Ownership

Jointly Owned Property & Service Charges (Law 6 of 2019)

Law No. 6 of 2019 replaced the owners association system of Law No. 27 of 2007 with management entities, RERA-appointed owners committees and RERA-approved service charges. The exam tests who manages which kind of project, how service charges are calculated, approved, banked and collected, the developer's defect liability, and the rules carried over or changed from the repealed law.

Laws and legislation6 min read7 sections

Must-know for the exam

Service charges are calculated on the unit's area as recorded in the Real Property Register, at the RERA-approved rate (Art. 25; in force 12 Oct 2026).
No charge may be collected without RERA approval; RERA approves a budget only after a RERA-recognised audit firm has approved it (Art. 27).
Charges go into a service charge account at a RERA-recognised bank within 7 working days; the account cannot be attached by the manager's creditors (Art. 30).
Cash reserve: separate account; usable without RERA approval only in critical emergencies (Art. 30(e)(8)).
Unpaid charges: lien on the unit, no disposal until paid; 30-day written notice, then the RDSC execution judge, who may order an auction (Art. 32).
Owners committee: up to 9 RERA-appointed resident owners; formed once 10% of units are registered; meets every 3 months; one vote per member (Arts. 22-23).
Management: major projects by the developer; hotel projects by a hotel project management company; all others by a RERA-selected management company (Art. 18).
Developer liability: structural defects 10 years from the completion certificate; installations 1 year from handover; contrary agreements void (Art. 40).
Disputes go exclusively to the RDSC; repeat violations within one year double the fine, capped at AED 2,000,000 (Arts. 42, 44; in force 12 Oct 2026).
Owners associations' rights and obligations passed to management entities; Law No. 27 of 2007 is repealed (Arts. 49, 51).

On this page · 7 sections

Traps that cost marks

Applying a per-sq-ft rate to an area in square metres without converting at 10.764.
Believing a lease clause moves the service charge liability off the owner entirely.
Running the one-year installation warranty from the completion certificate, as the repealed 2007 law did.
Weighting committee votes by units or area, as the repealed owners association rules did.
Using the area in the sale contract rather than the area recorded in the Real Property Register.
Using the repealed 2007 exclusion list, which left in-laws exposed to pre-emption.
Treating the 30-day notice as permission to cut off amenities, when it opens the RDSC enforcement route.
Rounding 34.7 down, when the law requires at least 10% of the units.

Why it matters on the exam

Service charges are one of the first things a buyer or tenant asks about, and brokers must quote them correctly and explain who manages a building. The exam mixes recall of the 2019 law with service charge calculations (rate x registered area, converting at 1 sq m = 10.764 sq ft) and with traps taken from the repealed 2007 law.

•Owners committees review and recommend; RERA approves charges and budgets.
•Old-law answers (owners associations with legal personality, weighted votes, three-month notary notice, one-month pre-emption) are now distractors.
•Mollak is the DLD/RERA system for jointly owned property: service charge budget approval, payments and property manager oversight (Mollak public pages, as at 12 Oct 2026).

Who manages what

Category	Who manages common parts	Owners committee
1: Major project	Developer (may outsource to a management company under a RERA-approved agreement)	RERA selects resident owners; up to 9
2: Hotel project	Hotel project management company	Only if the hotel company wishes; no role in management
3: All other projects	Management company selected and contracted by RERA

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