Dubai building quality and safety law 2026: a 10-year certificate, inspections and fines up to AED 2m

On 10 March 2026 Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, issued Law No. 3 of 2026 on the Quality and Safety of Buildings in the Emirate of Dubai. For the first time, every building in the emirate must hold a technical-condition certificate with an expiry date, and the owner is directly responsible for keeping it valid. In a market where a large share of housing dates from the 2000s, that is a real change.

What the law introduces

• A Quality and Safety Certificate, issued after a full inspection by a licensed engineering consultancy. It is valid for 10 years for buildings under 40 years old and 5 years for older ones, and renews for the same periods.
• Universal scope. It covers private development zones and free zones, DIFC included, and buildings completed both before and after the law.
• Owner duties. Appoint a licensed consultancy for an assessment and technical report, correct identified defects, carry out planned maintenance, fix anything that threatens the structure or neighbouring property, and allow inspections.
• Oversight. Dubai Municipality maintains a unified digital building database and runs periodic assessments.
• Timing. The law took effect 60 days after publication in the Official Gazette, with a one-year compliance period for owners, contractors and consultants, extendable by the Chairman of the Executive Council.

Penalties and levers

Measure	Amount
Fine per breach	AED 100 – 1 000 000
Repeat breach within two years	doubled, up to AED 2 000 000
Administrative measures	suspension of permits, halting of transactions, suspension of lease registration

The last row matters more to an investor than the fines. If transactions or lease registrations in a building are suspended, units in it can be neither sold nor formally let until the breach is cured.

What it means for an apartment owner

In jointly owned buildings — almost all Dubai apartment stock — the obligations fall on unit owners under Law No. 6 of 2019 on jointly owned property. In practice the management company commissions the inspection, certificate and repairs, and owners pay through service charges or one-off calls on the reserve fund. Three practical conclusions:

1. On a resale purchase, ask for the certificate. A valid certificate and the consultant's report are the best guide to the building's costs over the coming years. A building with no certificate, or a long defects list, means a share of the repair bill.
2. Building age is now a cost line. A building over 40 is inspected twice as often. For districts built in the early 2000s, that threshold arrives within the decade.
3. Check the reserve fund. A management company that kept service charges low for years without building reserves will send owners a one-off bill after the first serious report. How service charges are set and approved is covered in our note on who approves the rate.

The law also protects tenants: if a building is vacated for reconstruction, the departing tenant has priority to return afterwards at the same rent.

For new buildings it raises the bar at the start: a building handed over with defects will soon meet an inspector. How to judge a developer by its completed buildings is in our guide to inspecting a developer's finished work.

If you are collecting keys in a new building, book a professional inspection before you sign the handover — see our snagging inspection page. Defects found now are the developer's to fix; defects found by an inspector later are the owners'.