The bands
Two bands: shell-to-occupied, and turnkey.
An office fitout with Fajr starts from AED 350 per sqft shell-to-occupied: partitions, ceilings, flooring, MEP alterations and joinery. Turnkey runs AED 600–850 per sqft, because it adds furniture, IT, AV, automation and appliances, so the team moves into a working office rather than a finished shell. Shell-to-occupied can start from shell and core or from Cat A; either way it carries no furniture. We fit out floors of 2,000–20,000 sqft.
| Line | Shell-to-occupied From AED 350 | Turnkey AED 600–850 |
|---|---|---|
| Partitions | Included | Included |
| Ceilings | Included | Included |
| Flooring | Included | Included |
| MEP alterations | Included | Included |
| Joinery | Included | Included |
| Furniture (FF&E) | — | Included |
| IT | — | Included |
| AV | — | Included |
| Automation | — | Included |
| Appliances | — | Included |
Planning bands, not a quote. Per sqft of the office area we fit out. The quote is itemised line by line against drawings.
The two bands answer different questions. Shell-to-occupied prices the build. Turnkey prices the office: the build plus everything the team sits on, plugs into and presents on. Most of the distance between them is furniture and technology, which is why those lines are best planned with the layout rather than bought after it.
Where Cat A and Cat B fit
Cost consultants describe office fitout in categories. Turner & Townsend’s 2026 method treats Cat A as the on-floor fitout above shell and core: raised access floors, suspended ceilings, painted walls, electrical distribution, lighting, HVAC distribution, basic plumbing connections and fire detection1. Cat B is the space you move into: partitions and doors, finishes, upgraded ceilings, feature lighting, pantries, joinery and furniture, IT, AV and security, and upgrades to the Cat A services.
Good buildings hand over at Cat A: the cooling working, the flooring and ceilings done. Others hand over shell and core. Our shell-to-occupied band starts from either and builds the office, without furniture; turnkey adds the furniture and technology. The handover condition is in the lease and the building’s fitout manual; we check both at the site survey. The full comparison is in Cat A vs Cat B fitout.
Delivered
Two executive floors, priced in the turnkey band.
IMI’s executive floor at One Za’abeel landed at AED 840 per sqft: 5,000 sqft, AED 4.2M, 28 weeks from brief to handover. Opus by Omniyat, in its final weeks before handover, is contracted at AED 726 per sqft: 6,200 sqft, AED 4.5M, a 24-week programme. Both sit inside the turnkey band, at different points, for different reasons.
| Project | Area | Budget | Rate | Programme |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IMI at One Za’abeel | 5,000 sqft | AED 4.2M | AED 840 / sqft | 28 weeks |
| Opus by Omniyat | 6,200 sqft | AED 4.5M Contracted | AED 726 / sqft Contracted | 24 weeks |
Fajr project records2. 5,000 × 840 = AED 4.2M; 6,200 × 726 = AED 4.5M. Opus by Omniyat is in its final weeks before handover.
IMI’s brief put the team’s day first: sit-stand desks, adjustable task seating, a wellness room and a full kitchen, against a move-in date that could not move. Opus by Omniyat was specified to be sold on, against a fixed budget, so function was priced before materials and glass partitions carried borrowed light to the core. Same band, two briefs, two numbers.
What moves the number
Five decisions move a floor within the band.
Five decisions move an office within its band: how much the MEP has to follow the new layout, how much of the floor is glass and enclosed rooms, how much of the ceiling changes, how much joinery is made, and how much furniture and technology the contract carries. Each is cheapest decided early, because each changes what has to be built before it.
01 · MEP
Services that follow the plan
Moving fan coil units, ducts, diffusers, lighting, power, sprinkler heads and detectors to suit a new layout. Changes to fire systems also need Civil Defence approval3.
Decided with the layout
02 · Glass
Partitions and meeting rooms
Cushman & Wakefield’s guide steps up a tier with double-glazed partitions and when meeting space passes a quarter of the floor4. Every enclosed room adds walls, doors, cooling and lighting.
Decided at space planning
03 · Ceilings
How much of the ceiling changes
The same guide ties its tiers to how much of the ceiling is altered: under a quarter, or over. A new ceiling design means new services above it.
Decided at concept
04 · Joinery
Reception, pantry, storage
Built-in joinery is drawn, made and installed to the plan. Specified with the drawings, it is ordered on time; chosen on site, it waits or is substituted.
Decided at technical design
05 · Furniture & tech
FF&E, IT and AV
Workstations, seating, screens, room booking and cabling. This is most of the distance between the two bands, and the line most often bought late.
Decided with the layout
A meeting room drawn is a line on a plan. A meeting room added on site is a wall, a door, a diffuser and a sprinkler head moved.
Worked example
A 5,000 sqft office, run through the bands.
Take a 5,000 sqft floor. Shell-to-occupied starts from AED 1.75M. Turnkey runs AED 3.0M at AED 600 per sqft and AED 4.25M at AED 850. IMI’s floor, the same size, landed at AED 4.2M. That is arithmetic from the bands, not a quote: where a floor lands is set by the five decisions above, priced against drawings.
| Office area | × AED 350 / sqft Shell-to-occupied, from | × AED 600 / sqft Turnkey, low | × AED 850 / sqft Turnkey, high |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2,000 sqft | AED 0.70M | AED 1.2M | AED 1.7M |
| 5,000 sqft | AED 1.75M | AED 3.0M | AED 4.25M |
| 10,000 sqft | AED 3.5M | AED 6.0M | AED 8.5M |
| 20,000 sqft | AED 7.0M | AED 12.0M | AED 17.0M |
Arithmetic from the bands, not a quote and not an average. The shell-to-occupied figure is a starting point, not a ceiling.
