Owner vs Tenant Responsibilities in the UAE: Who Pays for What?

1. The legal baseline in Dubai

Dubai Law No. 26 of 2007 (as amended by Law No. 33 of 2008) sets the default: the landlord is responsible for keeping the unit in a habitable condition, and the tenant is responsible for occupying it responsibly. Any Ejari addendum that flips this — for example, making the tenant pay for the chiller repair — has to be explicitly agreed in writing, and even then some provisions are unenforceable.

2. Owner-paid by default

The following costs sit with the landlord no matter what the Ejari says. Trying to push them onto the tenant is unenforceable.

• Structural repairs — walls, floors, ceilings, load-bearing elements.
• Waterproofing and façade repairs.
• Central AC, chillers, MEP risers, and building-level plumbing.
• Major appliances included in the lease (fridge, oven, washing machine) that fail through normal use.
• Building-level pest control.
• The annual service charge — this always belongs to the owner, not the tenant.

3. Tenant-paid by default

The following are the tenant's responsibility under most Ejari contracts in Dubai, subject to the standard AED 500–1,000 minor-repair cap.

• Minor repairs under the contractual cap (typically AED 500–1,000 per incident).
• Consumables — bulbs, remote batteries, AC filters, tap washers.
• Damage caused by misuse or by unauthorised alterations.
• In-unit pest treatment triggered by tenant behaviour (food waste, cluttered storage).
• Utilities: DEWA, district cooling, internet, cleaning.

4. The gray zones — and how to resolve them

Water leaks from a neighbour's unit

The cost of drying, repairing, and repainting is usually recovered from the neighbour's insurance. If they're uninsured, the OA's building insurance kicks in for common-area damage. The tenant should never pay for a leak they didn't cause.

Appliance failure inside vs outside warranty

If the appliance is in the lease and inside warranty, the landlord uses the warranty. Outside warranty, the landlord pays for repair or replacement — unless the tenant caused the failure (e.g. voided the warranty through misuse).

AC compressor vs AC filter

The compressor is a major MEP component — landlord. The filter is a consumable — tenant. Coil cleaning at move-out is typically the tenant's cost as per the Ejari.

5. The cost-approval workflow that prevents disputes

In a well-run Dubai tower, every repair over the tenant's contractual cap follows the same workflow: technician diagnoses, generates a quote, the property manager routes it to the landlord for approval, the landlord approves in-app, the work is done, the invoice is split correctly, and everyone signs off with photos. No WhatsApp, no ambiguity.

6. Special cases in Dubai buildings

• Fit-out damage from a previous tenant: owner's responsibility.
• Access cards lost by the tenant: tenant pays the replacement fee.
• Fire alarm activated by cooking smoke: no charge unless the OA proves misuse.
• Damage during move-in / move-out: whoever booked the lift is liable per the OA move-in NOC.
• Parking violations by the tenant's guests: tenant is on the hook per the OA regulations.

7. How TowerDesk resolves cost disputes automatically

TowerDesk's cost-approval flow enforces the split by default. Every repair over the tenant's cap goes to the landlord for in-app approval before any work is booked. The invoice is split line-by-line, the tenant and owner both sign off, and the whole chain — quote, approval, technician photos, invoice — lives on the unit's history. When the same fault recurs at move-out or resale, the record is already there.