Licensable activity
Real estate
Brokerage, property management, owners' association management, valuation and development. Buying and holding property for your own account is not this activity — that is a holding company question.
Classification
How it is coded.
UAE activity lists derive from ISIC Revision 4, the United Nations industrial classification. Each emirate's economic department and each free zone then extends that base with its own numbering, so the same activity carries a different code in Dubai than it does in Sharjah or inside DMCC.
- ISIC Rev. 4
- Section L — Real estate activities (division 68)
- Licence category
- Commercial, plus regulator registration
- Regulator
- RERA under Dubai Land Department · ADREC in Abu Dhabi
Approvals beyond the licence
- Brokerage
- RERA registration for the firm and a broker card for every individual agent. Both are required, and the agent card involves training and an examination.
- Property management
- Separate RERA registration from brokerage.
- Developers
- Escrow account requirements and project registration before any off-plan sale.
In practice
Real estate brokerage in Dubai is a mainland activity in practice. A free zone company generally cannot broker Dubai property, whatever the licence appears to permit.
Coverage
Where it can be licensed.
Of the 40 licensing authorities across the UAE, 6 issue licences covering this activity, spread across 3 of the seven emirates.