For apartment and townhouse owners who want to know who actually controls their building: how the owners committee is appointed, the powers it does and does not have, who hires and fires the management company, and where a dispute goes when nothing else works.

An owners committee in Dubai has a maximum of nine members, and they are appointed by RERA rather than elected by the owners. The committee reviews budgets, relays complaints and can ask RERA to replace the management company in a Category 3 project, but it has no legal personality and cannot manage the building itself. Every dispute under the law goes to the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre, which holds exclusive jurisdiction.

This guide works from Dubai Law No. 6 of 2019 Concerning Ownership of Jointly Owned Real Property, which came into force on 18 November 2019 and repealed Law No. 27 of 2007. It is the governance companion to our guide on how Dubai service charges are regulated and how to challenge them: that one is about the money, this one is about who decides how it is spent.

The Change Most Owners Missed: Associations Are Gone

If you bought before 2020, or bought from someone who did, you may still hear the building’s management referred to as an owners association. That structure no longer exists in Dubai law. Law 27 of 2007 created owners associations as legal entities that could hold rights, contract and sue. Article 51 of the 2019 law repealed it.

Article 49 transferred the rights and obligations of the former owners associations to management entities, and Article 48 gave existing developments six months from the effective date to comply. What replaced the association is a split: a management entity that runs the building and holds the contracts, and an owners committee that has a voice but no legal personality of its own.

Do owners associations still exist in Dubai?

No. Dubai Law No. 6 of 2019 repealed Law No. 27 of 2007 and abolished owners associations as legal entities. Their rights and obligations transferred to management entities. What owners have now is an owners committee of up to nine RERA-appointed members with oversight and recommendation powers, not a body that can contract, sue or manage.

Three Categories, Three Different Answers to “Who Runs This Building”

Article 18 sorts every jointly owned development into one of three categories, and the category determines who appoints the manager. This is the single most useful thing to establish about your own building, because it decides how much leverage owners actually have.

Category What it covers Who manages Who can replace the manager
Category 1 Major Projects, designated as such under criteria approved by the DLD Director General The developer, which may delegate to a management company with RERA approval The DLD chief executive, where the developer is found incompetent
Category 2 Hotel Projects: jointly owned units in a property licensed as a hotel establishment A hotel project management company the developer must appoint, under rules set by the Director General The DLD chief executive, where the manager is found incompetent
Category 3 All other jointly owned projects A specialized management company selected and contracted by RERA RERA, after a written warning procedure and a 30-day transition period

The decision point here is worth stating plainly. If you own in a Category 3 building, your committee has a direct route to change the manager, because RERA appointed it in the first place and Article 24 lets the committee request a replacement. If you own in a Category 1 major project, the developer holds management rights and the only removal route runs through a finding of incompetence at DLD chief executive level. That is a much higher bar, and it explains why owner frustration in large master developments so often has nowhere obvious to go.

How the Owners Committee Is Actually Formed

Two thresholds have to be met before a committee exists at all. At least 10 percent of the total units in the development must be registered on the Real Property Register in the names of their respective owners, and RERA then appoints the members.

Appointment, not election, is the part that surprises people. The committee has a maximum of nine members, including the chairman and vice chairman. To be eligible, a member must have full legal capacity, be an owner resident in the property, be of good character, be current on all charges, and actively participate in meetings. A developer may sit on the committee only where it still holds unsold units.

Two of those conditions do real work. The residence requirement excludes the investor owner who never lives in the building, which in a heavily buy-to-let tower can exclude most of the owners. And the requirement to be current on charges means an owner in a service charge dispute is, by definition, ineligible to sit on the body that reviews the budget. Whether that is a sensible integrity rule or a structural weakness depends on which side of the dispute you are on, and the law does not soften it.

How are owners committee members chosen in Dubai?

RERA appoints them, up to a maximum of nine including the chairman and vice chairman. A committee can only be constituted once at least 10 percent of the units are registered to their owners. Members must have full legal capacity, reside in the property, be of good character, be current on all charges, and participate actively in meetings.

What the Committee Can Do, and What It Cannot

Article 24 sets out the committee’s functions, and the verbs matter more than the topics. The committee verifies, reviews, discusses, receives, relays, requests, notifies, coordinates and proposes. It does not decide, contract, spend or manage.

  • Verify that the management entity is complying with the law and the regulations issued under it.
  • Review the annual maintenance budget, which is the committee’s main point of financial influence.
  • Discuss obstacles facing the management entity and submit recommendations.
  • Receive owner complaints and relay them to the management entity, with escalation to RERA if they are not addressed within 14 days.
  • Request that RERA replace the management entity, in Category 3 projects.
  • Notify the authorities of structural defects or urgent repairs.
  • Coordinate on safety and environmental matters.
  • Propose changes to the use of common parts or amendments to the building management regulation.

