Four routes
Four ways to grow an office, and what each one triggers.
There are four ways to give a growing team more room: combine your unit with the one next door, take a second floor or unit, fit more people into the space you have, or move to a bigger unit in the same building. They differ less in design than in approvals. Combining units changes the unit itself, so it leaves the simple fitout route behind.
A · Combine
Take the unit next door
Remove the wall between your unit and the next, and run the two as one office. The heaviest route: it changes the unit itself, so it is approved as a modification, not a fitout.
Approvals: modification + Civil Defence
B · Add
A second floor or unit
Take the floor above or a unit elsewhere in the building and fit it out on its own route. A stair between floors is structural work and goes the modification way.
Approvals: one fitout route per unit
C · Densify
More people, same floor
Re-plan the space you already have: fewer cellular offices, more workstations, more shared rooms. It is a fitout of the current unit, but headcount touches fire strategy and, in DMCC, the licence.
Approvals: fitout route + Civil Defence
D · Move up
A bigger unit, same building
Relocate within the building to a larger floor. The new unit is a new fitout; the old one is reinstated to the lease.
New office fitout →Approvals: new fitout + reinstatement
Combining units
Taking the unit next door is a modification, not a fitout.
Combining two units is approved as a modification. Dubai Municipality’s decoration permit stops at the unit’s boundaries and does not extend to areas being added or merged. DDA requires a building modification permit for merging units, at AED 1.0 per sqft of the affected area. Civil Defence approves the change in every zone, and the landlord consents in writing first.
| Zone | What applies | Published fee | Published time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mainland | Outside the decoration permit; modification drawings approved by Dubai Municipality12 | Not published | Not published |
| DDA communities | Building modification permit, not a fitout permit3 | AED 1.0 / sqft Of the added or affected area, plus AED 20 | 2 working days |
| DIFC | DIFC Property Development NOC, which also covers structural set-up, extra floor area and subdivision4 | Per NOC type | Per NOC type |
| Trakhees areas | Modification NOC with stamped drawings, then a Modification Completion Certificate56 | From built-up area, on a payment advice | 3 working days Completion target |
| Every zone | Civil Defence approval of changes that may affect safety7 | Confirmed at submission | Not published |
Fees and times as each body publishes them, read in October 2026. We confirm each at submission, and the zone from the affection plan.
In DDA areas, the modification also closes differently. Completion needs the Civil Defence completion certificate where applicable, the building owner’s NOC and a compliance certificate from the main consultant, with no fee for a normal submission and three working days to issue8. If DDA decides a job submitted as a fitout is really a modification, the fitout fee is not refunded9, so the route is settled before anything is lodged.
Small units are not exempt from this
DDA exempts units of 100 m² or less from its fitout permit, but not when units are merged or separated, structure changes or a mezzanine is added: those still need a building permit through a modification application10. The size of the unit does not make a merger simple.
Fire and services
A wall removed is a fire strategy changed.
Dubai’s Civil Defence law requires owners to notify Civil Defence of changes that may affect safety requirements and to obtain its approval7. Removing a demising wall changes the space the alarm, sprinklers and exits were designed around; adding people changes how many use those exits. Plan for a Civil Defence submission on any expansion that does either.
- Fire systems. Civil Defence projects must show fire alarm, firefighting and voice evacuation systems11. Two units with two systems become one office with one strategy.
- Exits and occupancy. The number of people a floor can hold is set by the fire code against its exits, not by the number of desks that fit. The fire engineer’s figure comes before the test fit’s.
- Power. If the combined office needs new boards or more load, DEWA’s fitout connection applies, with a landlord NOC in DEWA’s format and a load schedule for the final board12.
- Cooling. Two units usually arrive with two sets of fan coil units and controls. Whether they are rebalanced, re-zoned or kept apart is decided with the layout, before ceilings close.
The lease
Change the lease before you change the wall.
The tenancy law forbids changes to the premises without the landlord’s permission and the licences the work needs13. A combined unit also needs a lease that says so: an amendment, registered in Ejari, that names the new premises and says what happens to the wall at the end of the lease. Settle those terms before the drawings are lodged.
- Written consent from the landlord for the combination, separate from the fitout NOC.
- A registered amendment. Leases must be registered to be heard in a dispute; Ejari registration costs AED 177.75 online14.
- The wall at lease end. The tenant returns the premises in the condition received unless the lease says otherwise13. Agree in writing whether the demising wall must be rebuilt.
- Improvements. Unless agreed otherwise, a departing tenant may not remove the improvements it made. Name the ones you intend to take.
