Its benchmarks name more furniture than any of the other three rules.
| Benchmark | What it says | Furniture effect |
|---|---|---|
| Beds | A separate bed for each worker; “hot-bedding” avoided | One bed and one mattress per worker, never shared between shifts |
| Space between beds | At least 1 m | Fewer beds per room; bed and locker positions drawn on the room plan |
| Bunks | Double bunks “not advisable for fire safety and hygiene reasons”, minimised; where used, 0.7 to 1.10 m clear between lower and upper bunk; triple bunks prohibited | Single-bed kit by default; any bunk is checked for clear height |
| Room size and height | 4 to 5.5 m² or 10 to 12.5 m³ per person; ceiling at least 2.10 m; 2 to 8 per room | Room plan sets the bed count; low ceilings rule out bunks |
| Bedding | A comfortable mattress, pillow, cover and clean bedding for each worker | Mattress and bedding pack per bed |
| Storage | From an individual cupboard per worker up to a 475-litre locker and 1 m of shelving; separate storage for work boots and PPE where needed | Locker-wardrobe per worker; a boot rack or PPE locker by the door |
| Other furniture | A table, a chair, a mirror and a bedside light for every resident | Desk or wall shelf, chair, mirror and light per bed |
| Privacy | Movable partitions or curtains | Privacy screen or curtain where rooms are shared |
| Ventilation | Ventilation or air conditioning in hot climates; window area of 5 to 10% of floor area as good practice | Vented lockers; beds and tall lockers kept clear of windows and grilles |
Source: IFC and EBRD, Workers’ accommodation: processes and standards, August 2009.
Bed size and bed space
None of the four rules above sets a bed size. “Labour camp bed size” is fixed by the camp contract or the operator’s specification, and the bed is drawn to it. What the rules do fix is the space around the bed: 4 m² per person in a Saudi licensed room, 6 m² per bed in Qatar, 4 to 5.5 m² and 1 m between beds under IFC/EBRD.
Fire tests on beds and mattresses
The rules above set space and furniture, not fire tests. Mattress fire performance is shown with the test the market or the contract names. No Gulf-specific mattress standard was found. Contract mattresses carry reports to BS 7177 (UK), EN 597-1 and -2 (EU) or 16 CFR 1632 (US), and the quote names the one each line meets. The local civil defence authority approves the building. Test reports come from the factory that makes each mattress or upholstered item.
What to send us
Send the rule or standard the camp is built to, the room layouts, the number of beds per room type, the city and the handover date per building. With the rule and the bed count alone, Rovers can price a first kit per bed.
- Saudi Press Agency, 17 September 2025: establishments with 20 or more workers must hold a collective-housing licence through Balady · accessed 2026-10-04
- Balady: National Program for the Development of Collective Housing for Individuals · accessed 2026-10-04
- Gulf Business (2025): Saudi group-housing rules (4 m² per person, 10 per room, 1 bathroom per 8) · accessed 2026-10-04
- JLL, 9 May 2021: regulating labour accommodation in KSA (MOMRA 2021 guideline: up to 4 per room, 4.8 m² per person) · accessed 2026-10-04
- Qatar Ministry of Labour: Ministerial Decision No. 18 of 2014 on the conditions and specifications of proper workers' accommodation · accessed 2026-10-04
- DLA Piper, 2025: new labour accommodation decision in Dubai (21 March 2025; 50 or more workers earning AED 2,000 or less) · accessed 2026-10-04
- IFC and EBRD: Workers' accommodation, processes and standards, a guidance note (August 2009) · accessed 2026-10-04
- sarcc (PIF): staff-accommodation company announcement, building to IFC guidelines · accessed 2026-10-04
- eCFR 16 CFR Part 1632: Standard for the Flammability of Mattresses and Mattress Pads · accessed 2026-10-04
- BSI: BS 7177, resistance to ignition of mattresses, mattress pads, divans and bed bases · accessed 2026-10-04
- CEN: EN 597-1 and EN 597-2, ignitability of mattresses and upholstered bed bases · accessed 2026-10-04