Why building owners should read this law
Law No. (5) of 2025 Concerning Public Health in the Emirate of Dubai is a long law that covers communicable diseases, food safety, consumer products, student health, ports of entry and much more. Most news coverage focused on travellers and disease control. Yet three of its chapters speak directly to the people who own and run buildings in Dubai: built environment health, workers' accommodation health and public health pest control.
Those chapters set out what owners must do about water systems and tanks, indoor air quality, ventilation, cleaning and disinfection, periodic maintenance, swimming pools and fountains, sewerage, noise and lighting, and who is responsible for keeping buildings free of pests. They also set the penalties for violations, which can reach AED 1,000,000 and double for repeat offences.
This guide is based on the official English text of the law published on the Dubai Legislation Portal, read in the chapters relevant to buildings, accommodation and pest control together with the final provisions, and on Resolution No. (15) of 2026, which extended the deadline for the law's schedules of fees, violations and fines. Where the law leaves detail to later resolutions, the guide says so.
The law in brief
The law is cited as Law No. (5) of 2025 Concerning Public Health in the Emirate of Dubai, issued by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai. The English text gives the Hijri issue date as 9 Shawwal 1446, which corresponds to April 2025. Article (60) states that the law is published in the Official Gazette and comes into force ninety days after the date of its publication. The text notes that, in case of conflict, the Arabic version prevails.
The law covers public health domains including communicable and non-communicable diseases, family, individual and student health, mental health, ports of entry, food safety, consumer product safety, animal health, built environment health, environmental health, workers' accommodation health, tobacco control, public health pest control and burial. Article (59) repeals any provision in other legislation to the extent that it contradicts the law.
Who is responsible for buildings under the law
The law uses the term Responsible Entity for Dubai Municipality or the Dubai Environment and Climate Change Authority, as the case may be, according to their statutory functions. For built environment health, Article (32) makes the Responsible Entity the competent authority in the emirate for all matters related to built environment health.
Its duties include setting environmental and health requirements for the built environment, including building materials, the quality of water and indoor air, water systems and tanks, swimming pools, fountains, closed waterways, sewerage systems and their treatment, and permissible noise and lighting levels; inspecting, testing, calibrating and assessing systems, equipment and materials; setting controls for periodic maintenance; inspecting buildings and workers; collecting samples, including unannounced sampling; investigating complaints; and taking the measures needed to protect built environment health.
What counts as the built environment
The law defines the built environment broadly as the environment constructed for all purposes, excluding industrial purposes, related to human habitation and life, whether for work, worship, healthcare, transportation, recreation or similar purposes. It includes, without limitation, buildings, roads, bridges, tunnels, electricity and water systems including water tanks, waste transport and disposal systems, sewerage networks and other constructed elements.
The owner is defined as a person, or his legal representative, who owns or has actual control over the built environment or any part of it. In practice, this can include a landlord, a building owner, an owners association or whoever has actual control of the premises, depending on the situation.
Owner duties: water systems and tanks
Article (33) lists sixteen obligations for owners in the domain of built environment health. The first requires owners to comply with the environmental and health requirements and standards adopted by the Responsible Entity, including those relating to construction materials, indoor air quality, water systems and tanks, swimming pools, fountains, closed waterways, sewerage systems and their treatment methods, and permissible noise and lighting levels.
The second requires owners to conduct analysis of water samples, and samples and measurements of indoor air quality, according to the requirements and standards approved by the Responsible Entity. For building owners, this means water tank hygiene and water testing are not only good practice but part of a legal duty, in line with the standards that Dubai Municipality applies.
Owner duties: indoor air and ventilation
Article (33) requires owners to ensure that indoor air quality levels do not exceed unacceptable limits and to strive to maintain them according to the Responsible Entity's standards, to ensure ventilation of indoor air according to those standards, and to provide appropriate means to vent gaseous emissions, air-polluting vapours and heat generated by activities and facilities in the building.
Owners must also provide the tools, equipment, systems and technologies needed to ensure built environment health, including devices for measuring water quality and indoor air quality, and must not use materials whose emissions may pollute the built environment in a way harmful to human health. Air conditioning, ventilation, exhaust and duct systems are therefore at the centre of compliance.
