Temperature
40–50°C
Saturated steam
Moist heat · 40–50 °C · ~100 % RHDesign · Manufacturing · Installation5,000+ projects · 41+ countries · since 1987
[ What to know ]
Relative humidity
Close to 100 %
Steam generator
Outside the room, in an accessible plant position
Manufacturing
Own facility, İkitelli OSB, Istanbul
01 — 157 words
In brief (November 2026): a steam room is a sealed, fully tiled room held at 40–50 °C at close to 100 % relative humidity. The steam comes from a generator outside the room, sized to the room's volume, and the walls, floor and ceiling are waterproofed before the tiles go on. Sauna Dekor designs, manufactures and installs steam rooms for hotels, gyms and villas.
Who it is for: hotels, gyms and clubs, and private villas and apartments.
Sauna Dekor is a steam room manufacturer and installation contractor for five-star hotels and resorts in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, manufacturing in Istanbul since 1987. A steam room runs at 40–50 °C at 100 % relative humidity, which means the room fails from inside the wall rather than at the surface: the vapour barrier, not the tile, decides how long it lasts. We take responsibility for the whole build-up — waterproofing, generator sizing, ventilation and finish, from a private steam cabin to a hotel steam chamber or a complete spa complex.
40–50 °CSaturated steam
Since 198702 — 119 words
Custom Steam Room Design and Planning: Where Modern Elegance Meets Functional Wellness
It takes a lot more than installing a generator and sealing the walls to make a steam room. Our role as a steam room designer is to deliver fully engineered wellness environments that comply with health codes, align with architectural intent, and support long-term operational reliability.
Our Approach to Steam Room Design Project Includes
- Planning and designing a steam room and doing spatial analysis.
- Working along with HVAC, MEP, and electrical systems.
- Material selection guidance for heat and moisture resistance.
- Ergonomic interior layouts for comfort and efficient steam distribution.
- Following the rules for health and safety and building codes.
We specialize in steam wellness consultancy services, advising on both residential and commercial steam room construction, whether it's for a home spa, a hotel, or a rehabilitation center.
Steam Room Design— Technical Execution and Methodology
01
Steam Room Shell and Waterproofing
It's very important to build the envelope correctly. As a firm that builds steam rooms a lot, we make sure:
- Ceiling falls set so condensate runs to the walls instead of dripping on the people below.
- Rigid insulation boards (like XPS) that are sealed with vapor barriers.
- For structural strength, use reinforced concrete or lightweight masonry.
- Tile-ready surfaces put on top of membranes made just for steam.
Waterproofing materials are carefully applied to all connections, transitions, and penetrations to prevent vapor from moving.
02
Heating, Electromechanical, and Ventilation Systems
- The size of steam generators is based on their volume and the kind of application (residential or commercial).
- Aroma infusion and automatic drain systems that work together
- Air extractors and ventilation that is either passive or forceful according to hygiene code
- Smart digital control panels that let you adjust the temperature, lighting, and sessions
- Chromatherapy, a music system, and auto-sanitization are all optional options.
All parts are CE-certified or UL-listed, and they were put together according to international safety standards.
Materials and Surface Finishes for Long-Term Durable Steam Rooms
Choosing the right materials is extremely important for every project. We are a competent steam room design supplier and suggest and install:
01
Interior Finishes
- Porcelain and steam-rated ceramic tiles.
- Large-format porcelain slabs and natural stone for walls, benches and ceilings.
- Mosaic tiles for curved chairs or small spaces.
- Anti-slip flooring options compliant with spa safety codes.
02
Structural & Insulation Components
- Steam-resistant vapor-proof adhesives and sheathing.
- High-density insulation boards.(e.g.,Kerdi, Wedi, Knauf Aquapanel)
- Corrosion-resistant framing and stainless steel accessories.
We do all of the work ourselves, which means that all of our steam room installation services are of the same high quality.
