Licences & changes
The industrial licence
For manufacturing and processing. The licence is the easy part — the plot, the environmental approval, the civil defence clearance and the power connection are what actually determine the timeline.
What it covers
What this licence actually permits.
An industrial licence permits manufacturing, processing, assembly and packaging — activities that transform inputs into a different product. It requires industrial premises rather than an office: a plot, a warehouse or a pre-built factory unit in an area zoned for the purpose. Beyond the licensing authority itself, an industrial project typically needs environmental approval, civil defence clearance, municipality approvals for the building and its use, and a sufficiently sized power and water connection.
Those parallel approvals are the whole timeline. A trading licence issues in days and an industrial project runs in months, because the constraint is never the licence — it is the plot, the environmental assessment for the specific process, the fire and safety design for the specific materials, and the utility load for the specific machinery. Each of these is assessed against what you are actually doing rather than against a category, which means the answers cannot be obtained generically in advance. Industrial free zones such as KEZAD, Hamriyah and JAFZA exist precisely to compress this by handling much of it as a serviced offering.
At a glance
- Covers
- Manufacturing, processing, assembly, packaging
- Premises
- Industrial-zoned plot, warehouse or pre-built factory
- Environmental approval
- Assessed against the specific process
- Civil defence
- Fire and safety design for the specific materials
- Utilities
- Power and water load, which drives connection lead time
- Realistic timeline
- Months, driven by approvals rather than the licence
What it costs
The procedure
What the amendment involves.
- Choose the zone before the plotIndustrial free zones handle much of the approval burden as a serviced offering, which is most of what you are paying for.
- Get environmental screening earlyIt is assessed against your actual process and can change the plot requirement entirely.
- Design for civil defence from the startRetrofitting fire and safety design after the fit-out has begun is the expensive version.
- Confirm the utility load and lead timePower connection for industrial loads is frequently the longest single item on the schedule.
- Plan labour accommodation and quotaIndustrial licences carry labour-heavy quota requirements and often an accommodation obligation.
Related
Questions
Manufacturing, processing, assembly and packaging — activities that transform inputs into a different product.
Months rather than weeks. The licence is quick; the environmental, civil defence, municipality and utility approvals are not.
KEZAD, Hamriyah, JAFZA and the industrial areas of the northern emirates are the established options, each with different port access and cost.
For most industrial processes, yes, and it is assessed against your specific process rather than the category.
One question
What are you actually trying to change?
Name, activity, manager or address — each is a formal amendment with its own fee, and most require a fresh MOA addendum before the licence is reprinted. Bundling several amendments into one submission usually costs less and takes no longer than doing them one at a time.
How amendments runOr just ask usShare transfers are notarised, not administrative. Every shareholder signs or is represented under an attested power of attorney, the bank has to be told, and the UBO register updates within days rather than at the next renewal.
Transferring sharesOr just ask usThen do it properly rather than letting the licence lapse. An abandoned company accrues renewal penalties, immigration liabilities and a corporate tax deregistration fine, and it blocks the shareholders from clean incorporations later.
Closing down cleanlyOr just ask us