Key points

  • Law No. 6 of 2019 on jointly owned property requires every service-charge budget to be prepared by the management entity, verified by a recognised audit firm, and approved by RERA — through the official Mollak system.
  • No unapproved charge may be collected; funds must reach dedicated, ring-fenced bank accounts per community within seven working days.
  • Owners are represented by a committee (up to nine members appointed by RERA), formed once 10% of units are registered to owners; it meets at least quarterly.
  • On non-payment: a thirty-day notice in RERA-approved form, then direct enforcement before the execution judge at the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre; a unit with outstanding charges cannot be sold.
  • Approved rates per building are publicly available through the Dubai Land Department's service charge index.

Charges are a regulated budget, not a price

The management entity proposes, a certified auditor verifies, RERA approves — and only the approved amount can be invoiced, quarterly. A manager claiming more acts without right, and the owner has a documented remedy.

The money is ring-fenced

Collected sums do not feed the manager's treasury: they reach dedicated accounts per community within seven working days — the same logic as construction escrow, applied to operations.

What an owner can check alone

Before buying, the DLD's service charge index gives approved rates building by building — net-yield analysis can start from public data. After buying, the owners committee reviews annual budgets, with escalation through Mollak and, ultimately, the RDSC.

What this means in practice

In our analyses of Emirati assets, approved charges are treated as contractual data, not estimates. Full holding cost is established before commitment — never after.

General information, verified at the date of publication. Every operation requires advice from qualified local counsel.