Owner duties: cleaning, maintenance and response
Owners must perform cleaning and disinfection on a continuous basis within the built environment and its surroundings, respond immediately to any health risks or issues within the building, use and operate the building in a way that ensures built environment health, and carry out periodic maintenance so that the building continues to meet the approved environmental and health requirements.
They must not engage in any activity that may harm public health or the surrounding environment, must comply with the health, technical and regulatory conditions set by the Responsible Entity, must ensure their workers in the building complete approved training and qualification programmes, and must comply with conditions set by the Concerned Entities, including the Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services, and any other obligations those entities determine.
First aid in the built environment
Article (32) assigns the Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services responsibility for setting the standards and procedures for providing first aid services in the built environment, and for determining the responsibilities of owners, occupants and visitors of the sites and facilities in that environment to ensure their safety.
Owners should therefore expect first aid requirements to be defined by that authority, and Article (33) requires them to comply with its conditions and requirements. Keeping first aid provision accessible and maintained is a sensible step while those details are applied.
Environmental health activities need a permit
Article (35) states that no person may conduct an activity related to environmental health in the emirate without first obtaining an Environmental Health Permit, issued under conditions and procedures set by resolutions of the Director General of the Responsible Entity. The Responsible Entity specifies which activities require such a permit, sets conditions for premises, technical requirements for operation and workers, hygiene requirements, records and retention periods, and inspects and evaluates permitted establishments.
Under Article (36), environmental health establishments must comply with the law and their permit, meet technical requirements including for their workers, instruct visitors to follow health guidelines, carry out cleaning, disinfection and sterilisation including waste segregation and disposal, keep records and allow access to them, train their workers, provide data and cooperate with inspectors. Owners hiring service companies should check whether the service they are buying falls within a permitted activity.
Workers' accommodation: the authority's role
Chapter Fifteen deals with workers' accommodation, defined as a building, including its annexed service facilities, designated as residence for workers. Under Article (37), the Responsible Entity sets environmental and health conditions for accommodation, including building materials, indoor air quality, water systems, sewerage, noise and lighting; inspects, tests and evaluates systems and equipment; sets controls for periodic maintenance; and collects samples from water systems and indoor air.
It also issues approvals for occupancy after inspecting the accommodation and its facilities, specifies activities requiring a Workers Accommodation Health Permit and issues those permits, sets technical and cleanliness requirements, determines records and retention periods, assesses accommodation against its standards, and takes measures to bring non-conforming accommodation into compliance. The ambulance authority sets requirements for ambulance stations and emergency response in workers' accommodation.
Workers' accommodation: owner obligations
Article (38) requires the owner of workers' accommodation to comply with the Responsible Entity's environmental and health requirements, including construction materials, indoor air quality, water systems and tanks, sewerage and treatment, and noise and lighting levels; to have water samples tested; to use and operate the accommodation so that its health is maintained; and to ensure continuous cleaning and disinfection inside and around it, including dumping and disposal of waste in designated areas.
The owner must also avoid materials whose emissions may harm workers, keep indoor air quality within prescribed levels, ensure ventilation, provide means to vent emissions and heat, carry out periodic maintenance, avoid harmful activities, comply with the authority's conditions, provide tools and equipment including indoor air quality monitoring devices, and ensure staff complete approved training.
Companies that occupy workers' accommodation
Article (39) adds obligations for companies occupying workers' accommodation. They must comply with the law, resolutions and the conditions of their permit, meet technical requirements including those related to their workers, instruct visitors to follow health guidelines, carry out cleaning, disinfection and sterilisation including waste disposal according to the authority's standards, keep and manage records and allow access to them, ensure staff complete approved training, provide data and cooperate with inspectors.
In practice, health responsibilities in worker housing are shared between the owner of the building and the company occupying it. Agreements between them should state clearly who maintains water tanks and air systems, who cleans and disinfects, who manages waste and who keeps which records.
Pest control: no activity without a permit
Chapter Seventeen regulates public health pest control. Article (41) states that no person may practise any activity related to public health pest control in the emirate, including placing pesticides along the product chain, without first obtaining a Public Health Pest Control Permit, issued according to requirements and procedures set by a resolution of the Director General of the Responsible Entity.
