Walk the unit with it, then walk the paperwork with it. Every item below names the authority that actually requires the thing being checked, and where the requirement is written down in that authority's own words it is quoted rather than paraphrased. Where a requirement exists but the published detail does not settle it, the gap is stated plainly instead of being filled in with an estimate — see "What the published record does not settle" at the end.
Two structural points before you start.
First, the premises is not a downstream consequence of the licence. It is part of it. Article 17 of Law No. (13) of 2011 requires that "An applicant for a Licence must specify the premises in the Emirate through which its Economic Activities will be conducted." Article 6 states that "A natural or legal person may conduct an Economic Activity in the Emirate only through a Business licensed by the DED." The licence and the unit are one record.
Second, the licence is annual. Article 8 of the same Law: "The Licence of a Business will be valid for a term of one (1) year renewable for the same period." Article 30 provides for closure of a business where there is "failure to renew the Licence and cessation of the activity". Lease terms that run for three or five years sit on top of a permission that is renewed every twelve months, and a lapse in that permission is a leasing problem as much as a compliance one.
- Confirm the exact activity or activities and the licence category before you look at units. u.ae's published route for mainland businesses begins with "identifying the nature of the business activity" and "determining a suitable legal form", and the activity is what dictates everything downstream. See How Business Activity Selection Dictates Your Licence, Approvals and Premises.
- Check whether any pre-initial-approval consent applies. u.ae notes that "Some activities require additional approvals from government entities related to that particular business before applying for the initial approval. These include activities related to legal affairs, security affairs and financial securities and commodities." These sit before initial approval, not after it.
- Understand what initial approval does and does not give you. u.ae: "An initial approval means that the UAE Government has no objection for the business to be established in the country… It does not, however, grant the authority to run or practice the business activity." Do not let a landlord treat it as evidence you can trade. See The Dubai Trade Licence Process and Initial Approval.
- Confirm whether the activity qualifies for an instant licence or must run the standard route. See Dubai Instant Licence (Bashr / Invest in Dubai).
- Confirm the jurisdiction fits the trading plan — mainland, free zone, or a branch or dual structure. See Mainland vs Free Zone Licensing in Dubai.
- Note the payment deadline once you get there. u.ae: "You have to pay for your trade licence within 30 days of receiving the payment voucher."
- Check the trade name against the signage plan early. Article 19 of Law 13/2011 requires a business to "use the trade name specified in the Licence granted to it in all dealings with third parties", and Dubai's shopfront rules allow one trade name only per shopfront.
The distinction that matters here is between approvals of the company and approvals of the premises. The second kind survives a change of tenant badly and does not travel with a relocation at all.
- Food and beverage. The Dubai Municipality Food Code requires that "Proposed layouts for new construction, or renovations to an existing food establishment, shall be reviewed for compliance with the existing regulations and approved by the Food Control Department prior to the construction, renovation or re-construction" (2.2(a)). The layout submitted must show food handling and cooking, cleaning, storage and seating areas, sanitary fitments and restrooms, all windows and mechanical ventilation, equipment layout, all means of exit and entry, and pot, dish and hand washing facilities (2.2(d)). The Code further says a layout should be designed so that food flow is in one direction — receiving, storage, preparation, cooking, then packaging, serving or despatch (2.4(c)(i)) — and that incompatible areas, naming toilets, clean-up and chemical storage, should be separated from food preparation and processing areas (2.4(d)). Both are worded as "should", not the "shall" the Code uses for layout approval at 2.2(a); settle them with the Food Control Department at layout review rather than reading either as absolute. On siting, "Generally a minimum distance of 30 metres is recommended from potential sources of contamination. However, a greater or lesser distance could be accepted depending on specific site conditions" (2.3(b)), with 10 metres around the establishment kept clean (2.3(c)). Grease traps should, wherever possible, sit outside the premises (2.15(a)) — a real constraint in an in-line mall unit. The Code also requires the trade licence itself to match: the activity "shall be related to food, and the license must clearly state the exact activity" (2.1(c)), and a food establishment may not carry on any activity other than those listed on its trade licence (2.1(d)). See F&B Premises Approvals in Dubai.