03 — 90 words
Steam Room Design Types — Explore Wellness-Centered Concepts
Sauna Dekor makes and sells many types of steam saunas for homes and spas:
- Caldarium: heated loungers in a room with low temperatures and high humidity
- Aroma steam rooms: dosing pump and aroma line integrated with the generator and drain circuit
- Moroccan and Arabian-Inspired Hammams: With marble benches and mud applications.
- Contemporary Glass Steam Cabins: For small, contemporary bathrooms.
- Portable steam saunas: custom solutions for home setups.
We create each project from scratch depending on what the consumer wants, what it needs to do, and how much space it has.
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Steam Room Installation Services — From Concept to Commissioning
We take care of every part of the installation:
- Getting the foundation and shell ready.
- Sealing, tiling, and waterproofing.
- Putting together plumbing and electrical systems.
- Installing the steam generator and its parts.
- Last tests and improvements to performance.
All systems come with full functionality and optional training and maintenance programs to keep them working reliably over time.
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Steam Room Cost Factors — Making an Informed Investment
The price of building a steam room relies on a number of things, including:
- Size of the room and how hard the design is.
- Generator capacity, extra systems, and automation.
- Choices for wall and ceiling treatment and finish materials.
- Type of steam room (for home use or for business).
- Location, site conditions, and integration scope.
We are a valued supplier for both high-end and performance-driven projects because our team gives clear, precise pricing and value-driven advice.
Explore Related Wellness Solutions
Pair your steam room with our purpose-built custom sauna designs for the ultimate thermal experience. Add a traditional hammam or upgrade your space with our experience showers.
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Steam generator sizing by room volume
| Room volume | Room construction | Steam demand | Generator | Electrical supply | Lead time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 6 m³ | Acrylic or prefabricated cabin | 0.5–0.6 kg/h per m³ | Condair Sigma 8 — 8 kg/h, 6.0 kW | 400 V 3-phase or 230 V 1-phase | 6–10 weeks |
| 8–15 m³ | Tiled room, insulated | 0.75–1.0 kg/h per m³ | Condair Sigma 15 — 15 kg/h, 11.3 kW, 16.2 A | 400 V 3-phase | 6–10 weeks |
| 15–22 m³ | Marble or stone hammam | 1.0–1.4 kg/h per m³ | Condair Sigma 23 — 23 kg/h, 17.3 kW, 24.9 A | 400 V 3-phase | 6–10 weeks |
| 22–30 m³ | Large or commercial hammam | 1.0–1.4 kg/h per m³ | Condair Sigma 32 — 32 kg/h, 24.0 kW | 400 V 3-phase | 6–10 weeks |
| Above 30 m³ | Commercial thermal suite | 1.0–1.4 kg/h per m³ | Condair Sigma 45 and 65 kg/h | 400 V 3-phase | Quoted per project |
Volume, not floor area, drives generator size. Every square metre of glass, tile or exposed masonry adds load; a fully glazed front can move you a full step up, and we allow roughly 1.2 m³ of extra design volume for every square metre of glazing. Turndown matters as much as peak output: a steam room spends most of its day at maintenance load, so we specify generators that modulate to about a fifth of rated output (5:1) rather than cycling themselves to an early failure.
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Steam room manufacturer for five-star hotels
A hotel steam room is a different discipline from a villa cabin. It runs sixteen hours a day, it is inspected, and it sits inside a wet core that a main contractor has to hand over on a fixed date. Sauna Dekor manufactures the room in its own factory in Istanbul, ships it as a package and commissions it with its own crew, so the generator, the tanking, the extract and the finish are one supplier’s responsibility instead of four.
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Steam rooms delivered for five-star hotels
- A five-star city hotel in Istanbul (2018) — two hammams at different privacy levels, a steam room, a sauna, heated loungers and the pool hall, delivered as a single package.
- A five-star hotel in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq — sauna, steam room and hammam, exported and commissioned by our own crew.
- A diplomatic members’ club in Doha (2022) — steam rooms, a marble hammam with a fibre-optic star ceiling, mosaic plunge and sauna in one wet core.
- A golf and country club in Baku — saunas, steam rooms, treatment rooms and relaxation suite.