Public health pests are defined as organisms that may harm humans or animals, act as vectors, hosts or transmitters of pathogens, or cause inconvenience to humans or damage their property. For owners, the practical rule is simple: pest control in Dubai must be carried out by the Responsible Entity or by a permitted public health pest control establishment.
What the authority controls in pest control
Article (42) gives the Responsible Entity wide powers: providing integrated pest control services using environmental, chemical, biological, mechanical, physical or other methods; specifying activities that need permits; issuing permits including for fumigation and termite control and for workers; setting conditions for pest control premises; registering pesticides; setting requirements for storage, transport and disposal of pesticide containers; and accrediting pest control establishments and workers.
It also tests pesticides, determines records and retention periods, inspects establishments and workers, issues permits for selling ready-to-use pesticides in retail outlets, takes preventive measures including seizing infested goods and closing storage until treated, seizes or destroys equipment used in violations, and investigates complaints. It coordinates with the Dubai Health Authority on diseases transmitted to humans by pests.
What pest control companies must do
Under Article (43), a public health pest control establishment must comply with the law and its permit; use pesticides registered with the relevant authority in the UAE, according to the legislation and the manufacturer's instructions; keep a list of pesticides used with their registration certificates; and comply with requirements for its workers and for storing, transporting and disposing of pesticide containers.
It must keep its premises clean and maintained, keep records and allow access to them, safely dispose of expired, banned or unauthorised pesticides and empty containers, follow public health protection procedures at its premises and at the sites where it works, avoid packaging pesticides in forms that could be mistaken for food or consumer products, transport pesticides safely to prevent spills, qualify and evaluate its workers, follow technical standards for field operations, use approved materials and equipment, apply preventive and precautionary measures, and cooperate with inspectors.
Owners and contractors are responsible for pests
Article (44) places responsibility clearly. A contractor is responsible for public health pest control throughout construction works, for preventing pest infestation at construction sites and for ensuring that sites remain free from pests at all times.
An owner is responsible for public health pest control in the built environment and its surrounding area, for taking all necessary measures to keep the building, its facilities and appurtenances free from public health pests, for notifying the Responsible Entity when pests are detected and of the measures taken, and for engaging either the Responsible Entity or a public health pest control establishment to control the infestation. This makes pest control a legal duty of the owner, not an optional service.
What notifying the authority means in practice
The duty to notify the Responsible Entity when pests are detected, and of the measures taken, is one of the most practical changes for owners and managers. It means that a pest problem should trigger two actions: engaging a permitted pest control establishment or the Responsible Entity, and informing the authority according to its procedures.
Keeping a record of each detection, the date, the type of pest, the company engaged, the treatment carried out and any follow-up visits makes notification simple and shows that the owner has acted. Owners should check Dubai Municipality's channels for how notifications are made.
Choosing a pest control company under the law
Because only permitted establishments may carry out public health pest control, the first question to any company is whether it holds a valid Public Health Pest Control Permit for the activity, and whether the technicians who will work on site are permitted or accredited as the authority requires. For termite control or fumigation, ask specifically about permits for those activities.
Ask which pesticides will be used, whether they are registered in the UAE, and request the list and registration certificates the law requires the company to keep. Ask how the company will protect residents, children and pets during treatment, how it will transport and dispose of containers, and what records and reports it will provide after each visit.
Ready-to-use pesticides and residents
The law treats ready-to-use pesticides, products intended for immediate use against public health pests found exclusively in residential premises without dilution or mixing, separately. Their placement and sale in retail outlets requires a permit from the Responsible Entity, which also monitors them in retail.
For residents, products bought in shops are meant for limited use in their own homes and should be used strictly according to label instructions. They do not replace the owner's responsibility for pest control in the building or professional treatment by a permitted establishment when there is an infestation.
Swimming pools, fountains and closed waterways
The built environment chapter lists swimming pools, fountains and closed waterways among the elements for which the Responsible Entity sets requirements and owners must comply. These features share common health risks: water that is not filtered, disinfected and circulated properly can become a source of illness, and still water can become a breeding site for pests.
