Defects liability period
The defects liability period is the time after completion during which the developer must repair faults: in Dubai, one year for installations and ten for structure.
What Defects liability period means for a buyer
A new home in the UAE comes with statutory protection against defects, in addition to anything the SPA promises. In Dubai the rules are in Article 40 of Law No. 6 of 2019 on jointly owned property, and they set two periods:
- Ten years for defects in the structural parts of the building, counted from the date of the project's completion certificate.
- One year for defective installations, meaning mechanical, electrical, plumbing, sanitary and similar works, counted from the date the unit is handed over to the owner. If an owner fails to take possession, the year runs from the completion certificate.
The one-year period is the one owners use most. It covers the faults that typically appear in the first seasons of occupation: air-conditioning problems, leaks, electrical faults, defective fittings. Report defects to the developer in writing with photographs, and keep the dated record so you can show the fault was raised inside the period. Wear and tear, and damage caused by a tenant or your own fit-out, are excluded.
Points to note. The ten-year structural period runs from completion of the building, not from the day you bought, so a resale buyer inherits only whatever remains. And the escrow retention of 5%, held for a year after completion, exists partly to make sure the developer honours these repairs.
Related terms
Guides that use this term
Where Defects liability period comes up in practice, with the costs, rules and steps around it.
Questions about the buying process?
An adviser can explain how this applies to the property you're considering.
- Current price list and availability, direct from the developer
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- One salaried adviser, not on commission, from first call to handover
