Landlord vs Tenant: Who Pays for Property Maintenance in Dubai?

Key Takeaways

• By law, the landlord is responsible for property maintenance in Dubai unless the tenancy contract says otherwise. That default comes from Article 16 of Dubai Law No. 26 of 2007.
• Because the law lets both parties "agree otherwise", the contract usually decides the reality, and most Ejari contracts split repairs by cost.
• The common split is a value threshold, often around AED 500. Minor repairs below it fall to the tenant, major repairs above it stay with the landlord.
• Tenant misuse is always the tenant's cost, whatever the threshold. A blocked drain from negligence isn't a landlord repair.
• Utility bills (DEWA) are the tenant's responsibility. Building service charges are the owner's.
• An annual maintenance contract is how many Dubai landlords remove the argument entirely, by pre-agreeing who fixes what before anything breaks.

‍

The Rule Everyone Argues About

By default, the landlord pays for property maintenance in Dubai. Article 16 of Dubai Law No. 26 of 2007 makes the landlord responsible for maintenance and for repairing any defect that affects the tenant's use of the property, unless both parties agree otherwise in the tenancy contract. And that last clause is where almost every real-world dispute begins.

The AC dies in July. A pipe starts leaking. The paint blisters. And within the hour, landlord and tenant are pointing at each other across a WhatsApp thread.

Here's the thing most guides skip. The law gives you a starting point, not the final answer. Your contract can move the line, and in Dubai it almost always does. So knowing the legal default is only half of what protects you. The other half is reading what you actually signed.

We maintain properties for landlords, tenants and managing agents across Dubai, so we see these disagreements from every side. Let's sort out who really pays for what.

‍

What the Law Actually Says

Start with the source, because a lot of confident advice online gets it slightly wrong.

Dubai Law No. 26 of 2007 regulates the landlord and tenant relationship, and it was later amended by Law No. 33 of 2008. The maintenance rule sits in Article 16. The official text states that unless otherwise agreed, the landlord is responsible during the lease for the property's maintenance works and for repairing any defect or damage that affects the tenant's intended use of the property.

Read that carefully and two things jump out.

First, the landlord's duty is broad. It covers the systems that make a home usable, and it runs from the first day of the tenancy to the last. Second, and this is the part people miss, the whole thing is switchable. Those two words, "unless otherwise agreed", mean the parties are free to write a different arrangement into the contract, and a signed contract term will generally govern over the default.

So what happens in practice?

Nearly every Ejari-registered tenancy contract in Dubai does agree otherwise. Rather than leaving the landlord liable for every washer and lightbulb, contracts split maintenance into two buckets and hand the small stuff to the tenant.

‍

The Split That Actually Runs Dubai Rentals

Most tenancy contracts divide repairs by cost, using a value threshold.

The figure you'll see most often is around AED 500, though it isn't fixed in law and varies from contract to contract. Some set it at AED 200, some higher. Whatever the number, the logic is the same.

Minor repairs, below the threshold, are the tenant's responsibility. Changing a tap washer, replacing a light fitting, unblocking a sink, small day-to-day upkeep. The kind of thing that costs less than a nice dinner and doesn't need a landlord's sign-off.

Major repairs, above the threshold, stay with the landlord. A failed AC compressor, a burst pipe, an electrical fault in the distribution board, anything structural. The expensive, system-level failures that protect the value of the asset.

But cost isn't the only test, and this is where people trip up.

Wear and tear versus misuse

The threshold decides who pays based on price. There's a second question underneath it: who caused the problem?

If a component fails through normal wear and tear, it follows the threshold rule above. If it fails because someone misused it, the tenant pays regardless of cost. A drain blocked by grease and hair is a tenant problem even if clearing it runs past AED 500. An AC that dies because filters were never cleaned can become a tenant argument too.

Fair wear and tear is the landlord's. Damage and neglect are the tenant's. The contract sets the price line. Cause sets everything else.

‍

Two Bills That Are Never in Doubt

Some things don't need a threshold because the answer is always the same.

Utility bills belong to the tenant. Electricity and water run through DEWA, and every occupied home in Dubai needs an active DEWA account in the occupier's name. When your Ejari is registered, DEWA activates the account and the tenant pays the security deposit and the ongoing bills. That's the tenant's cost, full stop.

