Maintenance for Dubai landlords with several properties

Your maintenance duty applies to every unit

Under Law No. 26 of 2007, the landlord hands over each property in good condition (Article 15) and is responsible for maintenance and for repairing defects that affect the tenant’s use, unless the contract says otherwise (Article 16). Wear and tear not caused by the tenant is also the landlord’s (Article 17). With five units, you hold five sets of these duties, each with its own contract and tenant.

Tenants may not carry out maintenance works without your permission (Article 19), so repair requests come to you or your representative. Without a system, they arrive by phone, message and email, and nothing shows what was fixed where.

Build a unit register first

One sheet per unit saves hours each year. Keep it current at each tenancy change.

• Address, unit number and building or community management contact.
• Tenancy dates, Ejari registration and the contract’s repair clause.
• AC type (split, ducted or central cooling), number of units and last service date.
• Water heater type and age, and any known recurring faults.
• Move-in and move-out condition records, with dates.
• Key holder and access arrangements for repair visits.

Make tenancy contracts and reporting consistent

Article 16 lets the parties agree a different split, so use the same repair clause across your units where you can. State who services the AC, which small items the tenant replaces, any spending threshold, how to report faults and how much notice you give before a visit. A threshold is not in the law; it applies only if the contract includes it.

Give every tenant one reporting route and ask for the room, symptoms, photos and when it started. Decide in advance which repairs need your approval and which can go ahead, so a leak on a Friday is not waiting for you to reply.

Manage it yourself, use a property manager or add a maintenance plan

The Dubai Land Department’s Tenancy Guide says an owner who personally manages property they own does not need a property management licence. If you delegate management to a company, the guide says the company must be licensed and registered for that activity, and the management contract should set out each party’s obligations, the management fees and the contract period.

If you use a property manager, ask whether maintenance coordination is included in the fee, whether contractor invoices carry a mark-up, and what spending limit needs your approval. A maintenance contract is different: it covers the maintenance work itself, not leasing or rent collection.

Planning the year across several units

Group the work by season and by event. Schedule AC servicing for all units together, book pre-rain checks for top-floor units and villas, and treat every tenant change as a small project: move-out record, repairs, painting where needed, cleaning, then a move-in record.

OMEGA’s annual maintenance contracts for apartments and villas come in three plans: Core, Core Plus and Perform. All include planned AC, electrical and plumbing maintenance, free labour for covered maintenance and repairs, and a response within 24 hours to covered faults, which is a response time, not a repair completion time. Free emergency call-outs per year are 4 on Core, 6 on Core Plus and unlimited on Perform. Apartment plans start at AED 1,995 including VAT for a studio on Core. Parts and additional work are quoted separately, and the property, equipment and visit programme are confirmed before activation.

For several units, OMEGA’s landlord portfolio plan reviews your property schedule and coverage with you, agrees reporting and contact arrangements in the contract, and gives a tailored quotation for the actual portfolio. If you own a whole building, a site survey and tailored building quotation is the better route.