Administration
The Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu runs the industrial city; each plant operator sets its own contractor rules.
Associated gas from oil extraction is collected and processed by Aramco and piped to Jubail and Yanbu as petrochemical feedstock, so gas-handling and pipeline areas feed the plants. It houses SABIC plants, the SATORP and SASREF refineries and the Sadara chemical complex, so classified areas are widespread. If you are specifying an Ex-proof smartphone for Jubail Industrial City, this page covers the markings, the approvals and the current certification status of the IS-04Z1.
Pre-launch · certification in progress · Launching Q4 2026
Short answer. The SAMS IS-04Z1 is the intrinsically safe smartphone covered here for Jubail Industrial City: pre-launch, designed for Zone 1 and Zone 21 (marking target Ex ib IIC T4), with certification in progress and no certificate issued.
For the record, no certificate exists for the IS-04Z1 today. The programme is under way ahead of a Q4 2026 launch. An operator's own vendor approval is a separate step. Certification status. Place facts reviewed October 2026.
| Check | What to look for | IS-04Z1 today |
|---|---|---|
| Ex marking | Group, category, protection concept, gas group, temperature class | II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4 (target) |
| Gas group | IIA, IIB or IIC matched to the area drawing | IIC (target) |
| Temperature class | T-class below the ignition temperature of the gas | T4, 135 °C (target) |
| Where it applies | Jubail Industrial City: Petrochemical and chemical plants, Storage and loading terminals, Port bulk handling | Classified by the site operator |

An intrinsically safe Android smartphone designed for Zone 1 and Zone 21 hazardous areas in Jubail. It is pre-launch: IECEx, ATEX and NEC 500 certification is in progress ahead of the Q4 2026 launch.
The companies on site and the hazardous-area types a handset is likely to meet there.
The Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu runs the industrial city; each plant operator sets its own contractor rules.
The city has two seaports, the Jubail Commercial Seaport and the King Fahd Industrial Seaport.
Jubail was a small fishing village until 1975, when the government chose it for a new industrial city, so nearly all plant infrastructure dates from the last 50 years.
Jubail had 474,679 residents in 2022, making it the third most populous city in the Eastern Province, so a large local workforce and service sector supports the plants.
Two main highways, the Dhahran to Jubail Highway and the Abu Hadriyah Highway, link the city to the rest of the Eastern Province.
The Royal Commission's chairman's office is in Riyadh, with separate directorates general in Jubail and Yanbu, so city-level services are run locally while plants set their own rules.
“Ex-proof” is shorthand for equipment carrying an explosion-protection marking (the Ex mark) that matches the area it enters. The marking states the protection concept, gas or dust group and temperature class, and it must be backed by a certificate issued by a recognised body, so a phone described as Ex-proof should come with a certificate number you can check.
The IS-04Z1 is designed to carry the marking II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4. That is a target: certification is in progress, no certificate has been issued, and SAMS will publish the certificate numbers when they exist.
In Jubail Industrial City. Chemical and petrochemical plants may involve gases from different groups, so a marking check at Jubail should read the gas group and temperature class from each plant's own classification, not from a general assumption. The IS-04Z1 target marking is II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4, still a target.
A short checklist for anyone writing or reviewing the specification, with the IS-04Z1 status against each point.
Not yet. The IS-04Z1 is pre-launch and its certification is still in progress ahead of a Q4 2026 launch. No unit goes into a classified area before the certificate covering it exists. The datasheet, the certification schedule and safe-area evaluation units are available now.
SAMS has not published a price. Any figure you are offered for an uncertified Ex phone should be treated with caution; written indicative pricing is available for a defined quantity and site.
The marking target is II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4. It becomes a marking only when the certificate is issued; until then it is a design target.
Likely candidates are refinery process units, petrochemical and chemical plants, storage and loading terminals, port bulk handling. Which areas are classified, and to what zone, is set by the site operator's own area classification drawings.
Not exactly. Explosion proof is a broad everyday term; intrinsic safety is one protection concept, which limits energy so ignition cannot occur. Flameproof (Ex d) is a different concept that contains an explosion. The IS-04Z1 is intrinsically safe by design.
Many. The Royal Commission plans and runs the industrial city, but chemical, refining, power and port companies operate their own plants under their own safety and permit rules. Equipment approval for handheld devices is usually decided plant by plant.
Gas-fired power and desalination plants usually include fuel-gas supply areas, so some classified zones are likely. The city's independent water and power project is among the largest in the world, so contractor numbers are high; confirm requirements with the specific plant.
Not automatically. Each plant operator sets its own approved-vendor and permit rules, so approval at one plant does not guarantee acceptance at another. Confirm current requirements with the operator or its contractor for each plant. This applies on top of explosion-protection certification.
Other guides for Jubail, other places in Saudi Arabia, and the pages behind them.
Send the site, zone and gas group and roughly how many handsets. We reply by email with the datasheet and the certification schedule.
Send the zone and gas group of your site and we will reply with the datasheet and schedule.