Dubai service charges: how they are set and how to check them

Service charges in Dubai are the annual amounts that owners of apartments, townhouses and villas in jointly owned property pay to run the shared parts of their building or community. They cover management, operation, maintenance and repair, and they are approved by RERA before anyone can collect them.

Law No. 6 of 2019, Dubai's jointly owned property law, defines service charges as the annual charges collected from owners to cover the cost of managing, operating, maintaining and repairing the jointly owned property. The same law covers apartments in towers and houses and plots in communities with shared areas.

This guide explains how the charges are set, how to check them and who pays when. For how service charges fit into the full cost of buying and holding off-plan, from the 4% Dubai Land Department fee to district cooling, see our guide to the true cost of buying off-plan in Dubai.

They pay for the common parts: everything in the building or community that owners share rather than own individually. The Dubai Land Department lists the main items.

What they do not pay for. Electricity and water for your own unit are billed by DEWA. Cooling for your unit, where the building uses district cooling, is billed by the cooling provider. Repairs inside your unit are yours, or the developer's while the defects period runs.

Why charges differ between buildings. The Dubai Land Department says charges vary with the services provided, the size of the common areas and the number of units. A tower with a large pool deck, concierge and many lifts costs more to run per square foot than a low-rise building with few shared facilities.

Service charges pay for the common parts of your building. Usage charges pay for the common facilities of the wider master project, such as community roads, parks and shared amenities.

Under Article 26 of Law No. 6 of 2019, a master developer may collect usage charges from owners or sub-developers. They apply to completed buildings, buildings under construction and vacant land. Like service charges, they are annual amounts approved by RERA.

In a master community you may see both: the building's service charge and a master community or usage charge. Ask which one a quoted figure covers, and whether the other sits on top.

The main law is Law No. 6 of 2019 on the ownership of jointly owned real property in Dubai. It sets who manages a building, how charges are approved, who pays and what happens if they do not.

Older guides and contracts mention "owners associations". The 2019 law moved their role to management entities, with owners represented by an owners committee. Our guide to RERA in Dubai explains where RERA sits within the Dubai Land Department.

The management company prepares an annual budget, an accredited auditor checks it, and RERA approves it through Mollak. Only then can owners be invoiced.

The budget. The Dubai Land Department's approval service asks the management company for a detailed annual budget and at least three evaluated tenders for each service provider. It must attach its service, maintenance, management and insurance contracts and the building's utility bills.

The audit. The budget must come with an external financial audit report from an auditor accredited by RERA. Article 27 says RERA may not approve a budget without that approval.

Temporary budgets. Where needed, RERA may approve a temporary budget. This is how a newly completed building can be invoiced before its first full budget is settled.

Three-year fixed budgets. On 10 December 2025 the Dubai Land Department announced that management companies can submit a three-year service fee budget through Mollak. The first approved under this model was the Palm Jumeirah master community. The department said all community management companies can use it, and the one-year model remains available.

Your share. Article 25 says each owner pays a share of the annual charges in proportion to the area of the unit. The Dubai Land Department says the area used is the one in your title deed.

Mollak is the Dubai Land Department's electronic system for jointly owned property. It is where budgets are approved, invoices are issued and service charge accounts are monitored.

Mollak registers management companies and their staff, auditors, banks, buildings and the regulatory bank account for each building. The department describes its main aim as bringing governance to jointly owned property and monitoring service charges.

How you are invoiced. Owners receive service charge invoices from Mollak by email or text message. Mollak describes them as quarterly invoices.

How you pay. The Dubai Land Department lists two ways:

1. Bank transfer. Pay into the regulatory bank account printed on the invoice, then send the payment slip to the management company. Its email address is at the foot of the invoice.
2. Noqodi. Pay online with a wallet, credit card or net banking.

Where the money goes. Article 30 requires collected charges to be paid into the building's dedicated account within seven working days. That account cannot be seized by the management company's creditors.

Keep your details current. Invoices go to the contact details Mollak holds. The department says owners abroad who cannot use the app can update their details through its call centre, by email or at a real estate service trustee office.

Use the Dubai Land Department's Service Charge Index, on the department's website through Mollak or in the Dubai REST app. Choose the project, the use and the year, and the approved rate is shown. Multiply it by your unit's area.

Step by step:

1. Open the index. On the Dubai Land Department website, or in the Dubai REST app. Our Dubai REST app guide shows where it sits among the app's services.
2. Choose the project. Search by the project name registered with the department, which can differ from the name used in marketing.
3. Choose the use. A building with shops on the ground floor and homes above can have separate rates for each.
4. Choose the year. Check the current year and a few before it.
5. Work out your charge. The department's own method is the approved rate multiplied by the area in your title deed.

A worked example, in symbols. If the index shows an approved rate of R dirhams per square foot for the residential use this year, and your title deed shows A square feet, your annual service charge is R x A. Your invoices then split that across the periods Mollak bills.

Read it with care. A rate is for the building's whole budget year. If a building has a large one-off repair, or a new three-year budget, the rate can move. Comparing years shows you the trend and helps you ask the right questions.

Treat any figure you are given at launch as an estimate, because no approved budget exists until the building is complete. Ask what it is based on, then test it against completed buildings.

Ask the developer:

1. What is the estimated service charge, and what is it based on?
2. Does it include master community or usage charges, or do they sit on top?
3. Which facilities drive the cost: pools, gyms, concierge, landscaping, lifts?
4. Will there be a temporary budget in the first year, and when will the first invoice be issued?
5. Does the sale and purchase agreement ask for any service charge in advance at handover?

