The Jointly Owned Property Declaration no longer exists in Dubai law. Law No. 6 of 2019 repealed Law No. 27 of 2007 and replaced the single declaration with four documents that, under Article 6, “constitute part of the title deed of Jointly Owned Real Property”: the Plans, the Master Community Declaration, the Statute, and the Building Management Regulation. The developer must file them with the Dubai Land Department within 60 days of receiving the completion certificate.
If a broker, a contract or an old service charge notice still refers to a JOPD, that is a document from a repealed regime. This guide explains what replaced it, what each of the four documents binds you to, how to get copies from DLD’s register, who is legally responsible for managing your building under the three-category system, and what an Owners Committee can and cannot do.
What Happened to the Jointly Owned Property Declaration
Law 27 of 2007 was repealed outright by Article 51(a) of Law 6 of 2019, which came into force 60 days after its publication, having been issued on 4 September 2019. The term “declaration” survives only in the phrase Master Community Declaration, which is a different instrument covering a whole master development rather than a single building.
There is an important carve-out. Article 51(b) provides that the bylaws, regulations and resolutions issued in implementation of Law 27 of 2007 “will continue in force, to the extent that they do not contradict this Law, until new superseding bylaws, regulations, and resolutions are issued.” That is why the older Directions still get cited: parts of them remain operative. But they survive as subordinate instruments under the new law, not as the JOPD regime, and any provision that conflicts with Law 6 of 2019 is gone.
The practical consequence for a buyer is that asking a seller or developer for “the JOPD” invites a shrug. Ask instead for the Building Management Regulation and, if the property sits inside a master community, the Master Community Declaration.
The Four Documents That Replaced It
Article 6(a) makes the Plans, the Master Community Declaration, the Statute and the Building Management Regulation part of the title deed itself, and requires DLD to keep an original copy of each. They are not annexes to your contract; they are attached to your ownership.
| Document | What it governs | Who issues it |
|---|---|---|
| Building Management Regulation | The procedures for maintaining common parts, including equipment and services located in any part of another building, and the percentages of owners’ contribution to those costs | The developer for major projects and hotel projects, approved by RERA. RERA itself for everything else that has none |
| Master Community Declaration | The conditions governing development and operation of a master project, the jointly owned property and common facilities within it, including planning and construction standards | The master developer, approved by RERA, before any legal disposition of land, buildings or units |
| Statute | The rules governing the Owners Committee | Established and approved under the Law |
| Plans | The site and master plans that fix what is a unit, what is a common part, what is a designated common part and what is a developer-owned area | Filed by the developer; DLD issues and updates the maps of common parts and common facilities |
The distinction between common parts, designated common parts and developer-owned areas is not a technicality. Designated common parts are defined as parts “designated for exclusive use by certain Owners rather than others,” and developer-owned areas are spaces on the plan that the developer owns and uses for private, commercial or investment purposes. A pool or a parking deck you assumed was yours may be either. The Plans settle it.
Do these documents bind tenants as well as owners?
Yes. Article 6(b) puts an occupant, defined to include an owner, a tenant or anyone the owner authorises to use the unit, under an obligation to the developer, the owner, the occupants of other units and the Owners Committee to comply with the Master Community Declaration, the Statute and the Building Management Regulation, to the extent their provisions apply. A landlord who never passes the building rules to a tenant has not removed the tenant’s obligation, and a tenant who has never seen them is still bound by them.
The 60-Day Filing Deadline
Article 6(c) requires a developer, on completing construction and obtaining the completion certificate from the competent authority, to file the Plans, Master Community Declaration, Statute and Building Management Regulation with DLD within 60 days of the date the completion certificate is issued. DLD may extend that by no more than 30 further days, and only where the developer gives valid reasons acceptable to DLD.
Two qualifications sit alongside it. Under Article 6(d) the obligation does not extend to the Building Management Regulation where RERA has prepared it. And under Article 6(e), where a developer misses the deadline, DLD may ask any entity it considers appropriate to file and maintain the documents instead, with the developer liable for all the expenses and costs incurred. The deadline is therefore enforced by substitution and cost recovery rather than by a fixed fine, which is worth knowing if you are chasing missing documents in a newly handed-over building.
If you are taking handover of an off-plan unit, this deadline is a useful marker to hold the developer to alongside the snagging process. Our guides to the off-plan handover process and snagging inspections cover the rest of that window, and the defects liability period covers what the developer owes you afterwards.
How to Get Copies: The Jointly Owned Real Property Register
DLD maintains a dedicated Jointly Owned Real Property Register, and Article 4(b) states plainly that “any interested party will have the right to access that register.” This is the mechanism most owners never use.
