Handover is the point at which a developer delivers a completed unit to its buyer: the completion certificate has been issued, the final instalment is paid, the keys and access cards change hands and, in due course, the title deed replaces the Oqood registration. It is also the point at which most first-time off-plan buyers realise how much they did not ask about at reservation. This article is the sequence, in order, with what to do at each step.
The completion notice
A few months before the anticipated date — or, more often, some months after it — the developer writes to buyers to say the building has received or is about to receive its completion certificate from the authorities. The notice sets out the final instalment, the handover fees, any outstanding amounts, and how to book an inspection appointment. Read it against your sale agreement: the amounts should match, and anything new should be explained.
Handover fees are a common point of friction. Developers may charge for utility connection, community registration, access cards and the like. Some of these are legitimate pass-through costs; some are padding. Ask for an itemised list and ask which are in the sale agreement.
The inspection
You, or someone you appoint, inspect the unit and record defects for the developer to correct. Independent snagging surveyors in Dubai currently charge in the low thousands of dirhams for an apartment and more for a villa, and they find things a buyer does not: levels, drainage falls, sealant, door alignment, electrical faults, air-conditioning performance, and whether the finishes match the specification in the agreement. In our experience the survey pays for itself many times over.
Do it before furniture arrives and before any tenant moves in. Once the unit is occupied, attributing a defect to the builder rather than the occupant becomes an argument.
The snagging list is the last document you sign while you still have leverage. After the final payment, you are asking a favour.
Final payment and keys
On most plans the final instalment is due at handover; on a post-handover plan, the first post-handover instalment is. Pay into the escrow account, as every other instalment was paid. Then the developer issues keys and access cards, and you register with the utility provider — DEWA — with a deposit, and with the district cooling provider if the building has one. Those deposits and the first bills are yours from this day.
Title deed
The developer transfers the unit to you on the Land Department's main register and the title deed is issued in your name; the Oqood entry is closed. Timing varies from days to a few months depending on the developer's processing and the plan structure. Check the deed when it arrives — name, unit number, area — and download it from the Dubai REST app, where it can be verified at any time.
What starts costing money
- Service charges, invoiced against the RERA-approved budget from the handover date, usually quarterly or annually in advance.
- District cooling capacity charges, billed by the cooling provider whether or not the unit is occupied.
- Utility deposits and standing charges, insurance if you choose it, and management fees if you let the unit.
None of these wait for a tenant. A unit that sits empty for six months after handover while the district catches up costs its owner real money, which is why we say so plainly on community pages where that is the likely outcome.
If the unit is not right
Defects recorded at snagging are the developer's to correct, and under the current rules developers remain responsible for defects for one year from handover and for structural defects for ten. Report anything you find later in writing, with photographs, before the first anniversary. If the unit differs materially from the specification — a smaller area than contracted, a different layout, a missing feature — that is a contractual matter rather than a snag, and it is worth taking advice before you accept the keys. Most sale agreements provide for area variations within a tolerance and a price adjustment beyond it; read that clause before the inspection, not after.