Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has approved the new strategy for building permit procedures in Dubai, UAE.

The strategy will speed up the process of acquiring building permits from concerned government entities to assist investors in the real estate sector, reported Wam, the Emirates official news agency.

The new strategy, set up by Dubai’s Committee for Building Permit Procedures Development, aims to enhance Dubai’s prominent positioning as a city where the active building and construction sector plays an important role as a key component of its economic development.

The strategy is built upon three pillars, first developing and streamlining building permit procedures, then unifying systems and requirement, and finally providing a "one stop shop" where all the procedures and building permits processes in Dubai can be completed.  

Daoud AbdulRahman Al Hajri, assistant director general of engineering and planning at Dubai Municipality, and head of the committee, said that the new strategy reflects the vision of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, aiming to enhance customers’ happiness and save them time and efforts to create a stimulating environment that promotes Dubai’s investment climate.

The first pillar of the strategy aims to minimise the required time to acquire permits through just five steps, through which the involved public authorities can conduct all the inspection tasks through unified teams, while all the concerted departments are required to reply to all the submitted applications within three days for each of the five steps if the consultant and the contractor meet all the requirements. This is a record time to complete the permit procedures, which will provide a unique customer-service.

The committee is currently working on putting a unified building regulation for Dubai to provide a comprehensive guideline for the customers. It will also register the contracting and consulting companies, after a meeting with the key stakeholders to discuss the features of the new strategy and the benefits it provides to the building and construction sector.

As a one stop shop for all permit procedures, the strategy focuses on developing a set of smart electronic systems to build a central unified scheme to provide smart services through one window and on the phone, where customers (consultants, contractors, owners and developers) can follow up on the status of their permit request, pay fees and insurance and book appointments. The one stop shop will be linked to Dubai Building Permit System, which will be developed to include the requirements of all the authorities involved in the permitting process in Dubai.

Dubai’s Committee for Building Permit Procedures Development was formed earlier this year. It includes Dubai Municipality, Roads and Transport Authority, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, The Department of Economic Development, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Directorate General of Civil Defence-Dubai, Investment Corporation of Dubai, Meraas Holding, Etisalat, Du, Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai Creative Clusters Authority, Ports, and Customs and Free Zone Corporation.