- A city hotel floor in Istanbul carrying two operator brands (2015) — emerald glass-mosaic hammam, steam rooms, pools, sauna, heated loungers.
- A thalassotherapy resort in Algeria — sauna, steam room, hammam and salt wall.
Twenty-six of the 66 projects in our published portfolio carried a steam room in scope, and the reference register records steam rooms in 50 entries. Client and operator names are withheld by agreement; the city, the facility type and the year are given as recorded.
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Steam room ceiling design: fall, materials and condensation
The ceiling is where most steam rooms fail in service, so it is detailed before the walls are. Four decisions are fixed at design stage.
- Fall. A flat ceiling collects condensate and drips it onto the people below. A fall, or ceiling slope, is set across the ceiling — in practice somewhere between about 1 in 12 and 1 in 8, roughly 5 to 7 degrees — so the condensate film migrates to the perimeter and runs down the wall finish to the drain. Barrel-vaulted and domed ceilings achieve the same result geometrically and remain the traditional solution in hammam and Arabian-style rooms.
- Ceiling materials. The ceiling carries the highest surface temperature and the heaviest condensate load in the room, so the finish has to tolerate permanent saturation. Glass mosaic bedded on a steam-rated membrane, large-format porcelain, honed marble and moulded acrylic or GRP shells are all used. Fall geometry drives the choice more than appearance does: tight radii and compound falls rule out large rigid slabs, which is why curved and domed ceilings are usually mosaic.
- Vapour control and cold bridging. The vapour barrier runs continuously across the ceiling and laps into the wall barrier. An unsealed ceiling-to-wall junction is the most common leak path found on remedial work. Insulation above the ceiling is sized so the ceiling surface stays above the dew point of the room, because a cold ceiling condenses whatever the fall is.
- Penetrations. Lighting, extract grilles, speakers and sensors are the points where the barrier is cut. Fittings are specified to the IP rating required for the zone and sealed back to the membrane, with driver gear kept outside the wet envelope.
The ceiling detail, the fall direction and the drain position are issued on the shop drawings and agreed before fabrication rather than resolved on site.
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Steam room builder for hotel spas in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam
Gulf hotel work adds three constraints to the same room. Ambient design conditions are higher, so extract rates and condensate falls are sized against summer plant-room temperatures rather than European figures. Feed water is harder, which sets the descaling interval and often the decision to fit softening upstream of the generator. And the package has to arrive DDP against a main contractor’s programme, with the submittal pack — declarations of conformity, material data sheets, IP ratings for the fittings, warranty terms — approved before the room ships. Steam rooms to this specification are currently specified and priced on hotel and resort projects in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. For the Saudi scope line — the SBC 401 and SBC 801 framework, SABER registration and the local feed-water condition — see our steam room and sauna builder page for Saudi Arabia.
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Who manufactures the steam room, where it is made, and what the certificate covers
A steam room supplied under this page is manufactured by Sauna Dekor at İkitelli OSB, Başakşehir, Istanbul, in a workshop of 19 people, and it is installed and commissioned by the same company under its own supervision. That is what the words steam room manufacturer, steam room builder and steam room installer mean on this site: one scope that runs from the sealed shell and the tanking through the benching and the finish to the generator connection and the commissioning certificate, rather than four suppliers meeting on site.
Sauna Dekor has manufactured since 1987, is in its fortieth year and has completed work in 41+ countries. Sauna Dekor’s own certificate is TS EN ISO 9001:2015, covering the manufacture of sauna and spa products and after-sales service; the steam generator itself is a bought-in appliance and carries the certification of the company that built it.
Last updated: 13 November 2026
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What is a steam room?
A steam room is a sealed, tiled cabin held at 40–50 °C and 100 % relative humidity by a generator producing saturated steam. A Finnish sauna is the opposite: 80–100 °C at 5–15 % humidity, heated by stones. In a steam room the vapour barrier behind the finish, not the tile, decides how long it lasts.
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How long should you stay in a steam room?