- Healthcare. DHA's Health Facility Guidelines are explicit that a move is not a transfer: "For any existing licensed facilities, if the Owner wishes to relocate a facility to a different building or location, the approval process will be similar to a New Health Facility." They are equally explicit that authorities do not cover for each other: "It should not be assumed that an approval by one Authority in Dubai will necessarily match or anticipate the requirements of other Authorities such as the DHA", and where another authority requires changes after a DHA approval, "it is the responsibility of the Applicant to modify the DHA application and re-submit" — with the warning that unreported changes "will risk future penalties such as denial of 'Licence to Operate' certificate post construction completion." Note too that "An Individual (Freelancer) such as a General Practice Architect or Engineer will not be eligible for Prequalification unless associate with HFDC", which constrains who can sign your drawings. See Healthcare Premises Approvals in Dubai.
- Education. Executive Council Resolution No. (2) of 2017 makes the building a permit condition. Article 7: "No Person may conduct the Educational Activity in the Emirate without first obtaining an Educational Permit." Article 8 requires "submitting the required site plans and drawings of the premises where the Educational Activity will be conducted", and the premises "must meet the conditions and rules adopted by the KHDA in this respect, and the technical, engineering, health, environmental, and planning conditions and requirements adopted by concerned Government Entities". Critically for landlords, Article 13(13) obliges a school not to "construct any additional buildings; add any facilities; close down any existing facility; or take lease of any new buildings for the purpose of conducting the Educational activity without first obtaining the relevant approval of the KHDA and the concerned Government Entities". An expansion lease to a school is contingent on a regulator's consent that you do not control. Article 13(12) also bars a change of address without KHDA approval.
- Fire and life safety. A civil defence position on the premises is required at Ejari stage (see Part C) and again at fit-out. See Dubai Civil Defence Fire and Life Safety.
- Identify every other regulator the activity triggers, and confirm in each case whether the specific unit — not just the company — is inspected. See External Government Approvals for Dubai Business Licences.
Dubai Land Department's EJARI Tenancy Guide sets out conditions that bear on whether a tenancy can be registered, in two separate places rather than in one general list: obligations on an owner who "leases and manages the property by himself", and instructions "to be complied with for registering lease contracts at the printing offices". The title and sublease items below come from the second of those; the rest come from the first. Confirm with DLD which set governs your own arrangement — but read either way as a checklist rather than as terms and conditions, and it is the most useful single document on this list.
- Title. "The property or the unit shall be registered at the Land Department (title deed in the name of the owner)." If the unit is not on the register in the landlord's name, the tenancy cannot be registered.
- Completion certificate. "There shall be no amendment or violations in respect of the property plan, and the property shall be constructed according to the applicable conditions and standards… according to the completion certificate issued by Dubai Municipality." Ask for the completion certificate and check the plan against what you are standing in. Unpermitted mezzanines and partitions are found here.
- Civil defence. "The property shall satisfy safety and security conditions (civil defense statement)."
- Use classification. "The purpose of lease and use shall be specified and shall comply with the authorized conditions in the Emirate of Dubai according to area designation (residential, commercial, industrial, etc.)." This is the item that kills industrial activities in commercially designated stock.
- Partial lettings need their own meter. "In the event of partial lease of the property, an independent electricity meter shall be installed for the part intended to be leased, and the procedures shall be completed and approvals shall be obtained from Dubai Electricity and Water Authority." If a landlord proposes to sub-divide a floor and recharge you a share of their bill, that arrangement does not meet the registration condition.
- One contract per property. The landlord undertakes "not to issue more than one contract for the leased property and for only one person or one entity". Two overlapping contracts on one unit is a registration failure, not a paperwork nuisance.
- The previous tenant must be closed out. "No new contract shall be registered for a new tenant of the formerly leased property before ending the contract with the former tenant and presenting the settlement and the final water and electricity invoice." Ask for the outgoing tenant's final DEWA invoice before you commit to a start date.
