Dubai Ruler Mohammed bin Rashid has tightened oversight and regulations around engineering consultancy offices, prohibiting unlicensed firms from providing consultancy services and classifying them into new categories to clarify their scope, according to a Dubai Media Office statement. The law applies to all engineering fields, including civil, architectural, mechanical, electrical, and petroleum.

Engineering consultancies will now be classified more clearly either as local companies set up in the emirate, branches of UAE-based offices, branches of foreign offices, or joint ventures formed between local and foreign offices.

A new unified electronic system — linked to the Invest in Dubai platform — will manage registration, classification, and professional certification. A permanent Committee for the Regulation and Development of Engineering Consultancy Activities, chaired by a Dubai Municipality representative, will supervise implementation. Violators face fines of up to AED 100k, with repeat offences subject to suspension or license cancellation.

Compliance timeline: Existing consultancies must regularize their status within one year of the law taking effect, which comes into force six months after publication in the official gazette.

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