Buy an apartment in Dubai and you buy into something larger than four walls: a shared corridor, a chilled-water plant, a lobby, a lift core and a running bill to keep them all alive. The law that governs that shared life — who manages it, who pays for it, and what happens when someone does not — was rewritten in 2019, and understanding it is now essential for every owner, committee member and management company in the Emirate.
A regime rebuilt: from 2007 to Law No. 6 of 2019
The framework for jointly owned — or "strata" — property in Dubai is set by Dubai Law No. 6 of 2019 Concerning the Ownership of Jointly Owned Real Property, which repealed the earlier Law No. 27 of 2007 and took effect on 18 November 2019, with a compliance window running into 2020. The change was structural, not cosmetic. Under the 2007 regime, each development was run by an Owners' Association that held legal personality and contracted in its own name. The 2019 law abolished that model and moved operational control to a regulated Management Entity, supervised by the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) under the Dubai Land Department (DLD). The owners, collectively, retained a voice — but no longer a corporate body of their own.
The law classifies developments into three categories: major projects (large master communities), hotel projects, and other projects that fall into neither. The category determines who manages the property and how tightly RERA supervises it.
Common areas and unit entitlements
Every jointly owned property is divided between units (privately owned) and common parts — structure, façade, roofs, plant rooms, corridors, lobbies, landscaping and shared services. Each owner holds an undivided share in the common parts tied to their unit. That share is not arbitrary: an owner's proportion, and therefore their financial contribution, is calculated by reference to the ratio of the unit's area to the total area of the development, using a method approved by the Director General. This entitlement drives voting weight, service-charge liability and the split of any reserve contributions.
Three management models
The law contemplates management through one of three routes, depending on the project:
- Developer / master developer management — in major projects the developer typically retains or directs management of the common areas and the master community, subject to a RERA-approved building management system.
- Hotel project management company — where a development operates as a hotel or serviced/branded scheme, a specialist hotel project management company runs the shared facilities under the operator's standards.
- RERA-appointed management company — for standalone buildings and "other" projects, a licensed management company is engaged, and RERA retains the power to appoint or replace the facilities manager where owners' interests require it.
Alongside the Management Entity sits the Owners' Committee: a supervisory and representative body, capped at nine members, formed once a threshold of units is registered and constituted through a RERA-run selection process. Critically, the Committee is not the old Owners' Association reborn. It does not hold the money, sign the major contracts or carry independent corporate liability. Its role is oversight — reviewing budgets, raising service and maintenance concerns, and channelling owner complaints to RERA — while executive authority and the service-charge accounts remain with the Management Entity and the regulator.
The single most important shift of 2019 was to move the money out of the manager's hands: service charges now sit in a regulated, audited account that no management company can quietly draw down.
Service charges and the Mollak system
Service charges are the financial engine of the whole regime, and they are no longer set by fiat. A Management Entity must prepare an annual budget, have it examined by an independent auditor, and submit it through Mollak — RERA's centralised digital platform (the name is Arabic for "owners") — for DLD approval. No charge may lawfully be issued to owners until that approval is granted. Once approved, Mollak generates invoices reflecting each owner's proportional share, typically on a quarterly cycle, and records payments centrally.
The collected funds do not enter the manager's general accounts. They must be paid into a dedicated, DLD-regulated escrow/trust account held with a RERA-accredited bank, generally within a matter of days of collection, and cannot be drawn down for unapproved expenditure. Larger schemes commonly carry a two-layer structure — building-level charges plus a master-community usage charge — and a mandatory sinking (reserve) fund for major replacements such as lifts, chillers and structural works. RERA's power to inspect and audit charges, and owners' ability to check approved rates against the public Service Charge Index on the Dubai REST app, together make the numbers contestable rather than take-it-or-leave-it.
Enforcing unpaid charges — and challenging them
Liability to pay rests primarily with the owner, and it does not evaporate because a tenant defaults. Where charges go unpaid, the Management Entity issues a formal notice — the 2019 law shortened the earlier grace period to a matter of weeks — after which recovery proceeds through the Rental (Rent) Disputes Settlement Centre (RDC), the forum with jurisdiction over jointly owned property disputes. The ultimate sanction is severe: the law permits enforcement against the unit itself, including judicial sale to satisfy outstanding service and usage charges. Payment-plan initiatives (such as Tayseer arrangements) exist to defuse arrears before matters reach that point.
Disputes run in both directions. Owners and committees challenge charges that exceed approved figures, contest service quality through the real-estate violations channel, and pursue developers over common-area and structural defects. The regulatory regime is backed by significant penalties — reported at up to AED 1 million for breaches, with escalation for repeat offences — and RERA supervision gives owners a regulator to appeal to, not only a court.
Practical strategy
- Owners: verify every charge against the Service Charge Index before paying; keep evidence of payment; and remember that liability follows ownership regardless of tenancy arrangements.
- Committees: engage early on the annual budget and audit, document concerns in writing through Mollak/RERA channels, and use oversight powers rather than attempting executive acts the law reserves to the Management Entity.
- Management companies: maintain RERA licensing, respect the escrow discipline and approval sequence to the letter, and treat the seven-day deposit and audit requirements as hard compliance lines, not housekeeping.
Instruments referenced: Dubai Law No. 6 of 2019 Concerning the Ownership of Jointly Owned Real Property (repealing Law No. 27 of 2007); DLD/RERA regulatory framework and the Mollak service-charge platform; jurisdiction of the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre. Article numbering varies between English translations and specific figures should be confirmed against the current official text and RERA guidance. This is general information, not legal advice.