Consulting & professional services
How to start a security services company in the UAE
Private security is licensed by the emirate police — a separate and demanding approval on top of the trade licence, with vetting for both the company and every guard.
The market
What the sector actually looks like.
An expanding stock of buildings, malls, events and industrial facilities generates continuous demand for manned guarding, and the sector is tightly controlled by the emirate police rather than left to the market.
Figures on this page
Dubai recorded over 270,000 real estate transactions worth AED 917bn in 2025, up 20% year on year. By the end of 2025 there were 32,294 registered brokers and 2,285 brokerage offices; brokerage commissions reached AED 13.59bn, up 31%.
Dubai Land Department, 2025
How the business actually makes money
Guard-hours sold against fully loaded guard cost, with margin narrower than most service businesses because pricing is competitive and cost is largely fixed by regulation — training, licensing and accommodation are not optional. Contract length is the compensating advantage: security contracts run for years, giving revenue visibility few service businesses match.
Why here
Regional advantages
Police licensing limits competition
Approval is demanding and not everyone gets it, which protects licensed operators substantially.
Long contract terms
Multi-year contracts give unusual revenue predictability.
Growing built stock
Every new building, mall and facility is a potential contract.
And the other side
Regional disadvantages
Police approval is the real barrier
Company approval, guard licensing, training and background clearance. It is a genuine gate, not an administrative step.
Guard licensing before deployment
Guards must be individually licensed and trained. You cannot recruit and deploy quickly to win a contract.
Thin margins on competitive tenders
Facility management tenders are price-driven and the cost base is largely fixed by regulation.
Why this is different
Not just consulting & professional services.
Police approval is the real gate, and it is not administrative. Guards require individual licensing, training and security clearance.
Approvals beyond the trade licence
Mainland licence, emirate police security services permit, individual guard licensing and training certification, and background clearance for management.
Where to license it
The consulting & professional services activity in full · The general setup guide
Questions
A mainland licence plus a security services permit from the emirate police, with individual licensing, training and background clearance for every guard and for management.
No. Guards cannot be licensed for a company that is not itself approved, so the sequence is company approval first.
Margins are thin because the cost base is largely fixed by regulation, but contracts are long and revenue is unusually predictable.
One question
Who will be paying your invoices?
Advisory to overseas investors can work from a free zone. Brokerage cannot — RERA registration and a mainland licence are required to broker Dubai property, whatever a free zone licence appears to permit.
Compare the two routesOr just ask usThen it is mainland with RERA registration, plus an individual broker card for every agent. Both renew annually and agents lapse theirs more often than firms lapse the licence.
Compare the two routesOr just ask usAdvisory and brokerage are different licences even when the same person does both. Splitting them properly is cheaper than explaining the overlap to a regulator.
Answer five questions insteadOr just ask us