Owners of buildings and communities with pools and water features should keep records of water treatment, testing and maintenance, and should include these features in pest control programmes. Where Dubai's public safety law also applies to pools, the two laws together cover both health and safety aspects.
Sewerage, drainage and waste
Sewerage systems and their treatment methods are part of the built environment requirements, and owners must comply with the related standards. Blocked or leaking drains, overflowing grease traps, damaged inspection chambers and poorly managed waste areas are common sources of odours, contamination and pests in Dubai buildings.
Workers' accommodation owners are specifically required to ensure that waste is dumped and disposed of in designated areas, and environmental health establishments must segregate and dispose of all types of waste according to the authority's standards. Regular drain maintenance, grease trap cleaning and well-organised waste rooms support both hygiene and pest control.
Noise and lighting as health requirements
The law includes permissible levels of noise and lighting among the environmental and health requirements for the built environment and for workers' accommodation. This places building services such as pumps, generators, chillers and air handling units, and the lighting of common areas, within the scope of health compliance.
Maintenance that reduces vibration and noise from equipment, and lighting that keeps corridors, stairs and common areas adequately lit, supports both comfort and compliance. Where specific limits are set by the Responsible Entity, measurements may be needed to show conformity.
Penalties and additional measures
Article (49) sets fines of not less than AED 500 and not more than AED 1,000,000 for violations of the law or its resolutions, without prejudice to any stricter penalty in other legislation. The acts that constitute violations and their fines are set by resolutions of the Chairman of the Executive Council, and the fine is doubled for a repeat violation within one year, up to AED 2,000,000.
In addition to fines, a Concerned Entity may suspend the violator's activity for up to six months, close facilities where public health activities are conducted for up to three months, destroy, seize, withdraw or re-export violating food and products, impound violating vehicles, and revoke permits, approvals and certificates.
Remedying harm and the 20 percent fee
Under Article (50), a violator who causes harm to public health through action or negligence must remedy the harm or pay compensation within the time set by the Concerned Entity. If the violator fails to do so, the entity may remedy the harm and restore the situation at the violator's expense, plus 20 percent of the costs as administrative fees, and its estimate of those costs is final.
For owners, this means that ignoring a water, air or pest problem can lead not only to a fine but also to the authority doing the work and charging for it with a surcharge. Acting early and documenting the action is the cheaper route.
Grievances and enforcement
Article (51) gives designated employees of the Concerned Entities, and persons they authorise, law enforcement capacity to record violations, issue violation reports and seek police assistance where necessary. Article (52) allows any affected party to submit a written grievance to the official in charge of the Concerned Entity within fifteen days of being notified of a decision, procedure or measure.
The grievance is decided within thirty days by a committee formed for the purpose, and its decision is final. Owners who receive a violation should therefore act quickly, gather their records and file any grievance within the fifteen-day window.
The fines schedule timeline
The specific violations and fine amounts depend on schedules issued under the law. Resolution No. (15) of 2026, issued on 17 June 2026, extended the deadline for finalising and approving the schedules of fees, violations and fines relating to the law, as specified in Resolution No. (35) of 2025, by six months, from 1 July 2026 to 31 December 2026, and came into force on 1 July 2026.
Until those schedules are approved and published, owners should treat the obligations as binding and prepare now, because the law's duties already define what is expected. When the schedules appear, they will show the amounts attached to each violation.
How this law fits with other Dubai rules
The public health law sits alongside other Dubai legislation and guidelines. Dubai Municipality's technical guidelines on topics such as indoor air quality and Legionella control set detailed standards that owners already follow, and Dubai's 2026 public safety law adds safety requirements for homes, buildings and pools. The public health law gives the Responsible Entity the power to set and enforce health standards across these areas.
In practice, owners benefit from treating these as one maintenance programme: water systems and tanks, air systems, pools, drainage, pest control, cleaning and records, managed together with clear responsibilities and documented results.
Water tanks: turning the duty into a routine
The law names water systems and tanks among the elements owners must keep to the Responsible Entity's standards, and requires water sampling according to those standards. Dubai Municipality's technical guidelines already set practical routines for many buildings; for example, its Legionella guideline asks the buildings it covers to clean and disinfect water storage tanks at least twice a year and to inspect them at least monthly.
