Handover starts once the building has its completion certificate. The developer then registers the finished project with the Dubai Land Department (DLD), every buyer who has paid in full moves from the interim register to the Real Estate Register and receives a title deed, and you inspect the home (snagging) before you take the keys. After that, Dubai's Law No. 6 of 2019 keeps the developer liable for one year for faulty installations and for ten years for structural defects, and a contract that cuts those periods is void.
This is a summary to help you prepare, not legal advice. Your sale agreement sets the handover notice, the final payment and many of the details, so read it alongside the rules below.
When does handover start?
When the building is finished and the authority that licensed it issues a completion certificate. In Dubai that is one of the planning authorities the DLD lists in its frequently asked questions: Dubai Municipality, the Dubai Development Authority, the Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority, Trakhees and Dubai South, depending on where the project is.
The developer's planned handover date in your contract is a target, not this certificate. On the Homes.me catalog, as imported on Nov 1, 2026, 100 Dubai projects listed a handover in November or December 2026 and 326 more in 2027. Those are the developers' own dates, and dates can move; your sale agreement says what happens if they do. You can browse the Dubai projects due by 2027, and the DLD's project status service shows a registered project's completion percentage.
When do you get your title deed?
Once the project is complete and you have paid what your contract asks. Law No. 13 of 2008 on the interim register says in Article 8 that developers must enter completed projects in the DLD's Property Register once they receive the completion certificate, including registering sold units in the names of buyers "who fulfilled their contractual obligations". The DLD may also do it itself, at the buyer's request or on its own initiative, provided the buyer has met those obligations.
The DLD's frequently asked questions put it the same way: units that have been fully paid for move from the initial register to the Real Estate Registry, and the title deed is issued to the buyer. Until then your purchase is the interim registration (Oqood) you received when you bought, which Article 6 of the same law lets you sell or mortgage.
On cost, the same FAQ lists a fee of AED 540 per unit when a unit is registered for the first time, made up of the title deed, the map and two small DLD fees. That is a registration fee, not a second 4% transfer fee: the 4% was paid when your purchase was first registered. Ask your developer whether it or you pays the AED 540 and any of its own handover charges, and confirm the current figures with the DLD, since fees change.
If your plan has payments after handover, ask the developer in writing when your title deed will be issued: the law ties it to meeting your contractual obligations, and a mortgage or a post-handover balance can change the order of steps.
What is snagging?
A snag is anything in the home that is unfinished, damaged or not working as it should. Snagging is the inspection you, or an inspector you hire, carry out before signing the handover papers, to list those snags so the developer fixes them. Developers usually invite buyers to a handover appointment once the final payment is settled; how much time you get and how you report snags is set by your developer and your contract, not by one Dubai-wide rule.
Things worth checking:
- Walls, floors and ceilings: cracks, uneven or hollow-sounding tiles, paint, damp marks.
- Doors and windows: that they close and lock, seals, glass, balcony doors.
- Plumbing: water pressure, hot water, leaks under sinks, shower and bath drainage.
- Electrical: every switch and socket, the lights, the distribution board.
- Air conditioning: that each room cools, the thermostat, noise, drainage.
- Kitchen and fittings: cabinets, worktops and the appliances your contract lists.
- Area and parking: the unit's area against your contract, and the parking space allocated to you.
Write every snag down with a photo, send the list to the developer in writing and keep the reply. A list made at handover is the clearest record of what was wrong before you moved in.
What if the home is smaller than in the contract?
The DLD's frequently asked questions answer it directly:
- If the unit is larger than the area agreed in the sale contract, the extra net area is not counted, and the developer may not charge you for it unless the contract expressly says otherwise.
- If the unit is smaller, the developer must compensate you for a decrease of more than 5% of the unit's net area.
So check the final area on your title deed or the developer's handover documents against your contract, and raise any difference before you sign.
Your parking space is part of your home. Article 10 of Law No. 6 of 2019 says the car parks designated to a unit are an integral part of it, may not be sold separately, and must be registered in the owner's name with the unit.
Who fixes defects after you move in?
The developer, for set periods. Article 40 of Law No. 6 of 2019 sets them for homes in jointly owned buildings:
| Defect | Liable for | Counted from |
|---|---|---|
| Structural | 10 years | Completion certificate |
| Installations | 1 year | Your handover |
Installations here means what the law lists: mechanical and electrical works, sanitary and sewerage installations, and similar installations.
Three more rules in the same article matter:
- If you do not take possession of your unit, for any reason, the one-year period runs from the completion certificate instead of from handover. Delaying your handover can shorten the time you have.
- The law adds to your other rights. Nothing in it takes away rights or warranties you have against the developer under other laws, and the ten-year liability is subject to the federal rules on contracting.
- A contract cannot cut these periods. Any agreement made after the law came into force that contradicts the article is null and void.
There is money set aside for this too. Under Article 14 of Dubai's escrow law, Law No. 8 of 2007, the escrow agent keeps back 5% of the project account after completion. The DLD's frequently asked questions explain that it is held for one year as a guarantee that the developer or contractor deals with defects found at completion or appearing within a year of handover.
Report a defect in writing as soon as you find it, and well inside the year for installations. If the developer does not deal with it, take legal advice: these periods are what the law gives you.
What do you start paying at handover?
Service charges and utilities. From handover you pay the building's yearly service charges, unless your contract gives you a waiver for a period, and if your handover is delayed by your own default you may owe them earlier. What are service charges in Dubai? covers that case, how they are set, how to look up a building's approved rate and what happens if they go unpaid. Add the figure to your yearly costs with the rental yield calculator on our tools page.
What should you do before handover?
- Read the handover section of your sale agreement: the notice period, the final payment, any handover charges and what happens if the date moves.
- Settle the final payment into the project's escrow account named in your contract, and keep every receipt.
- Book a snagging inspection, yourself or with a professional, before you sign.
- Check the area and the parking against your contract.
- Send your snag list in writing and keep the developer's reply.
- Collect your title deed and check the names, unit number and area on it.
- Diary the one-year date for installations, counted from your handover.
To compare projects nearing completion in Dubai, or in a community such as Dubai Harbour, browse the catalog or ask our AI advisor. For the earlier stages, read Can foreigners buy off-plan property in Dubai? and What if you miss off-plan payments in Dubai?