A single steam room session runs 10 to 15 minutes, and 15 minutes is the practical ceiling at 40–50 °C and 100 % humidity. Our hotel contrast circuits run 15 minutes in the steam room, 90 seconds in the cold plunge, then a 20-minute rest. Children under 13, guests over 65 and several medical conditions are excluded.
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What do you wear in a steam room?
In Gulf hotel spas swimwear is required and facilities are usually gender-separated; a cotton towel to sit on is standard everywhere. Leave glasses, contact lenses and metal jewellery outside. Elastic fabrics that constrict circulation are not recommended, and at 40–50 °C and 100 % humidity a 15-minute session is the ceiling anyway.
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How does a steam room compare with a sauna and a hammam?
A steam room holds 40-50 °C at 100 % relative humidity; a Finnish sauna 80-100 °C at 10-20 %; a hammam sits in the same 40-50 °C band but delivers its heat through heated marble, not air. Only the steam room puts saturated vapour against the wall build-up, which is why its lifespan is decided by the vapour barrier, not the finish.
Comparison
Saunas, steam rooms, hammams and cold rooms compared
Operating ranges of the rooms we build. A Finnish sauna is the hottest and driest; a steam room and a hammam run cooler with far more moisture; cold rooms close the circuit.
| Room | Temperature | Humidity |
|---|---|---|
| Finnish sauna | 80–100 °C | 10–20 % RH (dry air) |
| Bio sauna | 50–65 °C | — |
| Infrared cabin | 45–60 °C cabin air | — |
| Steam room | 40–50 °C | Close to 100 % RH |
| Turkish hammam | Room air 40–50 °C; heated platform 40–45 °C | — |
| Cold plunge pool | Water 2–15 °C | — |
| Snow room | About −10 °C | — |
Sources: Sauna Dekor approved operating ranges (29 September 2026); Finnish sauna humidity: Hussain & Cohen, 2018; snow room: TechnoAlpin.
How is a steam room built, from drain to first steam?
Short answer: in ten steps, in a fixed order, so the waterproofing is tested before anything covers it. A steam room runs at 40–50 °C close to 100 % humidity, which is why the drain, the falls and the vapour barrier come before the finish. The structure and waterproofing carry a 5-year warranty.
- Survey and drawing: size, drain position, generator position, power.
- Drain and floor falls set.
- Walls and ceiling built with backing boards; the ceiling is sloped so condensate runs off.
- Waterproofing and vapour barrier on floor, walls and ceiling.
- Water test of the floor before any finish.
- Steam line, outlet, sensor and lighting fixed.
- Benches formed.
- Tile, mosaic or stone finish.
- Door fitted with its seal.
- Generator connected and commissioned; first steam.
For the vapour barrier in detail, see steam room vapour barrier; for homes, see the residential steam room planning guide.
Updated:
How do you specify a steam room for a villa or a hotel?
Short answer: a steam room is specified by its inside volume, its finishes and the place for the generator. The room runs at 40–50 °C close to 100 % humidity, so the generator is sized from volume and finishes, and the waterproofing is decided before the tile.
What we ask for:
- Room drawing with ceiling height, glass and stone areas.
- Position of the generator outside the room, with a drain and water supply.
- Finish: mosaic, tile or stone, and the bench layout.
What you receive: generator size, membrane and board build-up, lighting and the installation sequence. Build time depends on scope; large hotel projects take up to 6 months. Workmanship carries a 24-month warranty and structure and waterproofing 5 years. Send drawings or read the installation steps.
Updated:
For the install sequence in the UAE, see steam room installation in Dubai.
Building one at home? See home steam room planning: 6 decisions.
What does commercial steam room construction involve?
A commercial steam room is built in four stages: design, construction, installation and commissioning. Design fixes the room size, the seating, the drain and the ceiling fall, and sizes the steam generator to the room's volume. Construction waterproofs the walls, floor and ceiling before the tiles go on. Installation puts the generator outside the room with its steam line and controls; commissioning brings the room to 40–50 °C at close to 100 % relative humidity.
