Taking handover of an off-plan flat, in the right order.
The completion notice starts a 30-day clock. What you do inside it, and in what sequence, decides whether the defects stay with the developer or become yours.
Handover starts when the developer issues the completion notice, and you usually have 30 days from there. Book the snagging inspection inside that window and before you sign the handover certificate, because defects recorded before you sign stay the developer’s responsibility. Budget 5% to 8% of the property value for the fees, the first service charge and the DEWA deposit.
In short
Handover begins with the developer's completion notice, issued after the building completion certificate. You then have around 30 days to finish everything.
Inspect before you sign. Defects recorded before the handover certificate remain the developer's responsibility; signing first accepts the unit as delivered.
Professional snagging runs about AED 500 to 1,200 for an apartment and AED 1,200 to 2,500 or more for a villa. The report arrives within 24 to 48 hours.
The Defect Liability Period runs roughly 12 months from handover, and the developer repairs construction and mechanical defects in that time at no cost to you.
The money due at handover, covering DLD fees, the first service charge, the DEWA deposit and the NOC, commonly comes to 5% to 8% of the property value.
The completion notice
The sequence begins with a letter. Once the developer holds the building completion certificate from the relevant authority, it issues you a completion notice, and that notice starts a clock. In most cases you have 30 days to complete the inspection, settle what is owed and get the title deed into your name.
Thirty days sounds generous until you try to book a snagging company in a month when an entire tower is handing over at once. The good firms fill up. Pick one before the notice lands, so the call you make on the day is to confirm a date rather than to start looking.
Inspect, then sign
Two documents matter here, and the order you deal with them decides a great deal. One is the snagging report, which records what is wrong with the unit. The other is the handover certificate, which says you have accepted it.
Sign the handover certificate first and you have accepted the unit as delivered, defects included. Record the defects first and they stay with the developer. That is the entire reason to inspect before signing, and it is the step most often taken in the wrong order.
A professional inspection covers the finishes, the fixtures, the plumbing, the electrics, the air conditioning and the structural items. It takes two to four hours. Walk round with the inspector if you can, and photograph everything at high resolution, video included. Images dated before the handover certificate are worth a great deal in an argument six months later.
What falls due
The final instalment on the purchase price is the part every buyer has planned for. The rest is the part that catches people, because it arrives at once and none of it is financed.
| Item | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| Final instalment on the price | Per your payment plan |
| DLD fees and title deed issuance | Within the 5% to 8% |
| First service charge invoice | Within the 5% to 8% |
| DEWA deposit | Within the 5% to 8%, refundable |
| Developer NOC | Within the 5% to 8% |
| Those four items combined | 5% to 8% of property value |
| Snagging inspection | AED 500 to 2,500, separate |
Indicative and current at September 2026. The DLD fees, the first service charge and the DEWA deposit all vary by unit and by building, and your sale and purchase agreement governs what the developer can charge. Snagging is paid to an independent firm rather than to the developer.
Five to eight per cent is a wide range because the components differ by building. A high-charge tower asks for more service charge up front than a townhouse community does. What does not vary is the timing. It all falls inside the same 30-day window as the inspection, and the bank will not lend against any of it.
The year after the keys
A new property in Dubai comes with a Defect Liability Period, usually 12 months from handover. During that year the developer has to repair construction defects, finishing problems and mechanical failures at no cost to you. RERA mandates it and the DLD enforces it.
The period is only useful to an owner who keeps paperwork. Your snagging report, the handover certificate, the dates and the photographs are what a claim is built from. File them somewhere you will find them in month eleven, which is when the air conditioning in a new Dubai building tends to declare itself.
The order to do it in
Choose a snagging company before the notice arrives.
Handover seasons cluster, and the better inspectors are booked out when a whole tower completes at once. Having a name and a number ready turns a two-week delay into a phone call.
Inspect, then sign. Not the other way round.
The handover certificate is an acceptance. Everything your inspector records before you sign it stays with the developer, and everything you notice afterwards is a negotiation you may not win.
Have the handover money ready as cash.
The 5% to 8% falls due inside the same 30 days as the inspection, and none of it is financed. Owners who budget only for the final instalment find themselves short at the worst moment.
Read the first service charge invoice properly.
It arrives with handover and it sets the annual cost of holding the unit from here on. The figure to compare against similar buildings is the rate per square foot, not the total on the invoice.
General information for property owners, current at September 2026. Costs are indicative and vary by developer, building and unit. Your sale and purchase agreement governs what is owed and when, so confirm the detail with your developer before handover.
Questions
- When does the handover process start?
- With the completion notice. The developer issues it once the building completion certificate has come through from the relevant authority, and from that point you usually have 30 days to finish everything: the inspection, the final payments and the title deed. The window is short, so it is worth having a snagging company chosen before the notice arrives rather than after.
- Is a snagging inspection compulsory?
- No rule forces you to book one. What makes it worth doing is the order of events. Defects you document before you sign the handover certificate stay the developer's responsibility, and a professional inspector working through the plumbing, the electrics and the air conditioning will find things you would not. Skipping it saves a few hundred dirhams and can cost considerably more.
- How much does snagging cost in Dubai?
- Roughly AED 500 to 1,200 for a standard apartment, and AED 1,200 to 2,500 or more for a villa or a large unit. Some firms quote a flat AED 1,500 to 3,000 whatever the size. The inspection takes two to four hours and the report normally lands within 24 to 48 hours, which fits inside the 30-day window provided you book early.
- What happens if a defect appears after I move in?
- The Defect Liability Period covers it. New property in Dubai carries a period of typically 12 months from handover, during which the developer has to repair construction defects, finishing problems and mechanical failures at no cost to you. RERA mandates it and the DLD enforces it. Keep the snagging report and the handover paperwork, because that is what a claim is built on.
- How much money do I need at handover?
- Allow 5% to 8% of the property value for a standard residential unit. That covers the DLD fees, the first service charge invoice, the DEWA deposit and the developer NOC. It sits on top of the final instalment of the purchase price, which is the part most buyers have planned for, and it falls due inside the same 30-day window.
- Can I refuse handover if the unit is not finished?
- Raising defects and refusing the unit are two different things. The snagging report is the proper route for the first: it records what is wrong, the developer repairs it, and your position holds because you documented the problems before signing. Where the unit is materially different from what the sale and purchase agreement describes, that is a larger question and one for a lawyer rather than an inspector.
- What it costs to buy in DubaiThe one-off costs of a purchase, including the fees due before the keys.
- Off-plan, before handoverPayment milestones and construction progress, plus what the unit would resell for today.
- Service charges, explainedWhat the first invoice is based on, and what a normal rate looks like.
- Service charge calculatorYour annual charge from the building rate and the size of your unit.
Mulki tracks your off-plan milestones through to the title deed.
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