Prepared by OMEGA CFM Building Contracting L.L.C. · Property care and contracting guidance.
What service charges pay for
Owners pay a share of approved service charges, based on unit area, for managing, operating, maintaining and repairing common parts (Law 6 of 2019, Art. 25). The money may only be spent on common-area cleaning, security, maintenance and improvement, building insurance, audit, management fees and a reserve fund (Art. 30). Charges must be RERA-approved (Art. 27).
Common parts — the building maintains
Structure, foundations, facades, roofs, stairwells, entrances, emergency exits, external windows, and pools, gardens and recreation facilities unless the site plan says otherwise (Art. 7).
Your unit — you maintain
Floors, ceilings, internal walls, windows and glass, doors, lighting, bathrooms, balconies and “all equipment and fixtures serving the unit” — in practice your AC units or fan-coils, thermostats, water heater, plumbing fixtures and electrical fittings (Art. 9). External windows and shared systems can cross that boundary. Check the site plan and building declaration with management before assigning responsibility.
Check the approved charge and the actual boundary
Use DLD’s Service Charge Index and the relevant building records to check the approved project charges. Ask management which equipment and areas are maintained under the common-property arrangements. Ownership, equipment location and the responsibility for arranging a repair are not always the same question.
Before arranging an in-unit AMC
Share the management boundary and any common cooling or water-system arrangements with OMEGA. Identify which in-unit equipment is to be registered for maintenance and which faults need management or utility coordination. A clear boundary helps avoid paying for overlapping cover or assuming a common-system fault belongs to the apartment plan.