Guide · July 2026
Fit-Out Permit Cost Dubai (2026)
Almost every consultancy in this market answers the cost question with 'contact us.' Here is the actual structure instead. Fit-out permit costs in Dubai stack four layers: government fees (formula-driven and predictable), refundable deposits (returned if you behave), consultancy fees (the market's least transparent layer) and the hidden fourth — the cost of delay, which dwarfs the other three when approvals go wrong.
Figures below reflect published schedules and our project experience as of July 2026. Exact fees vary by authority, area and scope; our calculator gives an instant estimate for your numbers, and our proposals itemise every layer separately.
Content last reviewed July 2026 · requirements vary by building, community and scope — confirm your project’s specifics with us before committing to a lease or programme.
Government fees — the predictable layer
Dubai Municipality's headline fit-out permit fee is area-based — AED 1.00 per square foot of built-up area — plus small fixed charges (knowledge and innovation fees, typically AED 20 each per transaction) and a completion-certificate fee from around AED 500. Free zones and Trakhees publish their own schedules, generally scaling with area; DCD charges review and inspection fees from a few hundred dirhams, scaling with systems affected.
- 011,000 sq ft mainland office: roughly AED 1,500–2,500 total government fees
- 023,000 sq ft restaurant (DM + food safety + DCD + DEWA): roughly AED 6,000–12,000
- 03JLT office via DMCC/Concordia: review fees AED 1,000–3,000 plus refundable deposit
- 04Villa extension (developer NOC + DM + DEWA): typically AED 4,000–12,000
Deposits — refundable if you finish properly
Buildings and communities hold fit-out deposits — AED 5,000–20,000 is common in towers — against common-area damage and proper closeout. They come back after clean completion, which makes the completion certificate a financial document, not just a legal one. Unrecovered deposits are one of the quiet leaks of the Dubai fit-out market; track them as receivables from day one.
Consultancy fees — what the market hides
Approvals consultancy for a straightforward commercial unit typically runs in the mid-four to low-five figures (AED), scaling with authority count and scope complexity — restaurants and clinics sit above offices; multi-authority and structural scopes above those. Anyone quoting without seeing the unit and scope is guessing; anyone bundling government fees into one opaque number is hiding the margin in the government's column.
Our rule: fixed fee quoted after a free scope review, government fees passed through at cost with receipts. If a proposal you're holding doesn't separate those layers, ask why.
The fourth cost — delay
Rent on a dark unit, staff hired for an opening that slips, franchise deadlines, seasonal windows missed: delay costs are the largest line item on most troubled projects and appear on no invoice. A rejected submission cycle typically costs 2–6 weeks. Priced against your rent, the case for doing approvals properly makes itself — it's the cheapest insurance in construction.
Questions on this topic
The core fee is AED 1.00 per square foot of built-up area, with a cap applying to very large industrial facilities, plus small fixed transaction fees and a completion-certificate fee. A 2,000 sq ft unit therefore pays roughly AED 2,000 in the headline fee.
No — they're published schedules, which is precisely why they should be passed through at cost. The negotiable layer is consultancy, and the honest lever there is scope clarity, not haggling.
Usually because they're not quoting the same thing: different assumed scopes, government fees bundled versus separated, drawings included versus excluded, completion certificate included versus abandoned. Normalise the scopes and the spread narrows fast.