Dubai Law No. 26 Just Made Your Chiller Plant Your Problem—Here's What That Costs in 2025

If you manage a building in Dubai, you already know the chiller plant doesn't care who owns the unit. When it fails, the tenant calls you. And under Dubai Law No. 26 of 2007, the law is clear: the landlord carries the maintenance obligation for the structure, the major systems, and the habitability of the property. Here is what that means for your 2025 budget and your daily operations.

What Law No. 26 Actually Says About Maintenance

Dubai Law No. 26 of 2007 regulates the relationship between landlords and tenants in the emirate. Article 16 is the one that matters for building operators. It states that the landlord must maintain the property in a condition that allows the tenant to use it for the purpose it was rented.

That sounds broad. In practice, it covers:

• Structural integrity — walls, roofs, foundations, external facades.
• Major mechanical systems — chillers, AHUs, boilers, pumps, electrical distribution, lifts.
• Plumbing and drainage — water supply lines, sewage connections, greywater systems.
• Habitability essentials — air conditioning, hot water, lighting in common areas.

The tenant is responsible for day-to-day upkeep. Changing a light bulb, cleaning the filters on an FCU, reporting a leak. But the moment a chiller loses its charge or a pipe bursts behind a wall, that is the landlord's cost.

This is not a new law. It has been on the books for 17 years. What changed is enforcement.

DLD Is Enforcing Stricter Repair Timelines in 2025

The Dubai Land Department (DLD) and the Rental Dispute Center (RDC) have been tightening the screws. In 2024, the RDC published several rulings that set clear expectations for response times on maintenance requests.

For issues that affect habitability — no AC in July, no water, a gas leak — the landlord must respond within 24 hours. For structural or system failures, the timeline is 7 to 14 days depending on the severity. If the landlord fails to act, the tenant can apply to the RDC for an order to carry out the work themselves and deduct the cost from rent.

That last part is the one that gets a building owner's attention. A tenant who spends AED 45,000 on an emergency chiller repair and deducts it from the next quarter's rent is not a hypothetical. It happens. The RDC has consistently upheld these deductions when the landlord failed to act within the required timeline.

For facilities managers, this means your maintenance response process needs to be documented and auditable. If a tenant reports a fault and you cannot prove you responded within the window, you are exposed.

Where Disputes Go: The Rental Dispute Center

The Rental Dispute Center is the only body that resolves landlord-tenant disputes in Dubai. It operates under DLD and has its own court system. Cases move quickly by regional standards — typically 3 to 6 weeks for a ruling on a maintenance dispute.

The RDC does not accept verbal agreements. Every communication about maintenance — the tenant's report, your response, the contractor's invoice — must be in writing. Email is acceptable. WhatsApp messages have been accepted as evidence in some cases, but the RDC prefers formal written correspondence.

This is where many building operators get caught. A tenant calls the front desk about a noisy chiller. The FM sends a technician who tightens a belt and leaves. No record. Three weeks later the chiller fails completely. The tenant claims the issue was reported on day one. Without a written log, the landlord is in a weak position.

If you manage a multi-tenant building, you need a system that timestamps every maintenance request and every response. Paper logs do not satisfy the RDC's evidentiary standards. Digital records do.

What This Means for Your 2025 Maintenance Budget

If you are a building owner or asset manager, the 2025 enforcement push means you should budget for two things: faster response capacity and better record-keeping.

Faster response capacity means having contractors on retainer who can reach your building within the 24-hour window for critical systems. For a hotel in Dubai Marina, that might mean a chiller service contract that includes a 4-hour response clause. For a commercial building in DIFC, it means having a 24/7 FM team or a reliable outsourced provider.

Better record-keeping means moving away from paper-based maintenance logs. The RDC's 2024 rulings have made it clear that digital records carry more weight. A timestamped entry in a building management platform showing when a fault was reported, when a technician was dispatched, and when the repair was completed is stronger evidence than a handwritten note in a binder.

This is not about avoiding liability. It is about being able to prove you met your obligation when a dispute arises.

The Practical Difference Between GCC and UK Obligations

For operators who work across both the GCC and the UK, the difference in landlord maintenance obligations is worth noting.

In the UK, the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 imposes a similar obligation to keep the structure and exterior in repair, and to keep installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation, and heating in working order. But the enforcement mechanism is different. UK tenants can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) for a repair order, and local authorities can issue improvement notices under the Housing Act 2004.

The key difference is speed. The RDC in Dubai typically resolves disputes in weeks. The UK tribunal process can take months. That means a Dubai landlord faces faster consequences for delayed maintenance than a UK landlord does.

For a portfolio that spans both markets, the Dubai properties require a more responsive maintenance operation. The UK properties require more rigorous documentation for longer-running disputes.

Where to Start

If you manage a building in Dubai, start with your maintenance records. Do you have a digital log of every tenant maintenance request? Can you prove, with timestamps, that you responded within the required window? If the answer is no, that is the first thing to fix.

Next, review your service contracts. Do your chiller, lift, and electrical maintenance providers guarantee response times that meet the RDC's expectations? If they do not, renegotiate or replace them before a tenant forces the issue.

Finally, talk to your legal team about how your tenancy contracts handle maintenance obligations. Some contracts try to shift more responsibility to the tenant. The RDC has consistently ruled that these clauses cannot override the statutory obligations under Law No. 26. A contract that says the tenant is responsible for chiller repairs will not hold up if the tenant takes you to the RDC.

If you want to see how a building management platform can help you track maintenance requests, response times, and contractor performance in one place, talk to the HermanWa team. We built Herman for exactly this kind of operational reality.

— The HermanWa Team