Apartment design and build
Design and basic scope for a studio or one to two bedrooms, published by Pine Tree Lane at AED 10,000 to 60,000 depending on size.
- Studio to two bedrooms
- Building rules in the brief
- One contract
from AED 10,000
Design and build
Design and build interiors in Dubai
One firm draws the space and builds it, under one contract. We check the licence behind that promise, then ask the firms that hold it to quote one written scope.
The offer
What do interior design and fit out companies in Dubai charge?
Interior design and fit out companies in Dubai sell the drawing and the building as one job. That removes the hand-over between a designer's drawings and a contractor's price, and puts one firm's signature on the whole result. It also removes the independent check on the builder. Below are the figures these firms publish, read in September 2026.
How much does design and build cost in Dubai?
Pine Tree Lane publishes design and basic scope at AED 10,000 to 25,000 for a studio and AED 25,000 to 60,000 for one or two bedrooms. Spazio publishes AED 80,000 to 150,000 for part of a villa and AED 250,000 to past AED 1,000,000 for a whole villa. As a rate, Algedra prices fit out work at AED 240 to 400 per square foot for a basic standard and AED 400 to 680 for mid-range. The package bands list every source.
What a turnkey package includes
Turnkey describes the handover: you receive a finished, furnished space and one firm answers for all of it. It does not fix the contents. At Xworks, for example, a base rate of about AED 1,500 per square metre buys partitions, ceilings, flooring, MEP and the furniture. Other firms draw the line elsewhere, so the list belongs in the contract. These are the lines to see named, each marked in or out:
- Design deliverables: plans, 3D images, construction drawings and the finishes list.
- Construction: partitions, ceilings, flooring, joinery and painting.
- Services that move: lighting circuits, sockets, air-conditioning grilles and plumbing points.
- Loose furniture, curtains and blinds, rugs and accessories.
- Appliances and sanitaryware, by model.
- Approvals: developer NOC fees, authority permits and who files each one.
- Cleaning, snagging and the defects period after handover.
Designer or contractor: who should you hire first?
The permit often answers this for you. In Dubai, décor that stays inside a unit's approved boundaries runs through a Municipality-accredited contractor, and above 100 square metres that contractor self-issues the permit online; once walls or structure change, a registered consultant files a modifications transaction. In Abu Dhabi the contractor files a maintenance permit for finishes, but once the design reshapes the rooms, the filing passes to a licensed design consultant and the permit becomes a building permit. So if your design moves walls, a consultant joins the team whichever route you take.
Design and build suits a job where one firm can hold every licence it needs. Dubai Municipality even keeps its own registration track for design and build contractors, set out under Circular 224. A firm registered only for decoration activities needs a Building Contracting partner before it can take on structural work.
Which approvals does a design and build firm take on?
Under one contract, the firm should file or coordinate every approval the design triggers. The published routes differ by emirate.
| Emirate | Finishes and décor | Layout or structural change |
|---|---|---|
| Dubai | Accredited contractor; no building permit up to 100 sq m, self-permit above | Registered consultant files a modifications transaction |
| Abu Dhabi | Contractor files a maintenance permit, 7 working days | Licensed design consultant files a building permit, 10 working days |
| Sharjah | Maintenance permit from the Inspection and Follow-up Section, refundable deposit | Accredited consultancy files drawings and a building permit |
| Ajman | Maintenance permit, AED 1,000, 2 days, owner or contractor | Modifications request, AED 200, 2 days, filed by a business |
Community consent sits on top in Dubai. Emaar's NOC costs AED 1,000 for minor works or AED 2,000 for major works in total, of which AED 500 is paid up front as a non-refundable review fee and deducted from the total. Nakheel's 2023 villa codes asked AED 1,000 plus VAT with an AED 10,000 site deposit, but the developer took them down when its communities moved to Dubai Holding Community Management, and the 2026 Dubai Holding rulebook states neither amount, so confirm both with the community office. In Abu Dhabi, Tasareeh, Aldar's delegated permit reviewer for plots in its scope, publishes a building maintenance permit fee of AED 2,000. Our Abu Dhabi and Sharjah pages set out those two emirates in detail.