Article 4(a) lists what the register contains, and the list is more useful than it first looks:
- details of the land plots owned by developers on which jointly owned property is to be constructed
- details of units intended for individual ownership, and the names of their owners
- details of the members of Owners Committees
- Building Management Regulations
- Plans
- details of management entities
- the contracts for management of the jointly owned property or common parts
- a statement of the total area of common parts and designated common parts, and its ratio to the total area of units
- details of developer-owned areas
Two of those entries are worth a specific request. The management contract tells you what your management company is actually obliged to do, which is the document behind most service charge arguments. And the statement of common part area as a ratio to total unit area is the arithmetic behind your share of the costs. Under Article 4(b), DLD will issue certificates, deeds or other documents relating to units or jointly owned property on the request of concerned parties, based on the register. If a dispute follows, our guide to the RERA complaint process covers the escalation route, and Dubai service charges covers how the charges themselves are set and approved.
Who Actually Manages Your Building
Article 18 sorts every jointly owned property in Dubai into three categories, and the category decides who is legally responsible for the common parts. You do not choose it and neither does your building.
| Category | Who manages the common parts | Owners Committee |
|---|---|---|
| Category 1: Major Projects | The developer is responsible for management, operation, maintenance and repair of common parts and utility services, and may outsource to a management company under a RERA-approved agreement | Yes, members selected by RERA from owners residing in the property |
| Category 2: Hotel Projects | The developer must outsource management to a hotel project management company | Only if the hotel management company wishes it, and it “will not be authorised to participate in the management” |
| Category 3: everything else | A specialised management company selected and contracted by RERA | Yes, members appointed by RERA |
The Category 3 rule is the one that surprises people: in an ordinary building, your management company is contracted by the regulator, not by you or by an owners association. Where a Category 1 or Category 2 project has no developer, Article 18(d) has RERA appoint a management company. Where a property contains both a Category 2 and a Category 3 project, the common parts go to the hotel project management company and the whole property has a single RERA-appointed Owners Committee.
What an Owners Committee Is, and What It Is Not
An Owners Committee under Law 6 of 2019 is not an owners association with control of the budget. It has at most nine members, all appointed or selected by RERA, and it comes into existence only once at least 10 percent of the total units are registered in owners’ names.
Article 22 sets the composition for Category 1 and Category 3 projects at a maximum of nine members appointed by RERA, including the chairman and vice chairman. To sit on it, a member must be of full legal capacity, be an owner residing in the jointly owned property, be of good character and repute, and be paid up on service charges and usage charges. That last condition is enforceable and quietly excludes exactly the owners most likely to want a seat.
The shift from the pre-2019 owners association model to a RERA-appointed committee is the single largest change Law 6 of 2019 made to day-to-day building life. If you bought expecting a residents’ body that hires and fires the manager, that is not what the law provides.
Free Zones Are Inside This Law
Article 3 states that the Law applies to all master projects and jointly owned real property in the emirate, “including those in Special Development Zones and in free zones.”
That express inclusion matters because free zones in Dubai often run their own property and dispute regimes, and buyers reasonably assume a free zone development sits outside emirate-level real estate law. On jointly owned property it does not. The same register, the same four title deed documents, the same three management categories and the same Owners Committee rules apply. If you are buying in a free zone development, ask for the same documents you would ask for anywhere else in Dubai.
Common Parts Cannot Be Quietly Sold Off
Article 17 prohibits converting common parts into private property, subdividing them, or disposing of them in whole or in part independently of the units they pertain to, without the approval of both DLD and the competent authority. The prohibition applies “even if the building to which the Common Parts belong is under construction.”
Article 17(b) extends the same protection to common facilities: without prior DLD and competent authority approval, it is prohibited to dispose of them, or to utilise, alter, redesign or shut them down “in a manner that restricts their use by Owners.” That is the provision to cite when a gym becomes a leasing office or a shared terrace is fenced into a retail unit. Whether the developer obtained those approvals is a question of fact you can put to DLD.
What to Ask For Before You Buy
- The Building Management Regulation. It sets the maintenance procedures for common parts and the percentages of owner contribution. If nobody can produce it, ask whether RERA issued it, because for anything outside a major or hotel project RERA is the issuer.
- The Master Community Declaration, if the property sits in a master development. It carries the planning and construction standards, which is what governs whether your neighbour can build what they are proposing.
- The Plans. Establish which areas are common parts, which are designated common parts reserved for certain owners, and which are developer-owned areas that were never shared at all.
- The management contract, from the register. It defines what the management company owes the building, and it is listed in Article 4 as register content you can ask for.
- The common part area ratio, also from the register. This is the basis for your share of the service charge, and it is a published figure rather than a matter of negotiation.
- Confirmation the documents were filed on time. In a recently completed building, check whether the 60-day filing after the completion certificate actually happened, because missing documents in a new tower usually mean a management vacuum rather than a paperwork lag.