Around the fitout
The costs around the fitout: fees, deposits, rent and reinstatement.
Four costs sit outside the per-sqft band and belong in the same budget: authority and utility fees, the building’s fitout fee and deposit, the rent you pay while the floor is built, and reinstatement when the lease ends. The fees are small. Rent during the fitout usually is not, which is why the programme matters as much as the rate.
| Item | Fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| DDA fitout permit | AED 0.90 / sqft | Min AED 200, max AED 10,000, plus AED 205 |
| DIFC fitout NOC | AED 3,150 | AED 3,000 + VAT6 |
| DMCC NOC to Concordia | AED 265 | Plus AED 20; Concordia’s own fee varies7 |
| JAFZA modifications NOC | No charge | 5 working days8 |
| DEWA fitout connection | Free | Security deposit invoiced separately9 |
| UAE Fire and Life Safety Code | AED 3,010 | Proof of purchase required for Civil Defence review10 |
| Ejari lease registration | AED 177.75 | Online; AED 220 at a Trustee centre11 |
| Dubai Municipality decoration permit | Confirmed at submission | Not published in a form we can quote |
Small against the build, but real. Fees as published, read in October 2026; each is confirmed at submission. Our quotes list them as their own lines.
The building’s fee and deposit
The tenancy law lets a landlord take a refundable security deposit12, and many buildings add a fitout fee and deposit in their fitout manual. One DIFC tower’s retail manual, for example, charges the greater of AED 20,000 or AED 5 per sqft plus VAT, with a deposit of AED 50,000 up to 10,000 sqft, returned after a 365-day defects period13. That is one building; yours will publish its own.
Rent while the floor is built
Cushman & Wakefield put average Dubai office rent at AED 205 per sqft a year in Q2 202614. At that figure, a 5,000 sqft office costs about AED 85,417 for each month of fitout not covered by a rent-free period. The formula is simple: annual rent per sqft × area × uncovered months ÷ 12. The rent-free period is negotiated against the programme, so the programme belongs on the table before the lease is signed.
Reinstatement at lease end
Unless the lease says otherwise, the tenant returns the premises in the condition received, fair wear excepted12. Cushman & Wakefield’s 2026 guide benchmarks Dubai reinstatement at EUR 75–125 per m², in euros, as published4. Agree the reinstatement scope when the lease is signed, not when it ends.
A note on benchmarks. Published fitout cost guides price different scopes: some start from shell and core, include Cat A and professional fees, blend Dubai with Abu Dhabi, or exclude all taxes1. Compared with a delivered price, they can mislead in either direction. We quote our own bands and our own delivered floors, and name the source and scope of any other figure on this page.
Reading a quote
What a turnkey quote should name, line by line.
A turnkey quote should name design, partitions, ceilings, flooring, MEP alterations, joinery, furniture, IT, AV, automation and appliances as separate lines, plus the authority submissions. Then ask what it leaves out. Benchmarks commonly exclude network hardware, software, move management, landlord fees, reinstatement and VAT; a quote may do the same without saying so.
Seven questions to put to any office quote
- Design fees — inside the number, or a separate appointment?
- Authority and landlord fees — named, or left to you?
- Civil Defence and DEWA submissions — who prepares and lodges them?
- IT network hardware and software — racks, switches and licences, or cabling only?
- Move management — included, or a separate supplier?
- Reinstatement — of this floor at lease end, or of the old office now?
- VAT — shown on every line, or added at the end?
Our quotes are itemised against drawings, with Cat B scope, MEP alterations, joinery, FF&E and reinstatement named separately, so you can see what each line carries and what changes when the scope does.
Sources
Sources, and when we read them.
Every rule, fee and time on this page is as published by the body named, on the date shown. Rules and fees change: confirm each at application. Fajr figures come from our own delivered projects.
- Global office fit-out cost guide 2026 – Methodology, Turner & Townsend, base date Q1 2026, accessed Oct 2026.
- Fajr Interiors project records: IMI at One Za’abeel and Opus by Omniyat, Fajr Interiors, 2024–2026.
- Law No. (4) of 2025 Establishing the Dubai Civil Defence General Command, Dubai Legislation Portal, 7 April 2025.
- Office Fit Out Cost Guide EMEA 2026, Cushman & Wakefield, pricing December 2025.
- Fit-Out Permit, Dubai Development Authority, accessed Oct 2026.
- Third-Party Buildings (NOCs), DIFC, accessed Oct 2026.
- DMCC Schedule of Charges, DMCC, accessed Oct 2026.
- Modifications – No Objection Certificate Request, JAFZA, 3 April 2024.
- Getting Electricity Fit-Out Connections, DEWA, accessed Oct 2026.
- Approval of Drawings, Dubai Civil Defence, accessed Oct 2026.
- Register / Renew Tenancy Contract, Dubai Land Department, accessed Oct 2026.
- Law No. (26) of 2007 Regulating the Relationship between Landlords and Tenants in the Emirate of Dubai, Dubai Legislation Portal, 2007.
- Retail Fit-Out Manual, Central Park Towers (DIFC), Central Park Towers, uploaded January 2024.
- MarketBeat Office Q2 2026, Dubai, Cushman & Wakefield Core, 24 June 2026.