A workable routine combines planned cleaning and disinfection by a qualified company, regular visual inspection of lids, vents and overflows, water sampling where required, and a file holding certificates, reports and test results. When the authority samples, unannounced or periodic, this file shows that the owner has kept the system under control.
Indoor air: practical steps for owners
The law requires owners to keep indoor air quality within acceptable limits, ensure ventilation according to the Responsible Entity's standards, vent emissions and heat, and provide devices for measuring indoor air quality where needed. In Dubai buildings, these duties translate into the maintenance of air conditioning, fresh air and exhaust systems.
Practical steps include cleaning or replacing filters on schedule, cleaning coils, drain pans and ducts, checking that fresh air units deliver the air they were designed for, keeping exhaust systems in car parks, kitchens and toilets working, and measuring indoor air where the standards require it. Dubai Municipality's indoor air quality guideline sets the detailed limits and intervals that owners can follow.
Integrated pest control in buildings
The law describes the Responsible Entity's own pest control services as integrated, using environmental, chemical, biological, mechanical, physical or other methods. The same approach works for building owners: pesticides are only one tool, and many infestations are prevented by removing what pests need to survive.
In practice, this means sealing gaps around pipes and doors, keeping waste rooms clean and closed, fixing leaks and removing standing water, maintaining drains and grease traps, protecting stored goods, and scheduling inspections so problems are found early. A permitted pest control establishment can then combine these measures with targeted treatment where needed.
Termites, fumigation and specialised treatments
The law refers specifically to permits for fumigation of materials and products and for termite control, and requires pest control establishments to carry out termite control and stored grain pest control using appropriate pesticides according to the Responsible Entity's instructions. These are specialised activities with their own permit requirements.
Villa owners with timber structures, doors, cabinets or landscaping close to the building, and owners of warehouses and stores, should ask any provider specifically whether it holds the permits for these activities before agreeing a treatment. Records of termite treatments are also useful when selling or leasing a property.
Training for building staff
Both the built environment and workers' accommodation chapters require owners to ensure that their workers within the building complete the training and technical qualification programmes approved by the Responsible Entity. Environmental health establishments and companies occupying workers' accommodation have similar duties.
For building owners and facility managers, this means maintenance, cleaning and operations staff should be trained in the hygiene, cleaning, disinfection and reporting procedures relevant to their roles, and records of that training should be kept. Training also helps staff recognise early signs of water, air or pest problems and report them quickly.
Records and inspections
The Responsible Entity determines the records that environmental health establishments, workers' accommodation and pest control establishments must keep and how long they must be kept, and these establishments must allow inspectors to access them on request. Owners of buildings are required to carry out sampling and maintenance that will naturally generate records.
The authority can carry out periodic or unannounced sampling, inspect buildings and workers, and receive and investigate complaints. Owners who keep tank cleaning certificates, water and air test results, maintenance reports, pest control records, notifications and training records in one organised file are best placed when inspectors arrive.
Outsourcing, relaxation and implementing resolutions
Article (54) allows a Concerned Entity to outsource any of its duties and powers under the law to a public or private entity under an agreement setting the rights and obligations of both parties. Article (57) allows the Director General of the Responsible Entity or of the Dubai Health Authority, within their functions and subject to their controls, to suspend or relax some requirements where required for the public interest, provided this does not compromise public health.
Article (58) states that, except for resolutions reserved to the Chairman of the Executive Council, the officials in charge of the Concerned Entities issue the resolutions needed to implement the law, published in the Official Gazette. Owners should follow these resolutions as they appear, since they will set many of the detailed standards behind the law's general duties.
Villa owners: what the law means at home
The built environment is defined to include buildings constructed for human habitation and life, and the owner is anyone who owns or has actual control over it. A villa is therefore part of the built environment, and its owner carries the same categories of duty: water systems and tanks, indoor air and ventilation, cleaning and disinfection, periodic maintenance and pest control for the villa and its surrounding area.
