His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, issued a new law on the quality and safety of buildings in Dubai. The law aims to boost building safety standards across the emirate.
Dubai Municipality will be in charge of overseeing the law through routine maintenance, investigating incidents, applying corrective actions, and managing a unified database to monitor building safety checks.
What Is Dubai's New Building Safety Law?
According to the law, the owner of a building must obtain a Quality and Safety Certificate after the building’s completion, ensure any defects identified in inspections are corrected, and follow the procedures set by the relevant authority.
Owners must also hire a licensed engineering office to assess the building and prepare a technical report for the Quality and Safety Certificate, carry out periodic maintenance for buildings under 20 years old, and fix any defects that threaten structural safety, lives, property, or surrounding buildings. Owners must allow authority inspections, enable repair works, and continue maintenance even after obtaining the certificate.
The Quality and Safety Certificate is valid for 10 years for buildings less than 40 years old from the date of their completion certificate, and five years for buildings 40 years or older.
Tenants who vacate under this Law No. (26) of 2007 on Regulating the Relationship between Landlords and Tenants in Dubai, must return to the building after reconstruction or completion of maintenance and repairs, at the same rental value agreed in their original lease, unless otherwise agreed by both parties.
Violators of the Law or its decisions face fines from Dhs 100 to Dhs 1,000,000, with repeat offences within two years subject to doubled fines up to Dhs 2,000,000.