Dubai is getting serious about engineering quality and professional standards. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, has just issued a comprehensive new law (Law No. 14 of 2025) that fundamentally reshapes how engineering consultancy offices operate across the emirate.
This new regulation ensures that every company, from architecture to electrical engineering, must be officially licensed, meet high international standards, and prove its competence.
If firms fail to comply, by operating outside their approved scope or employing unregistered staff, they face severe penalties, including hefty fines up to Dh100,000 and being removed from the registry entirely.
Here are the key aspects of the law:
Objectives and Scope
The law aims to:
- Advance Dubai’s engineering consultancy sector.
- Regulate practices according to international standards.
- Classify service providers based on their technical, financial, and managerial competence.
- Encourage investment, remove obstacles, and ensure timely project execution.
- Attract global companies, positioning Dubai as a key hub.
The law covers engineering activities in all fields, including architectural, civil, electrical, electronic, mechanical, mining, petroleum, chemical, coastal, and geological engineering, among others.
Regulatory Requirements and Prohibitions
Authorisation and Licensing
- No one is allowed to take up engineering consultancy activities without proper authorisation.
- Individuals or offices cannot portray themselves as engineering consultancy offices without a valid trade licence and registration with Dubai Municipality.
- The registration must detail the office’s licensed scope, classification, technical staff, and other essential information.
Operational Prohibitions
Engineering consultancy offices are specifically prohibited from:
- Operating beyond their licensed scope.
- Employing unregistered engineers.
- Contracting with unlicensed companies to carry out consultancy work in Dubai.
Dubai Municipality’s Role
Dubai Municipality is central to implementing the law:
- It will establish a unified electronic system across the emirate, linked to the ‘Invest in Dubai’ platform. This system manages applications for registration, classification, issuing professional competency certificates, and other related matters.
- The Municipality oversees, operates, and updates the system and maintains a comprehensive registry of licensed offices, their scope, classification, and technical staff.
- It also regularly approves and updates the classification system for construction, building, or demolition companies and issues professional competency certificates for their technical staff.
Committee and Office Types
Permanent Committee
The law mandates the establishment of a permanent ‘Committee for the Regulation and Development of Engineering Consultancy Activities’ in Dubai, appointed by the Chairman of The Executive Council and chaired by a Dubai Municipality representative.
Types of Engineering Consultancy Offices
The law defines several types of registered offices:
- Local companies established in Dubai.
- Branches of UAE-based offices with 3 consecutive years of experience.
- Branches of foreign offices with 10 consecutive years of experience.
- Joint endeavours are formed between a local office and one or more foreign offices (where the foreign office has 10 years of experience).
- Engineering advisory offices providing opinion and consultancy services, owned by registered engineers, each with a minimum of 10 years of experience.
- Engineering audit offices are authorised to conduct third-party audits.
Violations and Penalties
Fines and Measures
Violators may face fines of up to Dh100,000, with the penalty increasing for repeat offences within the same year. Authorities may also take punitive measures, including:
- Suspending the office for up to one year.
- Downgrading the office’s classification.
- Removing the office or the engineers from the registry.
- Cancelling commercial licences.
- Suspending staff or revoking certificates.
Appeals
Parties affected by fines or other measures can submit a written appeal within 30 days of notification. The competent authority’s committee will decide within 30 days, and the decision is final and binding.
Implementation
- The new law annuls Local Order No. (89) of 1994 and its amendments.
- Engineering consultancy offices and their staff must regularise their status within one year of the law taking effect.
- The law will come into effect six months from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.
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