Meetings run quarterly, four times a year, with the first held within 30 days of the committee being constituted. A meeting is valid when a majority of members attend and either the chairman or the vice chairman is present. Each member has one vote regardless of how many units they own, which stops a large owner from dominating the committee, and the chairman breaks ties.

The 14-day escalation is the most actionable thing in the whole article for an individual owner. A complaint that goes to the committee and is not dealt with by the management entity within 14 days becomes a matter the committee can put in front of RERA. Put your complaint in writing to the committee, date it, and keep the copy, because the clock only exists if you can prove when it started.

The Money: Two Separate Accounts, Two Sets of Rules

Service charges and usage charges are not the same thing and do not sit in the same account, which is why owners in master communities often receive what look like two bills for the same thing.

Under Article 30, the management entity must deposit service charge collections into a bank account within seven working days. The account funds cleaning, security, maintenance, repair and improvement of the common parts, insurance, audit fees, the management company’s own fees, and in major projects the developer’s administrative costs. Emergency cash reserves sit in a separate account, and using that money for anything other than an emergency requires RERA approval.

Under Article 31, the master developer deposits usage charges within seven working days and any commercial profits within 10 days. Those funds maintain the common facilities across the master community, and the developer may apply a portion to repairs of developer-owned areas that are publicly accessible, again with RERA approval.

Owners pay a proportional share, calculated on the ratio of the area of their unit to the total area of the jointly owned property. Non-payment has teeth: once charges remain unpaid 30 days after written notice, they become enforceable by the execution judge at the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre, and the unit can be sold at auction to recover the debt. Our guide to reviewing and challenging a Dubai service charge covers the arithmetic and the grounds for objecting before it gets to that point.

The Documents That Bind You, and Where They Live

The building management regulation is the rulebook for your development: what the common parts are, how they may be used, what owners may and may not do inside and outside their units. In major and hotel projects the developer issues it, and it must be approved by RERA before any legal disposition of the units. Where a property has no regulation, RERA issues one.

Two features of that document are easy to miss. It is filed with the Land Department and forms part of the title deed, which means it runs with the property and binds every future buyer whether or not they read it. And amendments that affect purchasers’ rights require RERA approval, so a developer cannot rewrite the community rules unilaterally.

Article 4 establishes a Jointly Owned Real Property Register maintained by the DLD. It records the land plot details, unit ownership, the owners committee members, the building management regulations and plans, the management entity and its contract, statements of the common parts area, and details of developer-owned areas. That register is the authoritative answer to which category your building is, who the management entity is and what the common parts actually include. Check it against your title deed before you rely on a developer’s brochure. Our guide to verifying a Dubai title deed covers the lookup process.

Where can I find the rules that govern my Dubai building?

In the building management regulation, issued by the developer for major and hotel projects and by RERA where none exists. It is approved by RERA, filed with the Dubai Land Department and forms part of the title deed, so it binds every subsequent owner. Amendments affecting purchasers’ rights need RERA approval.

When the Management Entity Fails

RERA holds the enforcement powers, and Article 33 lists them. It may inspect the jointly owned property, the common parts and the common facilities. It may record violations and issue compliance notices with a deadline for remediation. It may audit the service charge and usage charge accounts and appoint certified auditors to do it. It may consider complaints about management, maintenance or repairs, and it may audit third-party contracts for maintenance, security, cleaning and insurance.

Article 35 goes further: where management fails, RERA may order the necessary repairs itself and appoint a replacement entity, debiting the cost to the relevant charge account. Replacement of a Category 3 management company under Articles 37 and 38 follows a written warning procedure and a 30-day transition period.

What actually happens in practice is slower than the text suggests, because each step depends on a complaint being filed and documented. The audit power over third-party contracts is the most underused of these, and it is the one worth invoking when a service charge budget shows a maintenance or security contract that looks unreasonable. Ask the committee to put an audit request to RERA rather than arguing the number with the management company.

Where Disputes Go

Article 42 gives the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine all disputes relating to rights and obligations under this law. That is a deliberate change from the previous position and it removes the argument about forum: a jointly owned property dispute in Dubai does not start in the Court of First Instance.

It also means the same body handles service charge recovery against you and your complaint about the building. The filing process, the fee structure and the documentation the center expects are covered in our guide to the RERA and RDSC complaint process in Dubai.

