
To speed up the procedure for issuing construction permits in Dubai a special state Committee has been set up, and a strategy has been developed to unify the procedure through three easy steps to help Dubai property developers and investors meet their goals.
In line with the official Dubai development strategy aimed primarily at the emirate residents’ happiness and satisfaction, Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai has approved a new strategy for Building Permits Procedures Development in Dubai.
This strategy will speed up and simplify the process of issuing construction permits by the relevant government agencies, in order to support developers and investors in Dubai’s real estate sector.
To meet this goal, a special Dubai’s Committee for Building Permit Procedures Development was established in early 2017 in Dubai. Its work is aimed at strengthening Dubai's position as a city, where construction industry plays an important role being a key component of economic development.
The Committee’s activities will be based on "three pillars". Firstly, procedures for issuing construction permits will be redeveloped and simplified, then systems and requirements will be unifies, and at the last stage, a sort of a "single window’, or a ‘one stop shop’ will be created to complete the whole procedure. These three pillars are a complex scheme that will ensure the acceleration of the process of obtaining permits at all stages.
The Committee has set up four teams of specialists to conduct detailed studies. The first team will develop new building regulations based on the feedback from property buyers, contractors and consultancies; the second group will control the process of licensing consulting and contracting companies based on established standards, while the third team will select construction materials to study their technical characteristics and analyze them for compliance with the requirements, with the later registration of materials allowed for use. The fourth team will study applications submitted by IT companies for the development of a future electronic services system.
It should be noted that latest innovations in the procedure imply for the Committee simplifying the whole procedure of issuing construction permits to five simple steps aimed at verifying applications submitted for registration of new real estate projects. For each of the five stages, no more than three days are given since now, if the consultant and the contractor meet all the requirements. This is a record to complete the permit procedures, which will provide a completely new, higher level of customer service.
In addition, the Committee will develop a set of smart electronic systems to create a unified system for the ‘single window’ or a ‘one stop shop’ for providing a central unified scheme for smart services through one window and on the smartphone, where customers (consultants, contractors, owners and developers) will be able to check on the status of their permit request, pay fees and insurance and book appointments. This smart system will be linked to Dubai Building Permit System, yet to be created with an aim to include the requirements of all the authorities involved in the permitting process in Dubai.