For most villa owners, meeting these duties means a sensible maintenance routine: tanks cleaned and disinfected on schedule, AC and ducts maintained, drains and gully traps kept clear, gardens managed to avoid standing water, and a pest control arrangement with a permitted company, with records kept of each visit. If pests are detected, the owner is responsible for acting and notifying the Responsible Entity.
Owners associations and shared buildings
In buildings with many owners, the question of who is the owner for a given duty depends on who owns or has actual control over the relevant part. Common areas, shared water tanks, central air systems, drainage, pools and waste rooms are usually under the control of the owners association or its management company, while individual units are controlled by their owners or occupants.
Management agreements and building rules should spell out who maintains which systems, who arranges pest control in common areas and in units, how residents report problems, and who notifies the authority. A building-wide pest control programme is usually more effective than unit-by-unit treatment, because pests move through shafts, drains and shared spaces.
Offices, hotels, malls and other large buildings
The built environment covers buildings used for work, recreation, healthcare and other purposes, not only homes. In large commercial buildings, water systems, air handling, kitchens, car parks and waste areas are larger and more complex, and the consequences of a failure affect more people.
Owners and facility managers of large buildings should expect more frequent sampling, more detailed maintenance records and closer attention from inspectors. Integrating water, air, drainage, cleaning and pest control into one planned maintenance programme, with clear responsibilities between owner, operator and tenants, makes compliance manageable.
Responding to a pest complaint from a tenant
When a tenant reports pests, the owner's duties under Article (44) give a clear sequence. First, inspect and confirm the problem and its likely source. Second, engage a permitted public health pest control establishment, or the Responsible Entity, to treat it. Third, notify the Responsible Entity of the detection and the measures taken, according to its procedures.
Then follow up: check that the treatment worked, fix the causes such as leaks, gaps or waste problems, and record each step with dates and reports. Telling the tenant what has been done, and what they can do to help, such as keeping food sealed and reporting new sightings, makes the treatment more effective and reduces disputes.
Common gaps found in buildings
When buildings are reviewed against the public health duties, similar gaps appear. Water tanks may have no recent cleaning certificate or no test results, lids and vents may be damaged, and nobody may know when the tank was last inspected. Air systems may have dirty filters, blocked drain pans or fresh air units that no longer deliver their design airflow, and car park or kitchen exhaust may be weak.
Pest control is often handled only when tenants complain, without a regular programme, without records and without notification to the authority. Drains, grease traps and waste rooms are frequently neglected until odours or pests appear. Each of these gaps is straightforward to close with a planned programme and good records.
A twelve-month public health maintenance calendar
A simple calendar keeps the duties under control. Monthly: inspect water tanks where Dubai Municipality's guideline requires it, check waste rooms, drains and grease traps, review pest activity reports and clean or check AC filters in busy areas. Quarterly: deeper AC maintenance including coils and drain pans, review indoor air complaints, and audit cleaning and disinfection records.
Twice a year: clean and disinfect water tanks as required for covered buildings, and review the pest control programme with the permitted company. Annually: review the whole programme against any new resolutions from the Responsible Entity, refresh staff training, and check that all permits, contracts and certificates are current. Adjust frequencies to the building's use and to the standards that apply to it.
Restaurants and kitchens inside buildings
Buildings with restaurants, cafes or shared kitchens face particular built environment risks: grease in drains, overloaded grease traps, kitchen exhaust that pulls heat and fumes into neighbouring spaces, food waste that attracts pests, and water systems serving high-demand outlets. The law's duties on sewerage, venting of emissions and heat, cleaning and disinfection, and pest control all apply to the building around these kitchens.
Owners and facility managers should coordinate with tenants operating kitchens on grease trap cleaning, exhaust maintenance, waste storage and collection, and joint pest control, and keep records from both sides. Problems in one kitchen often affect the whole building, so shared programmes work better than isolated efforts.
Buildings with vulnerable occupants
The built environment is defined to include places of work, worship, healthcare and recreation as well as homes. Where buildings house people who are more vulnerable to poor water, poor air or pests, such as older residents, young children or patients, the consequences of a lapse are more serious.
Owners of such buildings should apply tighter routines: more frequent checks of water systems and tanks, closer attention to ventilation and air filtration, prompt response to any pest sighting, and careful choice of pest control methods and timing to protect occupants. Good records also help show that the owner acted responsibly.