One limitation worth stating: this law and this forum apply to the emirate of Dubai. Abu Dhabi runs its own jointly owned property framework, and the northern emirates differ again. Do not carry a Dubai answer about committees or the RDSC across an emirate border.

What to Check Before You Buy Into a Jointly Owned Building

  1. The category. Ask whether the development is a major project, a hotel project or neither. It decides whether owners have a realistic route to change the manager.
  2. Whether a committee exists at all. If fewer than 10 percent of units are registered to individual owners, there is no committee, and in an early-stage development there may not be one for years.
  3. The building management regulation. Read it before exchange, not after. It forms part of the title deed and you inherit it.
  4. The service charge history and the reserve fund position. A thin emergency reserve on an aging tower is a future special levy, and the fund can only be spent on non-emergencies with RERA approval.
  5. Outstanding charges on the unit. Unpaid charges are enforceable through the execution judge against the property, which makes them the seller’s problem only until they become yours.
  6. Whether the developer still holds unsold units. That determines whether it sits on the committee and how much of the service charge burden it carries.

For a hotel project in particular, understand that the management company is imposed by the structure and the developer must outsource to it. If your investment case depends on controlling operating costs, a Category 2 building is the wrong structure for it. Our comparison of short-term and long-term rental models in Dubai covers the income side of that decision.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can owners vote out their building’s management company in Dubai?

Not directly. In a Category 3 project the owners committee may request that RERA replace the management entity, and RERA does so after a written warning procedure and a 30-day transition period. In Category 1 and Category 2 projects, replacement of an incompetent developer or hotel manager is a decision for the DLD chief executive. Owners have no independent power of removal in any category.

How many people sit on a Dubai owners committee?

A maximum of nine, including the chairman and vice chairman, all appointed by RERA. The committee elects its own chairman. Each member has one vote regardless of how many units they own, and the chairman has the casting vote.

Can I join my building’s owners committee if I rent my apartment out?

No. Article 22 requires committee members to be owners resident in the property, alongside full legal capacity, good character, being current on all charges, and active participation in meetings. A non-resident investor owner is ineligible even though they pay the service charges.

What can I do if the management company ignores my complaint?

Put the complaint in writing to the owners committee, which is required to receive owner complaints and relay them to the management entity. If it is not addressed within 14 days, the committee can escalate it to RERA. Keep the dated copy, because the escalation window depends on being able to show when the complaint was made.

What happens if I do not pay my Dubai service charges?

Charges unpaid 30 days after written notice become enforceable by the execution judge at the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre, and the unit may be sold at auction to recover the amount. Your share is calculated as the ratio of your unit area to the total area of the jointly owned property.

Who audits the service charge account?

RERA has the power under Article 33 to audit both service charge and usage charge accounts and to engage certified auditors to do it, as well as to audit third-party maintenance, security, cleaning and insurance contracts. Audit fees themselves are a permitted use of the service charge account under Article 30.

What is the difference between service charges and usage charges?

Service charges are collected by the management entity for the common parts of your building and are deposited within seven working days. Usage charges are collected by the master developer for common facilities across the wider community, deposited within seven working days, with commercial profits deposited within 10 days. They fund different things and sit in different accounts.

Can a developer change the rules of my building after I buy?

Not unilaterally where the change affects purchasers’ rights. The building management regulation is approved by RERA before any disposition of units, and amendments affecting purchaser rights require RERA approval. The regulation is filed with the Land Department and forms part of the title deed.

Where do I file a jointly owned property dispute in Dubai?

At the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre, which Article 42 gives exclusive jurisdiction over all disputes relating to rights and obligations under Law No. 6 of 2019. That covers both a management entity pursuing you for unpaid charges and your own complaint about the management of the building.

Does this law apply outside Dubai?

No. Law No. 6 of 2019 is an emirate-level law applying in Dubai. Abu Dhabi operates its own jointly owned property regime, and the northern emirates differ again. The committee structure, the RERA powers and the RDSC forum described here should not be assumed to apply elsewhere in the UAE.

Official Sources

This guide is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Information is current as of August 2026. Law No. 6 of 2019 is supplemented by directions and regulations issued by the DLD Director General and by RERA, some of which are not published as standalone legal texts, so operational detail such as the criteria for designating a major project can change without a change to the law itself. Article numbers and quoted wording follow the English text published by the Government of Dubai Legal Affairs Department, which is a translation. This law applies in the emirate of Dubai only; Abu Dhabi and the northern emirates operate separate jointly owned property regimes. Consult a Dubai-licensed lawyer before acting on a service charge dispute or a challenge to a management entity.