- Subleases are not registrable. "Sublease contracts (between one tenant and another) shall not be registered." If the counterparty is a tenant rather than the owner, establish what you will actually be able to register before you sign — this is a licensing problem, because a Dubai licence application requires a "Copy of the lease contract duly attested by Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) in Dubai" (u.ae).
- Registration is the landlord's undertaking. "The landlord undertakes to authenticate the lease contract at RERA and present the documents and tenant information for each contract (lease or renewal)." Where the lessor does not register, DLD's guide sets out a tenant route requiring the tenant's passport copy, the original contract or a copy, the "Electricity and water invoice of the last month (the meter shall be in the name of the tenant)", a trade licence copy for a company, and a copy of the land map or title deed.
- Cost and time. DLD publishes Ejari registration on its own website or Dubai REST at AED 100 registration, AED 10 knowledge fee, AED 10 innovation fee, AED 55 service partner fee and AED 2.75 VAT — AED 177.75. Through real estate service trustees the service partners' fee is AED 95 plus VAT, AED 220 in total, with a stated service time of "25 minutes (excluding waiting time)". This is not a line item that should ever delay a transaction, so if it is being presented as one, ask why.
For the wider registration picture see RERA, Ejari and Oqood and Office, Ejari and Signage Requirements.
Signage is a separate permit from a separate regulator, and getting the regulator wrong is the usual cause of delay.
- A permit is mandatory. Decree No. (6) of 2020, Article 4: "No person may display an Advertisement in any Advertising Space in the Emirate using an Advertising Medium without first obtaining a Permit."
- Identify the right permitting body from Article 5. The Decree names the DED — the Department of Economic Development, now DET — for commercial outlet and centre façades, and Dubai Media Office confirms that "DET is responsible for issuing permits related to trade-name signage, as well as monitoring and inspecting shopfronts"; Dubai Municipality handles advertisements on vacant land, buildings, and coastal, water body or desert areas; the RTA handles the right of way; the relevant zone authority handles free zones and special development zones including DIFC; the DCAA handles aerial advertising; and Dubai Maritime City Authority handles vessels. A unit inside a free zone does not go to DET.
- Check the shopfront rules against the elevation before you design. They sit in Section 3.4 of the Outdoor Advertising Manual, introduced in 2024 and issued by the Roads and Transport Authority and Dubai Municipality in coordination with Mada Media, under the directives of the Dubai Civility Committee. Under that framework a shopfront carries one trade name only; signage is displayed horizontally, with Arabic positioned above English; projection is permitted from one side only; content must remain static, with changing or animated content not permitted; and signage is prohibited on building balconies and on the external façades of offices, clinics and commercial outlets above the ground floor. Put Section 3.4 of the Manual itself in front of your designer before anything is drawn: the Manual is published by the RTA at rta.ae, and the summary above is taken from Dubai Media Office's 12 May 2026 statement of those rules rather than from the Manual text itself.
- Price the downside. Decree 6/2020 Article 17 sets fines of not less than AED 1,000 and not more than AED 15,000, doubled for a repeat within one year up to a cap of AED 30,000, with removal at the violator's expense and business suspension of up to six months.
This is the part most often assumed rather than checked, and the part with the least recoverable failure mode. All quotations below are from the DEWA Regulations for Electrical Installations, 2017 Edition.
- Confirm supply availability before construction, not during it. Regulation 3.1.3: "Consumer shall, before commencement of building construction, obtain confirmation from DEWA on availability of power supply."
- Understand the 400 KW trigger correctly. Regulation 3.1.4: "In general, where the total connected load exceeds 400 KW, provision shall be made within the building or plot for DEWA's substation. In some circumstances a substation may be required for connected loads less than 400 KW. These requirements shall be confirmed in the issue of DEWA's No Objection Certificate which shall be revalidated at the end of period specified by DEWA." Three things follow. The measure is total connected load, not your metered consumption. The provision is physical space within the building or plot, which is a floorplate and access question as much as an electrical one. And being under 400 KW does not settle the matter, because the Regulations expressly contemplate a substation below that figure.