Sauna Dekor designs, manufactures and installs commercial steam rooms for hotels, gyms and spas. The structure and waterproofing carry a 5-year warranty; workmanship and manufacturing carry 24 months, and the generator its manufacturer's 24-month warranty.
What sets the cost is covered in our guide to steam room cost for home and commercial builds.
Do you install steam rooms in Saudi Arabia and the UAE?
Yes. In Dubai we delivered a villa steam room at The Springs in 2024 and a sauna and steam room suite at Dubai Hills Estate in 2025. Projects in Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia are coordinated from the same Dubai office at Latifa Tower, World Trade Centre.
Each room is held at 40–50 °C at close to 100 % relative humidity, with the generator sized to the room's volume and lining. The stages on site are described on our page on steam room installation in Dubai.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Who manufactures steam rooms for five-star hotels in the Gulf?
Sauna Dekor. We manufacture steam rooms in our own factory in Istanbul, in our fortieth year of operation, and install them for five-star hotels and resorts in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Steam rooms were in scope on 26 of the 66 projects in our published portfolio, among them five-star hotels in Istanbul, a members’ club in Doha and a thalassotherapy resort in Algeria. We take the room as one scope: waterproofing, generator sizing and control, ventilation, finish and commissioning.
What humidity is a steam room?
A steam room runs close to 100 % relative humidity at 40–50 °C. Because the air is saturated, the waterproofing and vapour barrier are continuous across walls, floor and ceiling, and the ceiling slopes so condensation runs to the walls rather than dripping.
What temperature and humidity does a steam room run at?
40–50 °C at close to 100 % relative humidity. The steam comes from a generator outside the room, sized to the room's volume and finishes.
What material is used for a steam room ceiling?
The same waterproof backing boards and membrane as the walls, finished in tile, mosaic or stone. The ceiling is sloped so condensate runs to the walls instead of dripping onto the benches.
Do I need DEWA approval to install a steam room in Dubai?
Yes, for anything hard-wired. The steam generator is a fixed electrical load and needs DEWA approval; the room itself needs Dubai Municipality sign-off, and a commercial installation needs Dubai Civil Defence approval. In an apartment you will also need the building management’s consent. Start this early — approvals delay more projects than manufacturing does.
What size steam generator do I need?
Generator sizing is driven by room volume, not floor area, and then increased for every surface that is not insulated: glass, tile, exposed masonry and the ceiling all add load. We allow 0.5–0.6 kg/h of steam per cubic metre in an acrylic cabin, 0.75–1.0 kg/h in a tiled insulated room and 1.0–1.4 kg/h in marble or stone. The sizing table above gives the model for each band.
How much does a steam room cost in Dubai?
A villa steam room is priced by room volume, tiling specification and generator size, from a compact 2.3 m² glass-mosaic room up to a 4.1 m² room finished in natural travertine, delivered and installed. Hotel work is priced per project against the tender drawings; a recent DIFC tower package covered two saunas, two steam rooms and two cold plunges turnkey.
Why do steam rooms leak or grow mould?
Almost always because the vapour barrier was not continuous. At 100 % relative humidity, vapour pressure pushes moisture through any detail built like a normal bathroom. One unsealed penetration — a light fitting, a bench fixing, the door frame — is enough. Surface repairs do not fix it; the wall has to be opened.
How long does a steam room take to build?
How long a single steam room takes from design approval to commissioning depends on scope; we confirm the programme after the site survey, and large projects take up to 6 months. Retrofits into an existing bathroom take longer than new-build, because the tanking has to be rebuilt from the substrate up.
What is the difference between a steam room and a sauna?
A steam room runs wet: 40–50 °C at 100 % relative humidity, with a generator producing saturated steam. A sauna runs dry: 50–65 °C in a bio sauna, 80–100 °C at 5–15 % in a Finnish cabin, heated by stones. Different construction, different waterproofing, different ventilation.
Can a steam room be installed in an apartment in Dubai?
Yes, and it is common, but three things decide feasibility: the electrical supply available at the panel, whether the drain and fall can be formed, and whether an extract path exists. If the MEP drawings exclude the steam room — which happens often — condensation appears on every cold surface outside it.
