The Permit You Don't Think About Until It Shuts You Down
Dubai has a rule most project owners discover too late:
No DM approval = no legal right to touch the space.
Not a renovation. Not a fit-out. Not even a partition wall.
And the tricky part? The process looks different depending on what you're doing: Project TypeWho Reviews ItMainland constructionDubai Municipality (DM)Palm / Special zonesTrakheesCreative & tech clustersDubai Development AuthorityAny fit-out, anywhere+ Dubai Civil Defence NOC mandatory
Pick the wrong authority → start over from scratch.
The approvals that catch people off guard aren't the obvious ones. It's the parallel NOCs DM, DCD, DEWA, sometimes RTA all required simultaneously, each with its own documents and timeline.
DAEM Contracting coordinates all of them at once. No missed submissions. No revision loops.
