The Municipality of Abu Dhabi City has announced that it has already started the first phase of the implementation of the system of issuance of occupancy certificate for commercial buildings in Abu Dhabi City, in order to maintain the quality of life and sustainability of buildings, which have a positive impact in raising the efficiency of buildings, and ensure their regular maintenance, sustainability and follow-up coordination With the strategic partners, especially the maintenance departments in the sub-municipal centers and the Civil Defense Department, the certificate will be implemented in stages to cover all types of buildings remaining in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
Khalfan Sultan Al Nuaimi, Executive Director of the Town Planning Sector, explained that the occupancy certificate will become mandatory at the beginning of next year, as well as conducting regular maintenance of commercial buildings is binding on all owners and is considered an introduction and a condition for issuing the certificate.
He added that the municipality had paved the way since last year and called on real estate owners to start implementing preventive maintenance projects for all buildings and properties, in a manner that complies with the building code in force in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and to provide all safety and security standards in these buildings. As well as registration in the preventive maintenance system at the municipality.
Al Nuaimi pointed out that the preventive maintenance system is the system adopted by the municipality to monitor the extent of the commitment of the property manager to the planned maintenance work, which is carried out periodically for all elements of the internal and external real estate, and is implemented according to schedules and maintenance programs specified time.
Al-Naimi explained that the conduct of preventive maintenance projects will result in non-compliance with procedures in accordance with the laws and regulations governing this matter, and within this framework has given the municipality to all owners a period that has extended since last year and effectively ends early next year.
The Executive Director of the Town Planning Sector noted that all landlords must apply for a certificate of occupancy for real estate units from the municipality, pointing out that the lack of preventive maintenance will be an obstacle to the use of various services, especially with regard to permits and certificates for occupancy of residential units and registration of rental contracts And others.
Al Nuaimi noted that the Municipality has prepared a guide for the system of preventive maintenance of real estate in order to activate the issuance and renewal of occupancy certificate for real estate, and to ensure the owners to apply maintenance work in their real estate, pointing out that the system will be applied to all commercial and industrial real estate and government facilities.
On the importance of the certificate of occupancy issued by the municipality, which will be closely linked to the preventive maintenance of the property, he confirmed that it is issued by the Building Licensing Department to allow occupancy of the property after inspection and verification of its validity for occupancy and compliance with the conditions of maintenance approved in the municipality, where the certificate is renewed every five years and requires access They must register in the preventive maintenance system.
He said: «The municipality is granting a temporary occupancy certificate issued to the property if the documents submitted when registration in the system of preventive maintenance to meet the requirements of the system, and allows the certificate to complete transactions within the municipality or other services until the completion of the procedures for issuing the permanent occupancy certificate».
Regarding the responsibilities of implementing the preventive maintenance program, he explained that the implementation of preventive maintenance is a joint responsibility between the owner, the property manager and the contractor, each with specific responsibilities according to the laws and regulations adopted in the Emirate.
The Executive Director of the Town Planning Sector explained the mechanism for applying for the occupancy certificate. Applications are submitted in the Unified Electronic Building Permits System (MEPs) by assigning an engineering contractor / consultant by the owner and uploading the required documents to the system for review. Accepted the department concerned to review these documents and the on-site disclosure of the building and submit the necessary reports, and then the final approval and issuance of the certificate.
Workshop on “Workflow of the Certificate of Occupation”
The Urban Planning Sector through the Department of Building Permits organized a specialized workshop, under the title of “Workflow of the Application for Occupancy Certificate”, which was attended by a number of specialists in the Municipality concerned with issuing the certificate. From the Department of Urban Planning and Municipalities.
The workshop included many themes, including the nature, duration and validity of the certificate of occupancy, the method of obtaining it and the criteria that must be met in order to obtain the certificate, the impact of this certificate on improving the quality of life and raising the standard of housing, how to apply for the certificate to an existing building, approvals of the certificate, and the submission of a temporary certificate of occupancy. For an existing building, a temporary occupancy certificate for a part or parts of a building, and other axes detailing how best to obtain a certificate of occupancy of all kinds.