What maintenance does a commercial steam room need?
Descaling the generator on a schedule set by feed-water hardness, checking and resealing the door and steam-head penetrations, and cleaning the drain. In a hotel running 16 hours a day the generator is the wear item, not the room. We supply a maintenance schedule and hold spares.
Does a gym or fitness centre need a steam room as well as a sauna?
Many operators specify both, because they serve different members: a steam room runs at a lower air temperature and full humidity and suits longer, gentler sessions, while a sauna runs hot and dry. Where floor area allows only one, the decision is usually made on services rather than preference — a steam room needs a generator position with descaling access, a drain, full tanking and dedicated extract, and those have to exist before fit-out. Who a steam room is not suitable for — children under 13, guests over 65 and several medical conditions — is set out in steam room contraindications. How recovery space is sized against membership is covered in our article on gym saunas, and the room-by-room comparison in sauna vs steam room.
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The build sequence behind a steam room
Generator sizing follows the enclosed volume and the mass of the surfaces that have to be brought up to temperature, not the floor area on the plan. The sequence that surrounds it — tanking layer, falls to drain, bench radius, generator position and steam head location — is described step by step in our guide to building a steam room.
Where a client is choosing between a steam room and a sauna for the same footprint, the decision is really about operating pattern and services rather than preference, and that comparison is laid out in sauna vs steam room. The finish decisions that come after the engineering — mosaic module, seating profile, lighting, and the detail where the bench meets the wall — are collected in steam room design.
From our portfolio
Steam room projects
Rooms we manufactured in Istanbul and installed with our own team. Each frame opens the project page.
All projects
Gallery
Steam room examples
Get a quote for a steam room
Send us the room size and ceiling height; we will work out the scope and the budget range with you.
In short: A steam room is a sealed, tiled room held at 40–50 °C at close to 100 % relative humidity by a steam generator. The waterproofing, vapour barrier, sloped ceiling and drainage decide how long it lasts. Sauna Dekor designs, builds and installs steam rooms for homes and hotel spas.
How is a steam room installed in a Dubai apartment?
A steam room is built as a sealed wet room: a vapour-tight substrate, a sloped ceiling, a floor drain and a steam generator in an accessible plant position. The room runs at 40–50 °C with near 100 % humidity. In Dubai the building management must agree, and the generator needs DEWA approval.
Cross-section
What is a steam room wall made of?
In a steam room the visible surface is mosaic; the core behind it does the work. One leaking layer means the whole finish comes off.
01
Mosaic finish10–20 mm
Small-format mosaic. Because the joint area is large, the water-tightness of the grout matters more than the tile itself.
02
Adhesive and grout5 mm
Flexible, waterproof class. On a surface that is wet all day, standard mortar develops hairline cracks and carries water to the back.
03
Waterproofing membrane2 mm
A liquid membrane applied over the core. It is tested before tiling; a leak found later means removing the finish.
04
wedi core30–50 mm
XPS-based building board that is waterproof in itself: insulation and substrate in one. Seat and backrest curves are cut from it.
05
Sloped ceiling framefall of at least 2 %
Without a fall, condensed steam drips onto the guest — the most common complaint about a steam room.
Selection table
Which steam generator suits the room: Condair or Nordmann?
Electrode or resistive is decided against the water hardness. The generator stands in a dry, ventilated plant position close to the steam outlet, never inside the room.
| Model | Technology | Capacity | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Condair Omega | Resistive | 2–20 kg/h | Steam showers, home and small steam rooms |
| Condair Omega Pro | Resistive | On the manufacturer's data sheet | Commercial and large steam rooms |
| Condair Sigma | Electrode | 4–65 kg/h · 7 power steps | Steam rooms and hammams of every size |
| Nordmann AT4D | Electrode | 5–65 kg/h · integrated self-cleaning | Hotels, clubs and spa facilities |
Sources: Condair product pages (capacity ranges as published by the manufacturer); see Condair steam generators.
Equipment we supply and install
Last updated: 13 November 2026