• Home
• Power & Utilities
• News Article

DM approval mandatory to 
make changes in buildings

By Sajila Saseendran DUBAI - Any addition or partition of structures in Dubai buildings without the approval of the Dubai Municipality can attract fines up to Dh50,000 and disconnection of utilities, an official said on Tuesday.

Hundreds of buildings in Dubai faced disconnection of power and water supply and fines for unauthorised modifications made by owners and tenants in 2011.

The Dubai Municipality 's Buildings Department ordered the disconnection of utility services to 1,111 residential, industrial and commercial buildings during its year-long crackdown on partitions and additions made to buildings without the permission of the department.

The department also issued 3,854 warning notices in connection with the same, a 55 per cent reduction from the 2010 figures which officials attributed to increased awareness through mass media.

The acting Head of Building Inspections, Jaber Al Ahmed Al Abdullah Al Ali, told Khaleej Times that over a quarter of the offenders who ignored the warnings in 2011 were fined Dh50,000 for the violations that posed threat to the safety of the building structures and harmed the aesthetic standard of the city. Buildings that violated rules included villas, warehouses and garages among others.

According to officials, unauthorised changes in buildings' construction can also lead to lack of fire exits and unavailability of health requirements such as ventilation and lighting.

"Fines for additional structures, rooms or partitions without the approval of the department start from Dh1,000 and can go up to Dh50,000," said Al Ali.

Fines are imposed when the initial warnings are unheeded by the offenders. Even after being fined (calculated per square metre of the illegal structures), some offenders continue to commit the violations. Such violators are penalised by cutting off the electricity and water supply to their buildings through the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA).

However, the utility supply would be reconnected once the violators take corrective steps. Power and water supply to as many as 743 buildings was reconnected this way in 2011.

Khalid Mohammed Saleh Al Mulla, Director of Buildings Department at the Dubai Municipality , said that the owners and tenants need to preserve the buildings as per rules, and should not make changes or additions to buildings, without taking the necessary approvals.

He pointed out that these procedures are to ensure the safety of the changes and additions and to check whether they commensurate with the type and location of the building.

Additionally, it is also important to ensure the implementation of these actions in a safe and secure way to prevent construction site accidents.

Al Ali said his section conducted 33,000 field visits to ensure the compliance of construction rules and building codes in 2011. Equipped with a new 'electronic building penalty system' to quickly file technical reports, the building inspectors last year issued 12,669 technical reports, an increase of 10 per cent than that in 2010.

The complaints and comments registered through the municipality's hotline 800900 totaled at 1,784 in 2011. Officials said 98 per cent of them were addressed during the same period.

Saleh said the Building Inspection Section provides a number of services to building owners and public, including implementation of requests for building checkup, preparation of reports and certificates to the authorities concerned and responding to the communications received in connection with violations.

© Khaleej Times 2012