The programme
Six to seven months, in four stages.
A new office fitout runs 6–7 months from space planning to furnish: 4 weeks of space planning, 2–4 weeks of landlord and authority approvals, 16–18 weeks of build and 2 weeks to furnish. IMI’s executive floor at One Za’abeel took 28 weeks; Opus by Omniyat was contracted at 24. The approvals sit inside the programme, not after it.
Space planning 4 weeks
Approvals 2–4 weeks
Build 16–18 weeks
Furnish 2 weeks
At the lower ends — 2 weeks of approvals and 16 of build — the same four stages take 24 weeks.
| Project | Planning | Approvals | Build | Furnish | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IMI at One Za’abeel | 4 wks | 4 wks | 18 wks | 2 wks | 28 weeks |
| Opus by Omniyat | 4 wks | 2 wks | 16 wks | 2 wks | 24 weeks |
Fajr project records1. IMI was handed over on 8 December 2024, the date it was planned for. Opus by Omniyat is in its final weeks before handover; 24 weeks is its contracted programme.
The order does the work. Each stage closes before the one that depends on it opens: the plan before the approvals, the approvals before the build, the build before the furniture. A programme that overlaps them to save weeks usually spends them later, on a change made to something already built.
Before you sign
Five things to settle before the lease is signed.
The cheapest weeks in a fitout are the ones before the lease. A test fit counts the desks on the actual floor; the affection plan names the authority; the handover condition sets the starting point; the building’s fitout manual names its fees, deposit and hours; and the programme gives you a number of months to negotiate the rent-free period against.
- Test fit the floor. Before you sign, we test fit the floor three ways and count the desks, so the decision is made on numbers rather than on a brochure.
- Read the affection plan. It names the zone, and the zone sets the permit, the documents and the wait. Two towers on the same road can sit in different zones.
- Check the handover condition. Good buildings hand over at Cat A, with the cooling working and the flooring and ceilings done; in cost-consultant terms, raised floors, suspended ceilings, painted walls, lighting, HVAC distribution and fire detection2. Others hand over shell and core. The difference is a stage of work and a line in the budget.
- Get the fitout manual. It sets the building’s fitout fee, deposit, insurances, working hours and inspection hold points3.
- Negotiate rent-free against the programme. Bring the 6–7 months to the negotiation, not a hope.
What the market says about rent-free periods
No source publishes a current standard. Savills reported in 2024 that landlords still offered reasonable rent-free periods on shell and core space to accommodate fitouts, and less on fitted space and renewals4. The market has tightened since: JLL reported Dubai prime office vacancy at 0.7% in May 20265. One DIFC tower’s fitout manual states that the landlord will not extend the rent-free period if tenant-side delays push back handover3.
If space planning runs before the lease is signed, the remaining stages take 20–24 weeks: 2–4 weeks of approvals, 16–18 of build and 2 to furnish. That is arithmetic on our programme, not a market norm, and it is the number to negotiate the rent-free period against.
The lease
Register the lease before the permits.
Leases in Dubai must be registered to be heard in a dispute, and the registered lease, the Ejari, is among the documents DDA asks for with its fitout permit67. Registration costs AED 177.75 online through the Dubai Land Department, or AED 220 at a Trustee centre8. Register it as soon as the lease is signed.
- The landlord hands the premises over in good condition and, for non-structural works, obtains the official approvals, provided you hold the documents they require.
- You make no changes without the landlord’s permission and the licences the work needs, and return the premises in the condition received at the end of the lease, fair wear excepted.
- Improvements stay with the premises when you leave, unless the lease says otherwise. Agree reinstatement when you sign.
DIFC leases follow DIFC’s own leasing regime, so the points above are checked against the lease and DIFC’s rules there.
The checklist
From signed lease to move-in, stage by stage.