Two exceptions to check
DIFC has its own leasing regime, so the tenancy-law points above are not assumed to apply to a DIFC lease; the lease and DIFC’s rules decide. DMCC ties the licence to the office: the licence address is amended when the company takes a new unit, any required fitout must be complete before the change is requested, and a company cannot move to a smaller unit if its visas exceed the quota for that space15. DMCC approves within 48 hours once the requirements are met.
Headcount
How many people a floor holds, before you take more of them.
Benchmarks give a range, not an answer. CBRE’s 2026 client data averages 158 sqft per person; JLL’s 2025 benchmark shows companies targeting 132; the British Council for Offices suggests 10–12 m². Applied to 5,000 sqft, that is roughly 31 to 46 people. A test fit on the actual floor plate turns the range into a count.
| Benchmark | Space per person | 5,000 sqft holds about |
|---|---|---|
| CBRE, 2026 client data16 | 158 sqft | 31 people |
| JLL, 2025 company targets17 | 132 sqft | 37 people |
| British Council for Offices, 202218 | 10–12 m² 108–129 sqft | 38–46 people |
Arithmetic from published benchmarks, not a plan. Global and UK figures; we found no Dubai benchmark. The real number comes from a test fit on your floor, with its core, columns and exits.
Two findings matter for expansion. CBRE’s clients plan for more people than seats: the largest group targets 1.01–1.49 people per seat, and none targets one-to-one16. And densifying is often the cheaper first move: a re-planned floor can hold more people before a second unit is needed. We count it both ways before you sign for more space. How we test fit a floor is set out on our office interior design page.
Working while operating
The existing floor keeps working while the new one is built.
Most expansions happen next to a team that is still working. We split the works into zones, hand each zone back before the next one opens, and run the loud trades out of hours, all on a phasing plan agreed before we mobilise. The building sets the limits: its working hours, its noise rules and its inspections.
- Hours. One DIFC tower’s manual, for example, sets works hours of 08:00–18:00, Saturday to Thursday; out-of-hours works need the FM’s written approval, and night works a DDA night-shift permit19.
- Containment. The same manual keeps doors closed and dust and odours inside the unit. Your team is on the other side of that wall.
- Hold points. Buildings inspect partitions, ducting, pressure tests and cable terminations before ceilings close. Each inspection is a date in the phasing plan.
- Permit life. A DDA fitout permit lasts six months and renews at AED 200 for three months, up to a year20. A phased programme is planned inside that, or renewals are budgeted.
There is no fixed programme for an expansion: it depends on the route, the zone and how much of the floor stays in use. We programme it against your lease dates at the site survey. How we zone a lived-in floor is on our office renovation page.
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.
- Administrative Resolution No. (85) of 2019 Concerning the Licensing of Decoration Works, Dubai Legislation Portal, 17 March 2019.
- Building and Planning Circulars, Dubai Municipality, accessed Oct 2026.
- Building Modification – Permit, Dubai Development Authority, accessed Oct 2026.
- Submittals, Requests and External Works NOC, DIFC, accessed Oct 2026.
- Civil Engineering Division – Modifications, Trakhees, accessed Oct 2026.
- PCFC-TRK-CED-MF-CP-02 Rev 02, Client Procedure for requesting a Modification Completion Certificate, PCFC / Trakhees, December 2022.
- Law No. (4) of 2025 Establishing the Dubai Civil Defence General Command, Dubai Legislation Portal, 7 April 2025.
- Building Modification – Completion, Dubai Development Authority, accessed Oct 2026.
- Fit-Out Permit, Dubai Development Authority, accessed Oct 2026.
- Circular 338, Amendments in Fit out Permit Process, Dubai Development Authority, 11 December 2019.
- Approval of Drawings, Dubai Civil Defence, accessed Oct 2026.
- Getting Electricity Fit-Out Connections, DEWA, accessed Oct 2026.
- Law No. (26) of 2007 Regulating the Relationship between Landlords and Tenants in the Emirate of Dubai, Dubai Legislation Portal, 2007.
- Register / Renew Tenancy Contract, Dubai Land Department, accessed Oct 2026.
- Request for Change of Address on Licence, v2, DMCC, 11 January 2024.
- The Hybrid Reality: Why the Office Is More Important Than Ever, CBRE, 20 January 2026.
- Offices, workstations getting smaller: JLL Global Occupancy Planning Benchmark Report 2025, Facilities Dive, 21 July 2025.
- BCO recommends more space per person for the new era of flexible working, Workplace Insight, 24 October 2022.
- Retail Fit-Out Manual, Central Park Towers (DIFC), Central Park Towers, uploaded January 2024.
- Renewal of Fit-Out Permit, Dubai Development Authority, accessed Oct 2026.
