How to Keep an Annual AC Maintenance Contract File for a Dubai Home

The air conditioning for this Dubai home was serviced during the tenancy. The file is the standing maintenance contract that names this home, with each contractor visit report kept with that contract. A message that the units were serviced is not that file. A tenant repair request, a water-tank cleaning certificate, and a fit-out no-objection page are different papers. Keep the contract and the visit reports on this unit.

Disclaimer: IziRento is operations software, not legal advice. Local tenancy rules vary; check a qualified adviser for binding decisions.

The standing contract and the visit reports

Article 16 of Law No. (26) of 2007 leaves maintenance during the lease with the landlord, including repair of a defect or damage that may affect the use the tenant intended, unless the parties agree otherwise. The English page says the Arabic text prevails. Article 17 leaves defect, damage, deficiency, and wear and tear with the landlord when they are not the tenant’s fault. Article 19 says the tenant looks after the property as an ordinary person would, carries out restorations that were agreed or that are customary, and does not carry out maintenance unless the landlord permits it and the required licences are obtained.

Law No. (33) of 2008 amended other articles of the 2007 law. Articles 16, 17, and 19 are not on that list. In the replacement text, Article 15 still covers handing the property over in good condition. That handover is the keys-day condition sheet, not this contract.

In the unified Ejari tenancy contract — Ejari is Dubai’s tenancy registration — clause 8 says the landlord enables full use of the premises, including the facilities, and does the regular maintenance as intended, unless another condition is agreed in writing. On the Land Department templates page, the unified contract is dated 7 September 2022. Clause 12 says an additional condition is not considered when it conflicts with the law. Clause 13 says the Arabic text prevails.

A message that a room will not cool stays on the repair log. The water-tank cleaning certificate is the tank paper. The fit-out no-objection page is the landlord’s written consent for tenant alteration works. None of them replaces this contract.

What stays off this file

Contractor pages often attach a package price and a visit slogan to an annual maintenance contract. Article 16 and clause 8 do not state a dirham amount, a number of visits, or a penalty. A price or a visit count already on this contract stays on this page.

Clause 4 of the same unified contract puts electricity, water, cooling, and gas charges on the tenant unless a written condition says otherwise. A district-cooling bill is that utility charge. Leave that bill out of this contract.

What the contract shows and what a visit report shows

The standing contract names this home and the company. Its scope is the wording already on the page: what is included, and what is not. The start and the end are the dates printed on that page.

Al Sa'fat, the Dubai Green Building System, 2nd edition, January 2023, defines a service log book as the record of maintenance for a site or a piece of equipment: the dates, the service performed, and who did the work. Regulation 502.14, in that January 2023 edition, says mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems in new and existing air-conditioned buildings are serviced and maintained regularly. The operator’s manual may follow the manufacturer’s preventive-maintenance instructions, the latest ASHRAE Standard 180, or an equivalent that Dubai Municipality approves. The building operator holds a service contract with a company approved by Dubai Municipality, or evidence that competent staff maintain the equipment. Preventive and corrective reports go in a service log book on site.

Regulation 401.09 says HVAC equipment — heating, ventilation, and air conditioning — is kept clean. Inspection and cleaning are done by a specialised company approved by Dubai Municipality, or by the building operator with enough evidence of qualification.

DM-HSD-GU119-IAQ, Technical Guidelines for Indoor Air Quality for Healthy Life, is version 4, issued 11 December 2024. The guideline covers occupied buildings, including homes. Section 9-4, point 9, says a maintenance record should show when the work was done and what was done. Section 9-7 says the owner or the management corporation keeps a formal HVAC record book and makes it available for inspection. The book describes the system, names who keeps the records, who handles risk assessment and precautions, and who carries out the maintenance programme, and it records inspections, cleaning or treatment, and remedial work with their dates.

A visit report for this home names the unit or the equipment, the date, the work done, and who did it. A photograph, a serial the contractor never used, and a client signature are not required. When those four points are already on the report, keep any photograph or signature it already has, and do not set it aside because a photograph is missing.

Filing the contract, then each report

Administrative Resolution No. (109) of 2022 places maintenance of air conditioners among Basic Maintenance Works. Carrying out that class of work does not require a permit from Dubai Municipality or a certificate of completion. The resolution requires a contractor pre-qualified by Dubai Municipality, and it forbids architectural or structural alterations that may compromise the safety of the building or any of its façades. Ask the company to show the approval or the pre-qualification it claims. A pest-control list and a tank-cleaning company list are different approvals.

If a written condition on this tenancy already places the maintenance somewhere else, file that page with the contract and follow its words. Do not add a split of who pays that the page does not contain.

Law No. (3) of 2026, on the quality and safety of buildings in Dubai, was issued on 27 February 2026. Its English text does not name an annual air-conditioning contract. For a building covered by Law No. (6) of 2019 on jointly owned property, the management entity carries out the owner’s tasks under the 2026 law, including the Quality and Safety Certificate. If the plant serves the building, that contract stays with the management entity. A Mollak receipt is the budget-year file for the building’s service charges.

Stop when this unit’s file holds the standing contract that names the home, with each visit report stored with it. Leave a service fee, a visit interval, and a penalty off the file. If the page already states a price or a visit count, keep that page as written: the figure is not a Dubai tariff or a Dubai calendar. If the plant serves the building, leave that contract with the management entity.

The repair log, the water-tank certificate, the fit-out no-objection page, and the handover condition sheet remain separate. IziRento can store the contract and the visit reports on the unit record. It does not book the contractor, pay the contract, or file with the municipality.