Questions facility managers often ask
Does the law set how many pest control visits a building needs each year? No. It requires the owner to keep the building free of public health pests, take the necessary measures and notify the authority when pests are detected, leaving detailed standards to the Responsible Entity. Frequency is therefore agreed with the permitted establishment according to the building's use and pest activity.
Can the fine for a specific violation be quoted now? Not reliably. The law sets the overall range of AED 500 to AED 1,000,000, and the specific violations and amounts depend on schedules whose approval deadline was extended to 31 December 2026, so specific figures should wait for those schedules.
Checklist for building owners
Confirm water tank cleaning, disinfection and water testing follow Dubai Municipality's requirements, and keep reports. Review indoor air quality, ventilation and exhaust systems, including AC and duct maintenance, and consider measurement where required. Maintain a continuous cleaning and disinfection programme for common areas and surroundings, and a periodic maintenance plan for building systems.
Put a pest control contract in place with a permitted public health pest control establishment, keep records of detections, treatments and notifications, and include pools, fountains, drains and waste rooms in the programme. Check that staff working in the building have completed any required training, and keep all records ready for inspection.
Checklist for workers' accommodation operators
Confirm occupancy approval and any required Workers Accommodation Health Permit, and keep them on file. Test water as required, maintain tanks, keep indoor air quality within prescribed levels with suitable ventilation and monitoring devices, and maintain all systems periodically. Ensure continuous cleaning and disinfection inside and around the accommodation, with waste disposed of in designated areas.
Agree in writing with the occupying company who does what, and make sure records required by the authority are kept and accessible. Include the accommodation in a pest control programme with a permitted establishment, and train staff on hygiene and reporting procedures.
Checklist for contractors on construction sites
Throughout construction, the contractor is responsible for public health pest control, for preventing infestation and for keeping the site free from pests at all times. Practical steps include managing waste and food on site, eliminating standing water, protecting stored materials, and engaging a permitted pest control establishment for regular treatment and inspection.
Contractors should keep records of pest control visits and findings, coordinate with the owner at handover so that pest control responsibility transfers clearly, and ensure that the building is delivered free from pests.
Working with Power Zone
Power Zone provides building maintenance services across Dubai, including pest control, water tank cleaning, AC and duct maintenance, drainage and cleaning. A site review can map a building's water, air, drainage, pool and pest control arrangements against the duties in the public health law and organise the records owners need.
For related guidance, see Power Zone's pest control guide for Dubai and the water tank cleaning guide. Because the law requires permits for public health pest control and other regulated activities, owners should confirm that any provider, including Power Zone, holds the permit required for the specific service.
Frequently asked questions
Who is responsible for pest control in a Dubai building?
Under Article (44) of Law No. (5) of 2025, the owner is responsible for public health pest control in the built environment and its surroundings, must notify the Responsible Entity when pests are detected, and must engage the Responsible Entity or a permitted pest control establishment.
Do pest control companies in Dubai need a permit?
Yes. Article (41) prohibits any public health pest control activity, including placing pesticides along the product chain, without a Public Health Pest Control Permit issued by the Responsible Entity.
Who handles pests on construction sites?
The contractor is responsible for public health pest control throughout construction, for preventing infestation and for keeping the site free from pests at all times.
Do building owners have to test water and indoor air?
Article (33) requires owners to analyse water samples and indoor air quality samples and measurements according to the requirements and standards approved by the Responsible Entity.
What are the fines under Dubai's public health law?
From AED 500 to AED 1,000,000, doubled for a repeat within one year up to AED 2,000,000. Specific violations and amounts are set by resolutions of the Chairman of the Executive Council.
When will the fines schedule be final?
Resolution No. (15) of 2026 extended the deadline for approving the schedules of fees, violations and fines by six months, from 1 July 2026 to 31 December 2026.
Who is the Responsible Entity?
Dubai Municipality or the Dubai Environment and Climate Change Authority, as the case may be, according to their statutory functions.
How long do I have to file a grievance?
Fifteen days from being notified of the decision, procedure or measure. A committee decides within thirty days, and its decision is final.
Reference sources
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