- Sense-check the incomer against the Regulations' own guidance. Regulation 4.7.2 gives, "for guidance", the limit of maximum demand in KW permitted at a Main Distribution Board connected to DEWA's supply feeder or transformer for normal residential and commercial premises without large motor loads: 60 A feeder, 30 KW; 100 A, 50 KW; 125 A, 60 KW; 160 A, 80 KW; 200 A, 100 KW; 300 A, 150 KW; 400 A, 200 KW; a 1000 KVA transformer, 800 KW; a 1500 KVA transformer, 1200 KW. Where transformers supply motor or air-conditioning loads with individual motor or compressor load not exceeding 100 KW, the Regulations note normal limits of 950 KW on a 1500 KVA transformer and 650 KW on a 1000 KVA transformer. Note the stated scope: the table is given for normal residential and commercial premises without large motor loads, so it does not by itself resolve a unit carrying a commercial kitchen, heavy air-conditioning or workshop plant. Treat these as the Regulations' guidance figures for a first sanity check, not as a substitute for a load schedule from a qualified engineer.
- Ask for the load schedule, including spares. Regulation 4.7.1 permits, for general purpose utility socket-outlets, "an assumed load of 1000 Watts per socket-outlet installed in commercial and industrial premises and 500 Watts per socket-outlet in residential premises", and requires that for multi-consumer installations including shops, showrooms, garages and workshops "the assumed connected load of each spare/space/circuit shall also be indicated in the load distribution schedules submitted for DEWA's approval". Spare ways are load on paper, which is why a board that looks half empty may not be.
- Nothing gets altered informally. Regulation 1.14: "The consumer shall not make any extensions or alterations to his electrical Installation without obtaining prior approval from DEWA", with applications for additional load or modification made online "for every Project/ Installation whatsoever, large or small, new or additions". Regulation 1.7 requires proposed technical details to be submitted to DEWA "before the commencement of any electrical installation, large or small, new or additional".
- Know who can submit. Regulation 1.8: "DEWA Enrolled Consultants / Electrical Contractors are able to submit the on-line Getting Electricity application (One Window System)", and a DEWA Building NOC together with the building permit from the authority where the plot is located is a "pre-requisite for submitting application for getting electricity connection".
- Fix responsibility for any upgrade in the lease. Base-building capacity is the landlord's; activity-specific demand is generally the tenant's; the boundary is a negotiation, and it should be written down before heads of terms are signed rather than discovered at fit-out.
- Match the activity to the requirement rather than to a benchmark. See How Electrical Load Needs Vary by Business Activity and DEWA Electrical Load and Connection Requirements.
- Check water, drainage and activity-specific services in the same pass — wash-down drainage, grease interception, and any trade effluent route.
Fit-out is where the earlier items are cashed in, and the document list at this stage tells you what must already exist. In Dubai Development Authority areas, for example, the fit-out permit is requested by the contractor, is stated as a two-working-day service, is valid for six months, and requires among its documents a "Copy of EJARI" and an "NOC from Building Owner", with fees given as AED 0.90 per ft² subject to a minimum of AED 200 and a maximum of AED 10,000, plus AED 10 knowledge dirham and AED 10 innovation dirham. Requirements differ by authority — see DDA, DIFC and DMCC Free Zone Fit-Out Approvals and Fit-Out Approval Timelines and Responsibilities.
Dubai does not publish a single end-to-end timeline running from activity selection through to trading. What is published is the licensing sequence. u.ae sets out these steps to start a business on the mainland: identifying a business activity; selecting an appropriate legal form; applying for a trade licence; registering the trade name; applying for an initial approval; drafting a memorandum of association and local service agent agreement; selecting a location to conduct business; getting additional government approvals; and submitting documents and paying fees. u.ae also notes that "All businesses in the UAE must have a physical address to operate" and that in Dubai the tenancy "agreement must be registered with Ejari".
Beyond that point — utilities, signage and fit-out — no authority publishes a combined order. Rather than invent one, order the work by the document dependencies that are published, each of which is stated above:
- The licence application requires a RERA-attested lease contract, so the tenancy has to be in place and registrable before the licence can complete.
