What to Ask an Interior Designer in Dubai Before Hiring

Hiring an interior design and fit-out firm in Dubai means checking licences, approval responsibilities and contract protections before you pay a deposit. This guide sets out the questions to ask in your first meetings, how the approval landscape affects your choice, and the red flags that should make you pause. It is written for villa and apartment owners, but most points apply equally to small offices.

The short version: confirm the firm's trade licence activity, ask who will submit drawings to Dubai Municipality or your master developer, insist on an itemised bill of quantities, check the insurance, and read the payment, variation and defects terms before you sign. If you are still building a shortlist, start with our guide to choosing an interior designer in Dubai.

When you interview design studios or turnkey fit-out contractors, focus on three areas: what the firm is legally allowed to do, who carries responsibility for approvals and defects, and how money and changes are controlled. Six questions cover most of the ground.

1. What exact commercial licence activity do you hold with the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism?
2. Will your firm manage the statutory authority and master developer approvals?
3. Is joinery produced in your own workshop, or is it outsourced?
4. How is the payment schedule structured, and is a retention sum held back?
5. What Contractor's All Risk and Third Party Liability insurance do you carry?
6. What written defects liability period applies after handover?

Start by establishing whether the firm is licensed as a design consultancy or as a fit-out contractor. In Dubai, an Interior Design Consultancy licence (activity code 741001) covers concept work such as space planning, mood boards and 3D renderings. On its own it does not allow the firm to manage civil trades, alter MEP systems or act as the contractor of record on site. An Interior Decoration or Fit-Out Contracting licence (activity code 432901) is the activity that covers the execution and supervision of site works.

You can check a mainland company's licence status, registered address and licensed activities on the Invest in Dubai portal, or by scanning the Dubai Unified Licence QR code printed on the firm's quotation. If the listed activities do not match the work you are buying, ask how the firm intends to cover the gap, for example by appointing a licensed contractor of record.

For a step-by-step licence lookup and reference checks, see our guide on how to check an interior designer's references and reviews in the UAE.

Submissions to the Dubai Municipality building permit system, Dubai Civil Defence, the Dubai Development Authority or Trakhees are made by registered consultants or contractors. If a firm asks you to apply for permits personally, treat it as a sign that it may not hold the registrations the work needs. Ask directly: who prepares the drawings, who submits them, who attends inspections and who obtains the completion certificate.

The authority depends on where the property sits. As a general guide:

• Mainland Dubai villas and commercial units: Dubai Municipality, with Dubai Civil Defence for fire and life safety changes.
• Dubai Development Authority areas such as Dubai Design District, Dubai Internet City and Dubai Media City: a DDA fit-out permit.
• Nakheel communities such as Palm Jumeirah: a Nakheel NOC, with Trakhees for the areas under its jurisdiction.
• Emaar master communities: an Emaar alteration permit, followed by the relevant authority permit.

Developer approvals usually come first, and many communities also hold a refundable security deposit before contractors receive site gate passes. Our guides on the Dubai Municipality fit-out approval process, the Emaar alteration permit and the Nakheel NOC for villa modifications walk through each route. Starting demolition before approvals are in place can lead to stop-work orders and fines, so ask the firm to confirm the approval sequence in writing.

Custom joinery such as wardrobes, kitchens and wall panelling is often one of the largest items in a residential fit-out. Ask whether the firm runs its own workshop or outsources production, and where fabrication happens. When joinery passes through several intermediaries, the firm can lose direct control over materials, curing and finishing, and each layer adds a margin.

A workshop visit before you sign lets you see the boards and veneers in use, the machinery, and the standard of finished pieces. Ask how shop drawings are approved, who checks site measurements before production, and how joinery is protected once it is installed. Our page on custom furniture and joinery in Dubai explains what a joinery scope usually covers.