None of this replaces the ordinary purchase due diligence, which our guides to the Dubai property purchase process, the title deed and property valuation cover. And note that “jointly owned property” in this law means a building with shared parts, not two people buying together, which is a separate topic covered in joint ownership of Dubai property.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Jointly Owned Property Declaration still exist in Dubai?
No. Law No. 6 of 2019 repealed Law No. 27 of 2007 outright and the JOPD does not appear in the new law. It was replaced by four documents that Article 6 makes part of the title deed: the Plans, the Master Community Declaration, the Statute and the Building Management Regulation. Bylaws and resolutions issued under the 2007 law continue in force only to the extent they do not contradict the 2019 law.
What replaced the JOPD in Dubai?
The Building Management Regulation is the closest successor for an individual building. It is defined as a document prepared under DLD bylaws and entered in the Jointly Owned Real Property Register, stating the procedures for maintenance of common parts, including equipment and services in any part of another building, and the percentages of owners’ contribution to those costs. For master developments the Master Community Declaration carries the wider development and operation conditions.
Are the building rules part of my Dubai title deed?
Yes. Article 6(a) of Law 6 of 2019 provides that the Plans, Master Community Declaration, Statute and Building Management Regulation constitute part of the title deed of the jointly owned property, and DLD maintains an original copy of each. They attach to your ownership rather than sitting as annexes to a sale contract.
How do I get a copy of my building’s management regulation in Dubai?
Through DLD’s Jointly Owned Real Property Register. Article 4(a) lists Building Management Regulations, Plans, management entity details, management contracts and the common part area statement among the register’s contents, and Article 4(b) states that any interested party has the right to access the register and that DLD will issue related certificates, deeds or documents on the request of concerned parties.
How long does a developer have to file the building documents with DLD?
Sixty days from the date the completion certificate is issued by the competent authority. DLD may extend that by up to 30 further days where the developer gives valid reasons acceptable to DLD. If the developer misses the deadline, DLD may ask any entity it considers appropriate to file and maintain the documents, and the developer bears all the expenses and costs.
Who chooses the management company for a Dubai building?
It depends on the category. In a Category 1 major project the developer is responsible and may outsource to a management company under a RERA-approved agreement. In a Category 2 hotel project the developer must outsource to a hotel project management company. In Category 3, which covers every other project, the management company is selected and contracted by RERA rather than by the owners.
What powers does an Owners Committee have in Dubai?
Less than owners usually expect. Under Article 22 a committee has a maximum of nine members, all appointed or selected by RERA, and its duties are set by the Statute and by resolutions of the Director General rather than by the owners. In a hotel project a committee is formed only if the hotel management company wishes it, and the law states expressly that such a committee is not authorised to participate in the management of the project or its common parts.
When is an Owners Committee formed?
Once at least 10 percent of the total units of the jointly owned property are registered on the Real Property Register in their owners’ names. Members must be of full legal capacity, be owners residing in the property, be of good character and repute, and be paid up on their service charges and usage charges.
Does Dubai’s jointly owned property law apply in free zones?
Yes. Article 3 states that the Law applies to all master projects and jointly owned real property in the emirate, including those in Special Development Zones and in free zones. The register, the four title deed documents, the three management categories and the Owners Committee rules apply the same way inside a free zone development.
Can a developer sell off or close down shared facilities in a Dubai building?
Not without approvals. Article 17 bars converting common parts into private property, subdividing them or disposing of them independently of the units they pertain to without the approval of both DLD and the competent authority, and says this applies even while the building is under construction. Common facilities may not be disposed of, utilised, altered, redesigned or shut down in a way that restricts owners’ use without those prior approvals.
Official Sources
- Dubai Legislation Portal – Law No. 6 of 2019 Concerning Ownership of Jointly Owned Real Property in the Emirate of Dubai
- Dubai Legislation Portal – Law No. 6 of 2019 (PDF)
- Dubai Land Department
- Dubai Legislation Portal, The Supreme Legislation Committee in the Emirate of Dubai
Information is current as of August 2026. Limitations are stated rather than smoothed over. No fee is quoted for accessing the Jointly Owned Real Property Register or for obtaining copies of the four documents, because DLD does not publish one in a form we could verify; ask at a Real Estate Services Trustee centre or through Dubai REST. The criteria that decide whether a project counts as a Major Project under Category 1 are set by a resolution of the Director General which is referenced in the Law but not reproduced in it, so the category of a specific building is a question for RERA rather than one you can derive from the Law alone. The English text quoted here is the Dubai Legislation Portal’s own translation, which states that the original Arabic prevails in case of conflict. This article explains published rules and is not legal advice. Verify your position with the Dubai Land Department, RERA or a licensed practitioner before acting.