Ask for design and build quotes
How do you compare interior design and fit out companies in Dubai?
- Search the firm in Dubai Municipality's register through the Dubai BPS app, and read the activity on its registration. The hub's licence check guide walks through both steps.
- Ask whether the design fee is inside the build price or added to it, as a line of its own.
- Get the turnkey inclusions as a list, with every item above marked in or out.
- Tie payments to delivered stages, not dates; the hub's payment schedule guide covers staged payments.
- Agree how changes are priced before the first one arrives.
- Read who owns the drawings, and whether you can take them to another builder.
Dubai Municipality publishes model contract forms for private villa construction; ask whether the firm's contract follows one. We ask each firm for its proposal in the same order, so you read three of them against one checklist. The Dubai interior design homepage shows how that brief is put together.
Scope
Three design and build scopes
Part of a villa
Two or three rooms designed and delivered by one firm. Spazio publishes AED 80,000 to 150,000 for this scope.
- Rooms handed over finished
- Suits a phased villa
- Community NOC included
from AED 80,000
Whole villa, turnkey
All rooms drawn, built and furnished by one firm and handed over complete; Spazio's published range starts at AED 250,000.
- Furniture inside the price
- Inclusions listed by line
- One point of responsibility
from AED 250,000
How it works
How we run a design and build brief
Scope in writing
Rooms, floor area, what moves and what stays, and the finish level, on one page.
Licence check
We confirm each firm's registration and activity before it is invited to quote.
Three proposals
Each firm returns a design fee line, a build price, a turnkey list and a programme in weeks.
One contract
You sign directly with the firm you choose, at its own price.
More on Design and build interiors in Dubai
Common questions: Interior Design Licence vs Fit-Out Licence in the UAE.
Comparisons: Design and Build vs Design Only: Which Route in Dubai?.
Questions
Design and build questions
- What is the difference between design and build and turnkey?
- Design and build describes the contract: one firm designs and constructs. Turnkey describes the handover: the space arrives finished and furnished. The two often arrive together, but a design and build contract can stop before furniture and styling, so read the inclusions.
- Is design and build cheaper than hiring a designer and a contractor separately?
- No published study settles it for Dubai. What you can compare is the structure. Under design and build the fee may sit inside the build price and the firm carries the risk of its own drawings; with separate appointments you own the drawings and can tender them. Ask each firm for the design fee as a separate line, so the two routes can be set side by side.
- Who files the permit on a design and build job in Dubai?
- The firm, or its consultant. Dubai Municipality's décor route is filed by an accredited contractor, and a modifications transaction for walls or structure by a registered consultant. Developer consent is separate: in Emaar communities the NOC comes through the community portal, and contractors also need an entry permit.
- Can a decoration company move walls?
- Not on its own licence. In Dubai Municipality's classification, Interior Decoration and Decoration Design and Implementation are secondary activities; Building Contracting is a main activity: it is graded, and it can take building permits directly. Structural work also needs a registered consultant to file the modification.
- What should a design and build contract say about changes?
- How a change is requested, how it is priced, and how it moves the programme and the payment stages, all in writing before work starts. Dubai Municipality's model contract forms for private villa construction are a useful comparison for a villa job.
- Do design and build firms charge a separate design fee?
- Some do and some fold it into the build price. Published design fees in Dubai run at 10 to 20 percent of the project, or a flat AED 20,000 to 150,000, so ask for the fee as its own line even when the firm offers one total.
Who you are dealing with
- OperatorWebsiteOS LLC
- Licence2646567.01
- Cost to homeownerNone
- Figures datedSeptember 2026
Tell us about the project
Rooms, floor area, community and what you want designed and built. We come back with design and build firms who quote against the published bands, and show you where each quote sits against them.