- Ejari registration requires the Dubai Municipality completion certificate, a civil defence statement, a use classification that matches, and — for a partial letting — an independent DEWA meter.
- The DEWA getting-electricity application requires a DEWA Building NOC and the building permit from the authority for the plot.
- Confirmation of supply availability is required before building construction begins.
- The DDA fit-out permit requires a copy of the Ejari and a landlord NOC.
- Food layouts require Food Control Department approval before construction or renovation.
- A signage permit is required before any advertisement is displayed.
That dependency list is not a published timeline and should not be read as one. It tells you what cannot start until something else exists, which is the part that actually governs your programme.
Identify the single item on your own path most likely to slip — usually an activity-specific external approval or a capacity upgrade — and build contingency around that item rather than padding the whole schedule.
- The landlord or agent cannot produce the Dubai Municipality completion certificate, or the unit as built does not match the plan.
- The title deed is not in the name of the party offering the lease, or the counterparty is a tenant offering a sublease.
- The unit's area designation does not match the intended activity.
- A partial floor is offered without an independent electricity meter.
- Nobody can state the spare capacity at the unit and at the substation, or the only figure offered is a generic "typical load".
- No load schedule exists showing assumed loads for spare ways.
- Responsibility for a capacity upgrade is undefined in the draft lease.
- The outgoing tenant's contract has not been closed out and the final DEWA invoice cannot be produced.
- For a regulated activity, the previous occupier's regulator approval is being offered as though it transfers. It does not.
Any one of these should be resolved before terms are finalised, not treated as a detail to sort out post-signing.
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The items are largely shared; the emphasis is not. Investors and landlords should focus on the asset's ability to serve the widest reasonable tenant pool — documented spare capacity, a clean completion certificate, an area designation that matches the intended letting strategy, and metering arrangements that allow the floorplate to be split without breaching the Ejari conditions. Occupiers should focus on the fit between one specific activity and one specific unit: the regulator that will inspect the unit, the load the activity actually draws, and the signage the elevation will actually accept. A landlord's assurance that "the building supports commercial use" is not confirmation that your activity will be approved in that unit or adequately powered in it.
Partially. The DEWA logic in Part E and most of the regulator logic in Part B apply broadly. The licensing structure in Part A and the registration mechanism in Part C differ — and they differ between free zones rather than in one uniform way, so do not assume a free zone unit sits outside Ejari. DMCC, for one, states that an "Ejari Certificate number is mandatory for all leased units" other than a named list of exceptions — its own and non-DMCC business centres, common areas, plots, shared units and the Tea Trading Centre — where lease documents may be used instead. Establish with the specific zone authority which registration applies to your unit before you plan around it. Under Decree 6/2020 the free zone or special development zone authority — not DET — issues advertising permits within its area.
Stated plainly, so you can close these gaps with the authority directly rather than assume this page has.
- DEWA connection and capacity fees. No DEWA fee figure is quoted anywhere on this page. As at 16 August 2026 no current DEWA fee schedule appears in DEWA's own published material, so none is stated. Ask a DEWA-enrolled consultant or contractor, who can raise the application through the One Window System.
- Whether a later edition of the DEWA Regulations exists. The 2017 Edition states that it "supersedes the REGULATIONS FOR ELECTRICAL INSTALLATIONS - 1997 EDITION". Whether a subsequent edition has since replaced the 2017 text is not settled by DEWA's own published material, and the 2017 text quoted in Part E is not sourced from it either. The document relied on here is complete, is internally consistent, and identifies itself as the 2017 Edition, but confirm both the current edition and the wording of any regulation you intend to rely on with DEWA or a DEWA-enrolled consultant before acting on any figure in Part E.
- DET processing times, fee schedules and signage-permit turnaround. As at 16 August 2026 no DET-published timeline or fee schedule appears in DET's or Invest in Dubai's own material, so none is asserted here. The DET-related statements above come from Law 13/2011, Decree 6/2020 and u.ae, which are independently published.
