Majlis design
Majlis design in Dubai
A majlis is planned around the people who sit in it: seating along the walls, a floor that takes cushions, light for evening guests. We brief designers who plan it with you, as a room or as an annex.
The room
Arabic majlis floor seating in Dubai: what does a design involve?
Arabic majlis floor seating in Dubai is made to the room: low cushions and backrests run along the walls, so the plan starts with wall lengths, doors, windows and the place where the host sits. That makes a majlis design a room design first and a furniture order second, and it decides which rules apply.
How much does a majlis design cost in Dubai?
None of the firms on our fee page publishes a majlis price, so a majlis is quoted as a designed room. The nearest published row is Studio 11's fee for designing a living room, AED 40,000 to 120,000, and design fees in Dubai run at 10 to 20 percent of the project. The seating itself is made to measure and priced per piece. A majlis built as a separate annex is a building project with its own permit. See the published room design fees.
Room or annex: which rules apply?
A majlis inside the villa is interior work. A majlis in its own building is construction, and the planning codes say how large it may be.
| Where | What the rule allows | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Dubai villas | An annex used as a majlis, on the boundary, 1.5 m from the villa, up to 5.5 m high and 60% of its gross area | Dubai Building Code 2021, K.5.2.3 |
| Abu Dhabi villa districts | A detached majlis and service block up to 6 m, ground floor only | Capital Development Code, September 2022 |
| Al Falah, Abu Dhabi | Inside the plot in area B3, up to 6 m, matching the villa; inward-opening doors on the boundary | Abu Dhabi City Municipality, March 2025 |
| Nad Al Sheba Villas, Dubai | A majlis room from pre-set extension areas; an external majlis on large corner 5-bedroom plots | Nakheel villa design code, 2023 |
| Ajman | An annex permit for private homes at AED 200, with insurance of AED 2 per sq m and at least AED 1,000 | Ajman building permit fee schedule |
Two caveats travel with those numbers. Dubai's figures come from the 2021 edition of the building code, and a plot's affection plan can be stricter. Abu Dhabi's code gives way to the private villa design provisions wherever the two conflict, and its villa rules do not reach plots smaller than 350 square metres. We read both documents before a majlis annex is drawn.
What does a majlis fit-out touch, and who approves it?
Inside an existing room, a majlis is five kinds of work, and the published rules treat each one separately.
| Item | What the published rules say | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Floor seating, cushions and tables | No NOC for installing or replacing furniture | Emaar; Nakheel villa codes, 2023 |
| New floor or fitted carpet | Changing floors is simple maintenance: no permit, accredited contractor | Dubai Municipality, Circular 3-12-1 |
| New floor or fitted carpet | Written consent needed to alter or replace floor coverings | Tilal Al Ghaf |
| Wall panelling or cladding | Interior wall cladding is a home improvement at AED 160 | Town Square |
| Feature or false ceiling | Suspended ceilings are simple maintenance, with no permit | Dubai Municipality, Circular 3-12-1 |
| Feature or false ceiling | False ceilings are major works, AED 2,000 plus a AED 5,000 deposit | Town Square |
| Lighting | Replacing interior lighting is a home improvement at AED 160 | Town Square |
Town Square is the useful extreme because Nshama publishes its tiers in full; most communities sit somewhere between its list and the Municipality's no-permit one. If the majlis is part of a wider redesign, the villa interiors page covers the developer rules for the whole house.
Arabic majlis floor seating in Dubai: what to specify
Seating built to a room is quoted from a specification. These are the lines a workshop needs to price it, and the ones that decide whether it lasts:
- Wall-by-wall lengths, with doors, windows and sockets marked.
- Seat height, seat depth and backrest height, agreed on a sample before production.
- The base: a fixed platform or loose floor cushions.
- The fabric, and whether the covers come off for cleaning.
- The floor under the seating: carpet, a rug or the existing tiles.
- Where the serving and side tables go, and the light at each seat.
The seating is made to measure like any bespoke piece and priced per piece from the drawing, so the drawing is signed before the fabric is cut.
Who designs and builds a majlis?
For a room, an interior design firm and a fit-out contractor, or one firm doing both; in Dubai the firm laying the floor and fixing the ceiling should be accredited with the Municipality. For an annex, a building permit comes first. In Dubai a registered consultant files it, in Abu Dhabi only a licensed design consultant can file a building permit, and in Ajman the annex permit costs AED 200 with insurance of at least AED 1,000. The firms we brief are licensed for the part of the job they quote on.
How it works
How a majlis brief comes together
Room or annex
We start with where the majlis goes, because an annex adds a building permit and a consultant.
Plan the seating
Wall lengths, seat sizes and the host's position are drawn before any fabric is chosen.
Approvals listed
Floors, ceilings and lighting are checked against your community's rules and the Municipality's.
Quotes on one drawing
Designers and seating workshops price the same plan and the same schedule.
More on Majlis design in Dubai
Questions
Majlis questions
- Does a new majlis floor need approval?
- Not from Dubai Municipality. Its Circular 3-12-1 of 2022 puts new floors on the simple maintenance list, so what it asks for is a Municipality-accredited contractor. Some communities add their own rule. Tilal Al Ghaf needs written consent to replace floor coverings, and Town Square classes new floor tiles as major works.
- Can a majlis be added inside a Nad Al Sheba villa?
- Yes, within sizes Nakheel set in advance. Its design code for Nad Al Sheba Villas lets owners add a driver's room, maid's room or majlis room from fixed extension areas, up to 7.51 square metres on a four-bedroom villa and 36.11 on a large-plot five-bedroom one, and allows an external majlis on large corner plots.
- What should a majlis seating quote include?
- Every wall run with its length, the seat and backrest dimensions, the base, the fabric and whether the covers remove, and delivery and fitting. Ask for a sample cushion before the full order, since fabric and foam are hard to judge from a swatch.
- Is a majlis in Abu Dhabi treated differently?
- The detached kind is. In villa districts the 2022 Capital Development Code keeps a free-standing majlis to a single storey no higher than 6 metres, and Al Falah's 2025 rules add that it must match the villa's style, materials and colours. A majlis inside the villa is interior work, filed by the contractor as a maintenance permit when nothing structural changes.
- Can the majlis ceiling be lowered or decorated?
- Usually, with the right approval. Suspended ceilings sit on Dubai Municipality's simple maintenance list, so an accredited contractor can install one without a permit. Town Square counts a false ceiling as a major work, at AED 2,000 plus a AED 5,000 deposit, and Tilal Al Ghaf wants express approval before a false ceiling is used for storage.
Who you are dealing with
- OperatorWebsiteOS LLC
- Licence2646567.01
- Cost to homeownerNone
- Figures datedSeptember 2026
Tell us about the majlis
Room or annex, the size, the community and how many guests it should seat. We come back with design firms who quote against the published bands, and show you where each quote sits against them.