Payments should follow verifiable progress on site, not dates on a calendar. Ask for a schedule that links each payment to a stage you can inspect, such as completion of demolition and first fix, joinery installation, or handover. Ask whether a retention sum is held back from each payment and released only after snagging is closed and the defects period ends. Agree the size of the deposit against what it actually funds, such as mobilisation, site protection and material submittals.

The contract itself is a Muqawala agreement under the UAE Civil Code (Federal Law No. 5 of 1985). It should set out the scope, a bill of quantities, the payment schedule, a written variation process, delay provisions, the defects liability period and the dispute forum. Article 880 of the Civil Code also imposes a ten-year decennial liability for structural works, which cannot be waived by contract. Our guide on what a Dubai fit-out contract must include covers each clause, and our article on interior design fee models in Dubai explains how fees are structured.

Some warning signs appear early, during the first meetings, the concept presentation or the commercial negotiation. Pause before signing if you see any of the following:

• A demand for a large share of the contract value in cash before any site mobilisation or procurement.
• Refusal or inability to share a current trade licence copy.
• Insistence that you handle Dubai Municipality or developer permits yourself.
• No Contractor's All Risk or Third Party Liability insurance.
• A single-page quotation with lump-sum lines instead of an itemised bill of quantities.
• No written defects liability period.
• No formal process for variation orders.

In a properly run fit-out, the initial deposit covers site preparation, protective hoarding and material submittals, and later payments stay tied to completed stages. A request for a large upfront payment without any verifiable progress shifts the financial risk from the contractor to you.

Master developers and building management companies commonly ask contractors for Contractor's All Risk and Third Party Liability insurance before granting site access. Without it, you may be exposed if a water leak or an electrical fault damages your property or a neighbour's. Ask for the policy certificates and check the cover dates and the named parties.

A professional fit-out quotation is an itemised bill of quantities that names material grades, timber species, stone thicknesses, sanitaryware and MEP fittings. Lump-sum quotations make it easy to substitute cheaper materials during the works, and hard to price any change fairly.

Mid-project changes are a common cause of cost and time overruns. Ask the firm to explain its variation order process. Every change you request should be written down with its cost, its effect on delivery dates and any need to revise approvals, and signed by both parties before work starts. Our guide on handling changes and revisions during a fit-out project goes into the detail.

After handover, a defects liability period, often 12 months in UAE fit-out contracts, obliges the contractor to return and fix workmanship defects such as joinery movement, settlement cracks or plumbing faults at no extra cost. Confirm when it starts (handover or the completion certificate), the response time for repairs and how the retention links to it. To understand who does what on a project, read interior designer vs architect vs fit-out contractor in the UAE.

Can an interior designer in Dubai submit drawings for municipal approval?

Only registered consultants or contracting firms with the relevant Dubai Municipality, DDA or Trakhees registration can submit technical drawings through the official permit portals. A design-only consultancy normally works with a registered contractor or consultant of record for submissions.

How much deposit should I pay for an interior design project in Dubai?

There is no single rule. Link the deposit to what it funds, such as mobilisation, protection and early procurement, and tie every later payment to a stage you can inspect on site. A demand for a large share of the contract value before any work starts is a warning sign.

What is a defects liability period in a UAE fit-out contract?

It is a contractual window after handover, often 12 months, during which the contractor must repair workmanship, joinery, mechanical or electrical defects at its own cost. The contract should state when it starts and how quickly reported defects must be attended to.

What insurance should a fit-out contractor in Dubai carry?

Ask for Contractor's All Risk and Third Party Liability policies, with you and, where required, the building management named on the policy. Check the cover dates against the project programme.

How do I check if an interior design company is licensed in Dubai?

Search the company's trade licence on the Invest in Dubai portal or scan the Dubai Unified Licence QR code. Check that the licence is active and that the listed activities match the work you are buying.

Interio Haven designs and fits out villas and apartments in Dubai and prepares the drawings and documents that the authority and the master developer ask for. Abhishek Bamel, Founder, reviews each scope before a quotation is issued. Read more about our villa and apartment interior design service, or contact Interio Haven to discuss your project.