Seven stages, two of them before any work starts. The lease and the building’s paperwork come first, then planning, approvals, build and furnishing, and finally the certificates that let the team move in. Each stage has an owner and an end date, and the next stage starts when it closes.
| Stage | Duration | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Before signing | — | Test fit; affection plan; handover condition; fitout manual; rent-free against the programme. |
| Lease signed | — | Register the Ejari. Pay the building’s fitout fee and deposit, as its manual sets. |
| Space planning | 4 weeks | Brief, survey, test fit, concept and the technical set. The layout is signed before approvals open. |
| Approvals | 2–4 weeks | Landlord NOC, the zone’s permit, Civil Defence drawings, and DEWA where boards or load change9. |
| Build | 16–18 weeks | MEP, partitions, ceilings, joinery and finishes, in order, with the building’s inspections before ceilings close. |
| Furnish | 2 weeks | Furniture, IT, AV, automation and appliances; snagging and commissioning. |
| Move-in | — | Civil Defence and zone completion certificates, then the landlord’s final inspection and approval to occupy. |
Durations are our published programme. Fees, documents and times for each permit are on our approvals guide.
DDA’s fitout permit lasts six months and renews at AED 200 for three months10. A 16–18 week build fits inside one permit when it starts promptly after approval, which is one more reason the plan is closed before the permit is applied for.
Move-in
What has to happen before the team moves in.
Civil Defence inspects the built works and issues its completion certificate first. The zone authority issues its own on the back of it, and the landlord carries out a final inspection and approves occupation. Only then is the office ready to use, whatever the furniture says.
- Dubai Civil Defence
Fire and life safety completion
Inspection of the alarm, firefighting and evacuation systems as built.
First - DM · DDA · Trakhees · free zone
Zone completion
DDA’s fitout completion needs the Civil Defence certificate, a tenant NOC and the licence, in two working days11. In Trakhees areas the premises may not be occupied before the Modification Completion Certificate12.
Second - Landlord · building management
Handover and approval to occupy
A joint final inspection, defects logged, and the as-built drawings and manuals handed over.
Last
- DMCC companies: the licence address is changed after the fitout is complete; DMCC approves within 48 hours once the requirements are met13.
- Defects: Dubai has no statutory defects period for a commercial fitout, so the contract sets it. One DIFC tower’s manual sets 365 days, with the fitout deposit returned after it3. Agree the period and any retention when you sign.
The budget
What a new office costs, in two bands.
An office fitout starts from AED 350 per sqft shell-to-occupied: partitions, ceilings, flooring, MEP alterations and joinery. Turnkey runs AED 600–850 per sqft with furniture, IT, AV, automation and appliances. IMI at One Za’abeel landed at AED 840 per sqft; Opus by Omniyat is contracted at AED 726. The full breakdown is on our office fitout cost guide.
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.
- Fajr Interiors project records: IMI at One Za’abeel and Opus by Omniyat, Fajr Interiors, 2024–2026.
- Global office fit-out cost guide 2026 – Methodology, Turner & Townsend, base date Q1 2026, accessed Oct 2026.
- Retail Fit-Out Manual, Central Park Towers (DIFC), Central Park Towers, uploaded January 2024.
- Dubai Office Market in Minutes Q1 2024, Savills, Q1 2024.
- Dubai office renewals rise despite slowdown in new contracts: JLL, Gulf Business, 27 May 2026.
- Law No. (26) of 2007 Regulating the Relationship between Landlords and Tenants in the Emirate of Dubai, Dubai Legislation Portal, 2007.
- Fit-Out Permit, Dubai Development Authority, accessed Oct 2026.
- Register / Renew Tenancy Contract, Dubai Land Department, accessed Oct 2026.
- Getting Electricity Fit-Out Connections, DEWA, accessed Oct 2026.
- Renewal of Fit-Out Permit, Dubai Development Authority, accessed Oct 2026.
- Fit-Out Completion Certificate, Dubai Development Authority, accessed Oct 2026.
- PCFC-TRK-CED-MF-CP-02 Rev 02, Client Procedure for requesting a Modification Completion Certificate, PCFC / Trakhees, December 2022.
- Request for Change of Address on Licence, v2, DMCC, 11 January 2024.
