Singapore: rules and approvals
An IMDA equipment registration is valid for five years, renewal is filed through the GoBusiness portal at least two months before expiry, and suppliers must keep test reports and technical files for five years.
The IS-04Z1 is an intrinsically safe Zone 1 and Zone 21 handset for people who work inside classified areas on Jurong Island, at Pulau Bukom and around the Tuas terminals: process operators, inspection and maintenance engineers, turnaround crews and the WSH and IT teams who equip them. This page explains what to look for in an intrinsically safe cell phone for Singapore, and where the IS-04Z1 stands against that list today.
Pre-launch · certification in progress · Launching Q4 2026
Short answer. The SAMS IS-04Z1 is the intrinsically safe smartphone covered here for Singapore: pre-launch, designed for Zone 1 and Zone 21 (marking target Ex ib IIC T4), with certification in progress and no certificate issued.
Status: pre-launch. IECEx, ATEX, UKEX and NEC 500 certification is in progress and no certificate has been issued; launch is planned for Q4 2026. Operator approval runs on its own timeline. Certification status. Place facts reviewed October 2026.
| Check | What to look for | IS-04Z1 today |
|---|---|---|
| Level of protection | ia, ib or ic matched to the zone | ib, for Zone 1 |
| Entity parameters | Uo, Io and Po within the device limits | Published with the certificate |
| Accessories | Chargers and cases certified with the device | Defined at certification |
| Where it applies | Singapore: Jurong Island, Pulau Bukom, Seraya and Merbau | Classified by the site operator |

An intrinsically safe Android smartphone designed for Zone 1 and Zone 21 hazardous areas in Singapore. It is pre-launch: IECEx, ATEX and NEC 500 certification is in progress ahead of the Q4 2026 launch.
The main operators, industrial areas and sites that the SAMS Singapore market guide covers.
An IMDA equipment registration is valid for five years, renewal is filed through the GoBusiness portal at least two months before expiry, and suppliers must keep test reports and technical files for five years.
Tuas Port opened on 1 September 2022 and is planned to reach 65 million TEU of annual handling capacity in the 2040s, which concentrates future cargo flows in the far west of the island.
Energy and chemicals is Singapore's second-largest manufacturing sector, with more than 100 global chemicals companies operating here, which keeps a steady flow of maintenance and turnaround work in classified areas.
Singapore adopts the IEC 60079 series as SS EN 60079, and area classification drawings are expected for dangerous-goods premises and Major Hazard Installations, so a zone drawing is the starting point for equipment selection.
Intrinsic safety limits the electrical and thermal energy in a circuit so that neither a spark nor a hot surface can ignite a gas or dust atmosphere, even when a fault occurs. The ib level, used for Zone 1, tolerates one fault. It is the usual way to make a handheld device that a worker carries continuously through a hazardous area.
The IS-04Z1 is designed on this principle for Zone 1 and Zone 21 (marking target II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4). Intrinsic safety is a design basis, not a certificate: certification is in progress and none has been issued yet.
In Singapore. Rounds on Jurong Island, Pulau Bukom and the storage islands such as Sebarok mean long walks and boat journeys, so a handheld that is intrinsically safe saves a second trip back to the control room. A flat handset on an island is the next boat away, which makes battery capacity part of the selection.
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.
No price is published. While certification is in progress there is no list price and no committed lead time, and a supplier quoting a firm figure for an uncertified Ex handset is promising something it cannot stand behind. Indicative pre-launch pricing is issued in writing against a stated quantity and site.
The circuits are designed to limit energy so a spark or hot surface cannot ignite a gas or dust atmosphere, even with one fault (level ib, Zone 1). Certification of that design is in progress.
The market guide for Singapore covers Jurong Island, Pulau Bukom, Seraya and Merbau, Pulau Sebarok and Pulau Busing, among others. Site-level pages are linked below.
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.
The Ministry of Manpower covers workplace safety duties for explosive atmospheres, and the Civil Defence Force covers flammable-material storage and dangerous-goods premises. In practice the site operator's own hazardous-area drawings and equipment standard decide what may enter a zone, so check them before shipping anything.
Visitors normally collect a Jurong Island visitor pass at the checkpoint, then receive a separate site pass from the plant they visit. One refinery's published rules ban phones in process and classified areas and ask visitors to declare electronic equipment. Expect similar screening and ask your sponsor in advance.
Hydrogen and acetylene, both gas group IIC, are handled on the island next to ethylene oxide in IIB, so a handset rated only to IIB cannot be used in some areas. The IS-04Z1 target is Ex ib IIC. Certification is in progress, so check the final certificate.
More on Singapore, and on other places in Singapore.
Share the site details and quantity. You will get the datasheet and the certification schedule back by email; pricing is indicative only until launch.
Name the site and the operator and we will send what is available before launch.