Building service charges belong to the owner. The fees that fund lift maintenance, common-area cleaning, chiller upkeep and the building's shared systems are paid by the property owner, not the tenant. A landlord who tries to pass service charges onto a tenant is on shaky ground.

One quiet detail worth knowing. That housing fee on your DEWA bill, calculated at 5% of annual rent? DEWA collects it on Dubai Municipality's behalf. It's the occupier who pays it, bundled into the monthly bill.

‍

Villas Change the Picture

Here's an angle most landlord-tenant guides gloss over, and it matters more than the threshold for a lot of people.

The AED 500 rule was built with apartments in mind. A flat has a managing association handling the building's bones, so the split is relatively clean. A villa is a different animal, because the tenant is often living in a property where nobody else maintains anything.

No association. No shared maintenance fund. Just a house with its own AC units, its own water tank, its own booster pump, its own garden and sometimes its own pool, and a contract that may or may not say who looks after all of it.

Villa tenancy contracts vary a lot on this. Some make the tenant responsible for routine servicing up to the threshold, which on a villa adds up fast. Others keep the landlord on the hook for the mechanical systems and hand the tenant only the cosmetic bits. If you're renting or letting a villa, the maintenance clause deserves a proper read, not a glance.

This is one reason many villa landlords in Dubai attach an annual maintenance contract for villas to the tenancy. It fixes the servicing question before anyone moves in.

‍

How the Smart Landlords Remove the Argument Entirely

Want to know what the experienced landlords and managing agents do? They stop relying on the threshold to sort itself out after something breaks, and they decide the whole thing in advance.

An annual maintenance contract does that. Instead of a mid-summer standoff over whether a AED 700 AC repair is "major" and whose fault the breakdown was, the property is on a plan that services the systems on a schedule and covers agreed repairs from day one. The argument never starts, because the answer was written down before the tenant collected the keys.

For a landlord, that protects the asset and keeps tenants happy, which protects the tenancy. For a tenant, it means faster fixes and no chasing a landlord who's overseas and slow to reply. Both sides win, which is rare in this particular debate.

At GeeM, every plan starts with a free property inspection, so the cover matches what the property actually needs rather than a generic package. Behind it sit directly employed, certified technicians, priority 24/7 emergency support, and one team that keeps the property's maintenance history from one visit to the next. Landlords with several units tend to prefer our maintenance cover for apartments across a portfolio, while managing agents lean on facilities and property maintenance contracts for whole buildings.

Whatever the property, the point is the same. Decide who fixes what before it breaks, not after.

‍

When It Goes Wrong: Where Disputes Land

If landlord and tenant genuinely can't agree, Dubai has a formal route. Maintenance disputes are among the most common cases at the Rental Dispute Settlement Centre, which handles disagreements under the tenancy law.

A few things help before it ever reaches that point. Put every request in writing, keep the timeline, and photograph the problem. A tenant who reported a fault in writing and gave reasonable time to fix it stands on much firmer ground than one relying on a phone call nobody remembers. Same for a landlord who kept records of what was serviced and when.

Documentation is boring right up until the moment it's the only thing that matters.

‍

The Short Version

The landlord carries the legal default. The contract usually shifts the small repairs to the tenant, typically around a AED 500 line. Misuse is always the tenant's cost. Utilities are the tenant's, service charges are the owner's, and villas need a closer read than flats.

And the cleanest way to avoid the whole fight? Agree it up front, ideally with a maintenance plan that spells out who does what before a single thing breaks.

‍

Sort Your Property Maintenance Before the Next Dispute

Whether you're a landlord protecting an asset or a tenant who wants faster fixes, we can help you put the right cover in place. We'll arrange a free inspection, assess exactly what the property needs, and give you a clear quote with the coverage explained upfront, for apartments, villas and whole buildings across Dubai.

Talk to our team or call us toll free on 800 4336. Bring your tenancy contract if you have one and we'll help you work out where the maintenance line actually sits.

Disclaimer: This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. Tenancy rights and maintenance obligations in Dubai depend on your specific contract and on current legislation, which can be amended. AC, plumbing and electrical work must be carried out by suitably licensed and approved professionals. For a binding interpretation of your rights, refer to the official Dubai tenancy law or seek advice from a qualified professional or the Rental Dispute Settlement Centre.

‍

Frequently Asked Questions