Dawoud Al Hajri, Director General of Dubai Municipality, and Chairman of the Committee for Developing Building Permits in the Emirate of Dubai, expressed his happiness and pride in the UAE being ranked first in the Arab world and region and third in the world in the field of ease of issuing building permits as per the World Bank’s Doing Business 2020 report.
He said the report, issued recently, underlines the pioneering role played by the UAE in global competitiveness, and attributed this progress in the area of building permits to the support of leadership at the national and emirate level.
In this regard Al Hajri referred to the decision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the UAE, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, to form a special committee for the improvement and development of building permits called, “Committee to develop procedures for building permits in the Emirate of Dubai.”
He pointed out that Dubai, representing the UAE in the area of building permits, has achieved pioneering and sustainable results in this area, and this year won the third place ahead of fifth place last year, surpassing more than 190 countries in the world participating in the global competitiveness race. Al Hajri stressed the ambitious pursuit of the Committee to get first place in the region.
He added that this achievement supports the position of the UAE and the emirate in international forums and supports and encourages the construction sector and real estate investment and is considered as a high level global standard enjoyed by government departments in providing leading and innovative services to investors and customers, which enhances the investment and competitive environment of the country.
Al Hajri said that this progress is a result of the strategy of developing building permits in the Emirate of Dubai adopted by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed, which was developed and the building permit procedures in the Emirate of Dubai were standardized through the unified license window (Dubai BPS).
He thanked the members of the committee for their continuous efforts in improving and shortening the permit steps and their participation in the unified electronic window.
Al Hajri also praised the support of the Executive Council, the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority and all departments involved in the permit process and their internal work teams, namely: Dubai Municipality, RTA, DEWA, Department of Economic Development, Dubai Government Investment Corporation, Etisalat Group, Tarakhees, Dubai International Financial Exchange, Dubai Creative Clusters Authority, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Dubai Civil Defense, Meras Holding, Du as well as TECOM Group.
As for the current and future plans and the sustainability of the results, he added that an interactive service has been added to the Smartphone App that is synonymous with the electronic Dubai Building Permits System (Dubai BPS). Recently the Municipality has launched a free mobile App called “self-design” for permits for villa enhancements.
In the field of building codes and regulations, a unified building code is being issued at the emirate level under the name of “Dubai Building Code.” The review and preparation of the new law on consulting offices and construction companies will be issued soon. In the field of improving the building permit procedures for customers, a second version of the “Dubai Building Model” was launched, which includes only three steps for the stages of permits, construction and completion.
The Ease of Building Permits is a global standard in which the World Bank measures the performance of countries through sub-areas that differentiate between building permits in all countries. Accordingly, it issues an annual report on the ranking of countries under the title of “Ease of Doing Business.” The steps and time required to obtain permits as well as fees corresponding to the permit steps shall be considered, in addition to the quality standard to evaluate the building codes and its modernity and the efficiency and expertise of engineers and technicians based on the engineering work carried out and the mechanisms and means of inspection and the supervision followed to ensure the quality of the completed buildings.