Handover and snagging in Dubai
The building is finished: before you take the keys, inspect your home and have the defects put right. What happens at handover, what you pay, and what the developer must still fix afterwards.
Short answer
When the building is complete the developer sends a completion notice with the amount due at handover. Book an inspection -- a snagging company costs a few thousand dirhams for an apartment -- and give the developer the list of defects to fix. Pay the handover balance, the first service charges and the utility deposits, sign the handover papers and collect the keys. Your title deed follows.
Handover, in 6 steps
Completion notice
The developer confirms the building is complete and sends the final statement of account.
Arrange the payment
From savings, or with the mortgage you applied for months ahead.
Inspect
Walls, floors, doors, windows, plumbing, electrics, air conditioning, appliances. A professional snagging report is worth its fee.
Defects fixed
The developer fixes the list, ideally before you take the keys, or in the defects period after.
Pay and sign
The handover balance, service charges in advance, and the handover documents.
Keys, utilities, title
Connect DEWA, register with the cooling provider if separate, and receive the title deed.
Advice first, then the right project
Dubai has thousands of projects and every developer says theirs is the best. We compare them for you, in your language, and tell you honestly which we would buy.
Many developers compared
Prices, payment plans, service charges and track records side by side, not one developer's sales pitch.
No fee from you on new projects
When you buy off-plan from the developer, the developer pays our fee: the price is the developer's price.
In your language
Contracts, payment schedules and the Land Department's paperwork, explained in English or Turkish.
With you to the keys
Reservation, registration, instalments, snagging and handover: one consultant from start to finish.
Questions buyers ask us
It is not required, but recommended: inspectors find defects owners miss, with a report the developer has to answer. It usually costs a few thousand dirhams for an apartment.
Yes, with a power of attorney: we can arrange the inspection and collect the keys for you.
Report them to the developer in writing within the defects period in your agreement, usually a year. Structural defects are the builder's liability for ten years.
Usually, yes: developers often ask for the first year or quarter in advance.
More guides
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Ownership, visas and protection
This guide is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Dubai's rules and fees change; figures are correct to the best of our knowledge on 15 October 2026. Check the latest with the Dubai Land Department or an adviser before you sign or pay.
Handover coming up?
We can arrange the snagging inspection, follow up the defects with the developer and take the keys for you.