- Dubai Civil Defence timelines and fees. No Civil Defence timeline or fee appears in Civil Defence's own published material. Day-count figures for DCD circulate widely on commercial sites and none has a primary source, so none is repeated here.
- Minimum floor areas for food establishments. The Food Code states that "Total area of food establishments should not be less than the minimum requirements stipulated in the layout approval guideline for food establishments" (2.5(b)), but Dubai Municipality's own published material does not carry that separate layout approval guideline. No minimum area figure is given on this page; request the guideline from the Food Control Department before committing to a small unit.
- Fees and service times outside DDA areas. The fit-out figures in Part F are DDA's published figures for DDA areas only, and should not be applied to Dubai Municipality, Trakhees or other free zone jurisdictions.
Mitchell's Realty runs this checklist against every licensing-dependent transaction we support — completion certificate, title, area designation, Ejari registrability, metering, load schedule and regulator exposure — before terms are agreed, so investors and occupiers are not reconciling licensing risk after a lease is signed. Get in touch before your next commercial lease or acquisition, and see the rest of the Licensing and Utilities cluster.
This guide is for general information only and is not professional, legal, or regulatory advice. Every requirement above is quoted or drawn from the source listed in the Sources section; where a source does not settle a point, the gap is stated in "What the published record does not settle" rather than filled with an estimate. Requirements change — confirm current position directly with DET, DEWA, the relevant regulator or free zone authority, or independent legal counsel before making a decision.
In closing
Key Takeaways
- Licensing and premises due diligence need to run in parallel, not sequentially — the licence names the premises and the premises must satisfy the licence, so neither question can be closed alone.
- Dubai Law No. 13 of 2011 makes the premises part of the licence itself. Article 17 requires an applicant to "specify the premises in the Emirate through which its Economic Activities will be conducted", and Article 6 permits an economic activity only through a licensed business.
- The Ejari registration conditions are a ready-made premises checklist. DLD's tenancy guide conditions cover the Dubai Municipality completion certificate, a civil defence statement, area designation matching the use, and a separate electricity meter for any partially leased property.
- DEWA's 400 KW figure is a substation trigger, not a hard cap, and the Regulations expressly say a substation may be required below it — so treat it as the point at which you must ask, not the point at which you are safe.
- Confirm capacity before construction, not after. DEWA Regulation 3.1.3 requires the consumer to obtain confirmation from DEWA on availability of power supply before building construction commences.
- Some approvals attach to the unit, not the company — food layouts, health facilities and school premises are each approved on their own drawings, and a relocation restarts the process.
- Dubai has no single published end-to-end timeline covering licence, approvals, utilities and fit-out. This guide gives you the document dependencies instead, which is what actually determines the order.
Frequently asked questions
0501What is the single most commonly overlooked item in this checklist?
Available spare DEWA capacity at the unit and building level. Many investors and occupiers confirm licensing and legal or contractual terms thoroughly but treat electrical capacity as an assumption rather than a verified fact.
02Should due diligence differ between an investor (landlord) and an occupier (tenant)?
The checklist items are largely shared, but investors should focus on ensuring the asset can flexibly support a range of prospective tenant activities — documented spare capacity, correct zoning — while occupiers should focus on matching their specific activity's real requirements against the specific unit.
03Can this checklist be used for free zone premises too?
Partially. The activity/approval logic and the DEWA/utilities logic still apply broadly, but the licensing structure and tenancy registration mechanism — Ejari versus the free zone's own system — differ by jurisdiction and should be adapted accordingly.
04How far in advance should DEWA capacity be checked relative to signing a lease?
As early as possible, ideally before signing. A capacity shortfall found post-signing shifts from a negotiation point to a costly, time-pressured remediation problem.
05Is a signed lease enough to start the licensing process?
It supports the Ejari and premises steps, but activity selection, initial approval, and any external approvals can and often should be progressed in parallel with lease negotiation, not strictly afterward. Treating these as fully sequential is a common source of delay.
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Updated 17 August 2026 by Mitchell's Realty. Market figures quoted reflect the data available at that date.
