Contractor guide
How to check a contractor's licence
A trade licence is only the first gate. Each emirate adds its own register, grade or accreditation, and some jobs need a second registration on top. Here is what to look for, where to look it up, and what the grade allows.
Licences
How to check a contractor licence: which register?
How to check a contractor licence depends on the emirate, because each one licenses and grades contractors its own way and a firm cleared in one is not automatically cleared in the next. In Dubai a contractor needs a trade licence first and a place on Dubai Municipality's register second. Abu Dhabi grades firms on the value of work already done and publishes the result. Sharjah classifies, then its economic department licenses. Ajman accredits and grades, and sometimes insists on an Ajman-issued licence.
How do I check a contractor's licence in Dubai?
Ask for the trade licence, then look the firm up on Dubai Municipality's register of approved consultants and contractors, through the Municipality's online portal or the Dubai BPS app. Check the activity: building work that needs a permit calls for Building Contracting, which carries a grade, while a décor firm holds Interior Decoration as a supporting activity. Even work that needs no permit, such as painting, must be done by a contractor accredited with the Municipality.
What should a Dubai contractor hold?
Dubai Municipality's Engineering Contracting Activities Classification, dated February 2024, splits activities into main and secondary. Building Contracting (452001) is a main activity: it carries a grade and the right to take building permits directly. Interior Decoration (454009), Decoration Design and Implementation (100051) and Building Maintenance (454007) are secondary activities that supplement a main one. A firm doing structural renovation needs the main activity; a firm doing décor alone needs the secondary one and Municipality accreditation.
| Grade | Buildings it may build | Minimum engineers | Minimum labourers |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | Unlimited floors | 3 | 100 |
| Second | Ground plus 12 floors | 2 | 70 |
| Third | Ground plus 4 floors | 1 | 40 |
| Fourth | Ground plus 1 floor | 1 | 10 |
Grade Four is the minimum that covers a normal two-storey villa; anything taller needs Third or above. Every engineer on the firm's record must belong to the Society of Engineers in the UAE and pass Dubai's technical proficiency tests, and the firm must house at least half its labourers in designated places in Dubai. Ask which grade the firm holds, and whether the engineer who will supervise your job is on its record.
Contractor licence checks in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi's Department of Municipalities and Transport grades contractors from Special down to Sixth by the value of projects already completed, and publishes the list: 5,232 classified firms with their licence number, category, expiry and a one-to-five-star evaluation. What it does not publish is a cap on what each grade may build, so the grade tells you about track record rather than size limits.
| Category | Projects total value (AED) |
|---|---|
| Special | 240,000,000 |
| First | 120,000,000 |
| Second | 60,000,000 |
| Third | 30,000,000 |
| Fourth | 15,000,000 |
| Fifth and Sixth | 0, classified without prior projects |
For a cosmetic job, the route checks something different. A maintenance permit can only be filed by a contractor registered in the Municipal Electronic Classification System, with a live commercial licence that includes a maintenance activity, as Tasareeh's service card puts it; no grade is required. Structural work goes through a consultant registered for architectural engineering consultancy. Our Abu Dhabi permits guide explains which route your job takes.
How do Sharjah and Ajman license contractors?
Sharjah City Municipality classifies contracting and consultancy firms in numbered categories, then sends them to the Sharjah Department of Economic Development to complete licensing; the 6th category is restricted by licensed activity. Its violation lookups are public: separate services list contractor violations, consultant violations and the projects each engineer is registered on, and an open violation blocks new permits and deposit refunds. Structural drawings can only be filed by a consultancy the Municipality has accredited. Ajman's Municipality accredits contractors and consultants through its professional practice accreditation (AED 200, 2 days) and grades them, with a category upgrade service at AED 200, though the categories are not published; some services demand a contractor's licence issued in Ajman itself. See the Sharjah permits and Ajman permits guides for the routes.
Which extra registrations matter?
- DDA zones: contractors and consultants register with DDA Planning and Development (AED 250, valid 1 year) and must present Dubai Municipality's pre-qualification certificate for any permit.
- Trakhees land: the people designing and supervising the work need a Trakhees Accreditation ID card.
- DEWA: only enrolled consultants and contractors can file building NOCs and connections; DEWA publishes the list of enrolled builders.
- Abu Dhabi electrics: only contractors approved by the distribution company may work on an installation; its register is provided on request.
- Ajman electrics: Etihad Water and Electricity lists approved low-voltage consultants in two load categories, each row with an expiry date.
What a licence check cannot tell you
A licence tells you the firm may do the work; it does not tell you it has done yours before, in your community, at your finish level. So after the register, ask three things: recent jobs in your community under the same developer rules, a written rate with the area it applies to and a finish specification, and who will supervise day to day. Our quote checklist covers what the written quote should show, and the Dubai permits guide shows which authority your job answers to. We run the licence check before any brief goes to a contractor; send the job to our service for licensed contractors and it arrives only with firms that pass.
Related
Questions
Contractor licences, answered
- Is a trade licence enough for a Dubai renovation?
- No. Dubai Municipality limits contracting to firms licensed by the economic department and authorised by its registration and licensing committee, which means a place on the Municipality's register. Simple maintenance that needs no permit still has to be done by a contractor accredited with the Municipality.
- Which grade does a villa renovation contractor need?
- For building work on a normal two-storey villa, Dubai Municipality's Grade Four, which covers ground plus one floor, is the minimum; taller buildings need Grade Three or above. Pure décor work falls under secondary activities such as Interior Decoration, which carry accreditation rather than a grade.
- What does the star rating on Abu Dhabi's register mean?
- DMT's public list of classified engineering firms carries an evaluation result from one to five stars for each firm, next to its licence number, category and expiry date. It is a published signal of past performance; the category itself reflects the value of projects the firm has already completed.
- Can a contractor licensed in Dubai work in Sharjah or Ajman?
- Not automatically. Sharjah classifies firms through its own Municipality and licenses them through its own economic department, and Ajman requires a contractor's licence issued in Ajman for some services. Check the registration in the emirate where the work will be done.
- How do I check a contractor for past violations?
- In Sharjah the Municipality publishes lookups for contractor and consultant violations. In Dubai, DDA Circular 428 bans contractors who work without permits in its system, and Emaar can fine and ban a contractor across its communities. Ask the contractor directly as well, and ask for references in your community.
- Should I check the consultant as well as the contractor?
- For structural or modification work, yes, because the consultant files the permit. In Dubai the registered consultant is the applicant for a building permit, in Abu Dhabi only a design consultant can file one, and in Sharjah only a consultancy accredited by the Municipality can file drawings. Dubai Municipality keeps consultancies on the same register as contractors.
Who you are dealing with
- OperatorWebsiteOS LLC
- Licence2646567.01
- Cost to homeownerNone
- Figures datedSeptember 2026
Tell us about the renovation
Villa or apartment, community, which rooms and what you want changed. We check each contractor's licence for your emirate before the brief goes out.