What should a fit out contract include in Dubai?
A fit out contract in Dubai has to settle five things on paper: the scope of works against a priced BOQ, the drawings and specifications it references, who owns approvals and carries approval delay, a programme that includes landlord access rules and delay consequences, and payments tied to work you can inspect. Everything after that is detail. The detail is what gets argued about.
The scope of works is not the BOQ
A BOQ counts quantities. A scope of works describes obligations. Sign a contract that carries only a priced BOQ and you will be pricing variations by week three, usually over making good.
The items that go missing are predictable: protection of the landlord's existing finishes, temporary power and water, hoarding and site signage, waste removal and the permits for it, making good after first and second fix, final cleaning, as-built drawings, O&M manuals, and testing and commissioning of every system you are handed. If the building has a shared loading bay or a service lift, say who books it and who pays the deposit.
Look at a finished room and work backwards. In a bathroom we completed, a washing machine sits inside the shower enclosure. The drain relocation, the waterproofing detail, the appliance connection and the electrical point all had to be named, priced and inspected. None of that is a BOQ line. It is scope.
Drawings belong in the same clause, listed by number and revision: architectural layout, MEP drawings, reflected ceiling plan, joinery details, finishes schedule, material schedule, shop drawings. Then state which document governs when two of them disagree, who owns the drawings, whether you get a licence to use them, and that a full as-built set arrives at handover rather than six weeks after.
Approvals: name the party who submits
Nobody should have to guess who is chasing the authority. One clause names the submitting party, the approving party and the consequence of a late approval. The trade reality is set out in fit out permit Dubai: the approvals that come first, and it is worth reading before you sign anything.
The usual split: you provide the trade licence, tenancy contract, landlord base build drawings and any consultant appointment. The contractor prepares and submits the fit out drawings, answers comments, attends inspections and hands over the approvals at completion. The landlord or building management issues its own NOC and work permit on a separate queue, and signage or branding on a wall carries its own condition.
Show approval durations in the programme instead of hiding them in float, then write the delay rule. A late approval caused by missing client documents gives an extension of time, not a damages claim. A late approval caused by a wrong or incomplete submission stays with the contractor. Without that split written down, each side assumes the other is paying for the idle weeks.
Reception and meeting room glazing in a completed office fit out. The branding wall needed its own landlord approval, written into the contract as a separate item.
Programme, landlord access and delay damages
Attach the programme as a dated schedule. A single completion date with no milestones is not a programme. Break it into mobilisation, first fix, inspections, ceilings closed, joinery, finishes, testing and commissioning, snagging and handover, and show where approvals sit inside it.
Landlord rules are contract inputs, not surprises discovered later: permitted working hours, Ramadan hours, lift and loading bay bookings, protection of common areas, dust and noise limits, work permits and security passes. A tenant who learns in month two that noisy work is banned before noon has bought a delay.
Then the delay clause itself. A daily rate mechanism for contractor-caused delay, a cap, a written notice requirement, and carve-outs for client instructions, late approvals and access the landlord did not give. If you are splitting the job between two or three packages, the interfaces need their own logic, which is why single contractor vs multiple contractors for interior fit out changes how the contract is drafted.
Payment milestones, retention, insurance and termination
Tie every payment to something you can walk out and inspect: MEP first fix complete and signed off, ceilings closed, joinery delivered and installed, finishes complete, testing and commissioning done, handover pack issued. Name who certifies each milestone and how many days they have to do it. A mobilisation deposit for long-lead items is normal. A schedule of calendar dates with no link to progress is how a client ends up paying most of the money for half the work.
Retention is held back from each payment and released in two parts, at handover and at the end of the defects period. Write both release events, not just the percentage.
Insurance belongs in an appendix: contract works and third party liability, workmen compensation, certificates produced before mobilisation. Warranties should be listed system by system with durations, issued in your name or assignable to you, because a warranty you cannot enforce is decoration. Termination should cover default with a cure period, convenience with payment for work done plus materials ordered, and a clear rule on site access and ownership of installed work.
Loose furniture and feature seating in a finished office, one of the last items to land in the programme before snagging and handover.
Defects, handover and fifteen minutes before you sign
Snagging is a process, not an argument. Joint inspection, a written snag list, a fixed period to clear it, re-inspection, then handover. The handover pack is as-built drawings, O&M manuals, warranties, test certificates, approval copies, spare tiles and keys. The defects liability period starts at handover, not when snagging finishes, and the contract should say how quickly a defect gets attended and what counts as a defect rather than wear or misuse. The mechanics are covered in interior fit out defects liability period in Dubai.
Before you sign, spend fifteen minutes on this list:
- Every BOQ line appears in the scope, and every scope obligation is priced somewhere.
- Drawings are listed by number and revision, and one document is named as governing.
- Each approval has a named owner and a written delay consequence.
- The programme shows approval durations and the landlord's access rules.
- Each payment is tied to an inspectable milestone with a named certifier.
- Retention release events and the DLP start date are written as events, not intentions.
- Insurance certificates and warranty durations sit in appendices, not in a covering letter.
Send us the draft contract, the drawing set your landlord gave you and the BOQ before you sign it. Add the building name, the unit number and a few photos of the existing space, and we will mark the clauses that will cost you later. WhatsApp +971585101641 is the quickest way to get that first read, or talk to our fit out team and we will go through the draft on a call.
Frequently asked questions
Who is responsible for approvals in a Dubai fit out contract?
The contract should name one party for each approval rather than assuming the contractor handles everything. Typically the tenant supplies the trade licence, tenancy contract and landlord drawings, the contractor submits and chases the fit out drawings and inspections, and the landlord or building management issues its own NOC and work permit. Write the consequence of a late approval next to each name.
Should the BOQ be an appendix to the fit out contract?
Yes, but as a priced appendix that sits under the scope of works, not instead of it. The scope describes obligations such as protection, making good, testing and as-built documentation, which a BOQ rarely captures. If the two documents conflict, the contract should say which one governs.
How should fit out contract payment terms in Dubai be structured?
Around measurable completion events rather than calendar dates. First fix inspections, ceilings closed, joinery installed, finishes complete and handover pack issued are all things a client can verify on site. Each milestone needs a named certifier and a stated review period, with retention released at handover and again at the end of the defects period.
Can the contract be signed before the landlord approves the drawings?
It can, and often is, but the contract must say so. Make the landlord and authority approvals a condition with a stated effect: either the start date moves or the contract lapses. Without that, one side carries mobilisation costs for a job that has not been cleared.
What happens to warranties and retention if the contractor is replaced?
That depends entirely on the termination clause. Warranties should be assignable and issued in your name or the employer's name, and retention should be released against defined events even on termination. If the clause is silent, you can lose access to both the paperwork and the money.