Then check for yourself. Look up the developer's completed buildings of a similar size and specification nearby on the Service Charge Index, and compare a few years. That is a fairer guide than a single launch estimate.

Remember the area. Your share follows your unit's area in the title deed. If that area includes a balcony or terrace, the charge is worked out on the larger figure, so check the area on your contract and floor plan.

Our cost guide sets out the other running costs that sit beside the service charge, such as district cooling, and the questions worth asking before you reserve.

The developer pays for unsold units, and service charges normally start for the buyer at handover. A buyer who delays handover by not paying can be liable from completion, and after handover the owner stays liable even if the home is let.

During construction. A building under construction has no approved service charge budget, so there is nothing to invoice. Usage charges for a master community are different: Article 26 lets a master developer collect them from owners or sub-developers, including for buildings under construction and vacant land.

Unsold units. Article 25 makes the developer pay the share for every unsold unit. It also pays for sold units where the sale contract or reservation agreement says the developer pays on the buyer's behalf.

At completion, if handover is delayed by the buyer. On 2 October 2025 the Rental Disputes Center set a principle that a buyer named in the interim register is liable for service charges from project completion, or from the point of payment default, even before ownership is transferred. The case involved a developer withholding handover because of the buyer's unpaid dues.

After handover. You pay your share as the owner. Many handover statements also ask for a first service charge payment. Check what period it covers and that it matches an approved budget; the payments due at handover are listed in our handover guide.

When you let the home. Article 16 keeps the owner liable unless the lease says otherwise, and even then the owner is not released if the tenant does not pay. The Dubai Land Department's guidance says the landlord is responsible for service fees on a property. Register the tenancy on Ejari.

When you sell. Unpaid charges must be cleared before a unit can be transferred. For a ready home managed through Mollak, the sale needs an eNOC from the management company, requested in the Dubai REST app.

Approved charges cannot be refused, and the law gives the management entity strong ways to recover them. The unit itself becomes security for the debt.

• No refusal. Article 28 says an owner may not refrain from paying approved charges, for example because of a complaint about services.
• A lien on the unit. Article 32 gives the management entity a lien on every unit for unpaid charges. The unit cannot be disposed of until they are paid.
• Enforcement. After a 30-day notice, the claim can be enforced by the execution judge at the Rental Disputes Center, who may order the unit to be sold at public auction.
• No blocking. Article 29 says a developer or management entity must not stop an owner using the unit or common parts in order to force payment.

The Dubai Land Department's guidance says an owner whose property is blocked because of service charges can contact the management company. If you are struggling to pay, talk to the management company early and keep the conversation in writing.

Start with information, then use the owners committee, then the official channels. Disputes over amounts and over services not received are the most common, and the reference point in any dispute is the RERA-approved invoice.

1. Ask for the documents. Request the approved budget, the breakdown by service and the invoice calculation. Check that the rate matches the Service Charge Index and the area matches your title deed.
2. Check for unapproved charges. The Dubai Land Department says management authorities may not claim charges before RERA approves them, and owners asked to pay unauthorised charges can report it.
3. Use the owners committee. Under Article 24 the committee reviews the budget and passes on owners' complaints. If the management entity does not address a complaint within 14 days, the committee can take it to RERA.
4. Complain about poor services. Complaints about poor services or maintenance can be filed through the Dubai REST app, using the Real Estate Violations System.
5. Go to the Rental Disputes Center. Article 42 gives it exclusive jurisdiction over disputes under the jointly owned property law. Its first-instance lawsuit service for jointly owned property is filed online or at a real estate services trustee centre. The page lists a process service fee of AED 100, AED 25 to register a power of attorney where needed, and knowledge and innovation fees of AED 10 each; check the full cost of your claim with the centre.

Keep paying while you dispute. Because approved charges cannot be refused, withholding payment while you dispute a service usually makes things worse. Pay, keep records, and pursue the complaint.

The reserve fund is money set aside within the service charge for major repairs and replacements. If it is not enough, owners can be asked to cover the gap.

Article 30 requires a cash reserve to cover emergency expenses, held in a separate account. If the reserve is insufficient, the Dubai Land Department may, with RERA's prior approval, ask owners to cover the expenses.

For a buyer, a building with a healthy reserve is less likely to need a sudden extra payment when lifts, roofs or cooling plant reach the end of their life. Ask the management company how the reserve is funded and what it holds.

The building's insurance is paid through the service charge. Article 41 requires the management entity to insure the jointly owned property for maintenance and reconstruction and against liability for damage and injury, and the premiums are part of the charges.

That policy covers the building, not your belongings or your rent. What it leaves to you, and when to start your own cover, is set out in our guide to home insurance for Dubai property owners.

No. Mollak, the Service Charge Index and Law No. 6 of 2019 are Dubai's. Other emirates have their own regulators and rules for jointly owned property.

In Abu Dhabi the regulator is the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre; our ADREC guide explains its role. Ask the developer and the management company which rules apply, and do not assume the Dubai approval process or tools are available.

• Before you reserve: ask for the estimated charge, what it includes and whether a master community charge sits on top.
• Before you buy resale: look up the approved rate on the Service Charge Index for several years, and ask the seller for the last invoices and proof they are paid.
• At handover: check what any first payment covers and that it follows an approved or temporary budget.
• Every year: compare the new rate with the old one and read the budget breakdown.
• When you let: keep the liability in mind when you set the rent; the tenant does not take it over.
• When you sell: clear all charges and request the eNOC early.

If you are comparing projects, start with buildings close to completion: browse projects near handover and ready projects, then check comparable completed buildings on the index. If your handover notice has arrived, read the handover guide and plan your snagging inspection.