RERA forms and the BRN: what you actually sign when buying in Dubai

A Dubai property transaction runs through a set of standard regulator forms, lettered rather than named. Each closes off one part of the relationship. If you are seeing them for the first time, it is worth knowing what you are signing and what it commits you to.

Form A — owner and agency

The listing agreement between a property owner and the agency taking it on. It fixes the term, the advertising permissions and the commission. Under the rules an owner may sign Form A with no more than three agencies at once — the constraint that stops one apartment appearing at twenty different prices under twenty different agents.

For a buyer, Form A is interesting from the other side: it is what proves the agent is actually authorised to sell this property rather than repeating somebody else's listing.

Form B — buyer and agency

The mirror image: a buyer engages an agent to search and negotiate on their behalf, stating the type of property sought and the budget. Once signed, the agent works for the buyer with fees and duties in writing.

This is the only document that moves an agent from "showed me a flat" to "is retained by me". Until Form B is signed, the agent owes the buyer nothing formally.

Form F — the contract between the parties

The most important document in the deal. Form F, often called the MoU, is the legally binding agreement between buyer and seller once a price is agreed. It sets out price, timing, deposit, allocation of costs and the consequences of either side walking away. From signature onwards, the arrangement stops being a conversation.

Standard practice is a 10% deposit held by the trustee or the agency. The conditions for its return are written into the form itself, and that section is to be read before signing rather than afterwards.

Form I — between two agencies

Where buyer and seller are represented by different agencies, those agencies sign Form I with each other. It allocates the commission and the duties, and does not directly concern the client. Indirectly it does: its existence means the deal is running properly and neither agent will attempt to route the client around a colleague at the last minute.

Form U — termination

None of the above is ended by silence; each is terminated by a separate document, Form U. This matters more than it sounds. A buyer who signs Form B, stops replying and buys through another agency a month later can, in certain circumstances, still owe the first agent a commission. The relationship closes with a signature, not with a pause in the correspondence.

The one-minute broker check

Every broker in Dubai must hold a valid registration number, the BRN, issued by the Land Department; their agency holds an ORN. Every property advertisement must carry a Trakheesi permit number — without one, advertising the property is not lawful.

• BRN — the individual's number. Ask for it and check it in the Land Department's Dubai REST app: it shows the name, photo, agency and licence status.
• ORN — the agency's number.
• Trakheesi number — in the listing. Its absence means the property is being advertised without a permit, which is the first sign that something about the listing is wrong.

The check takes under a minute and removes a whole class of problems: an unlicensed "broker's assistant" running viewings answers to no regulator, and there is nobody to complain to.

The sequence in a clean deal

Owner signs Form A with their agency, buyer signs Form B with theirs, the two agencies sign Form I, the parties sign Form F. Then the developer NOC and the transfer at a Land Department trustee office. If a step is being skipped "to save time", it is worth asking whose time is being saved.