How to Check Dubai Service Charges in Mollak Before You Buy

Service charges are the running cost of owning a Dubai apartment, and they are approved annually by RERA for each project rather than set by the developer or the management company alone. Mollak is the official system behind that process, and the DLD Service Charge Index is where you look the figure up. This guide explains how the approval works, how to check the right project and year, what to request from the management entity, and how to read a charge that looks unusually low.

What is Mollak and why does it exist?

Mollak is Dubai's regulatory and support system for jointly owned property. It sits behind the budgets, the accounts and the owner and management-company processes that govern service charges, under RERA oversight. Its practical effect is that the charge you pay is meant to be traceable to an approved budget rather than to an invoice someone decided to issue.

That is not a technicality. Under Dubai's jointly owned property law, a management entity may not charge owners without RERA approval. If you are being asked to pay a figure that cannot be traced to an approved budget for that project and year, that is the first question to ask, and it is a reasonable one.

How does a service charge get approved?

The sequence runs from budget to invoice through several checks. The management entity prepares the annual budget, obtains tenders for the main contracts, has the accounts reviewed by a RERA-accredited auditor, submits through Mollak, and invoices owners once RERA has approved the budget for that project and year.

Two things follow from that. First, an approved charge is project-specific and year-specific, so last year's figure is history rather than guidance. Second, the charge is applied to the area of your unit, which means two apartments in the same building pay different amounts for the same rate. This reflects what was published as of September 2026 and can change; verify on the official DLD channels.

How do you check the approved figure before buying?

The DLD Service Charge Index lets you look up the approved service fees for jointly owned property free of charge, through the DLD website, Mollak or the Dubai REST app.

Search on the correct project and, where required, the correct property or certificate details rather than a nearby building.
Select the correct use type, because residential, retail and office areas within one development can differ.
Select the budget year that will actually apply to you, not the most convenient one.
Save a dated screenshot or reference with the result, because approvals change annually.
Apply the rate to your unit's actual area, and check which area measure the building uses.

Which separate charges should you count as well?

The approved service charge is not the whole picture. Budgets are split between a general fund for day-to-day operations and a reserve fund, which is ring-fenced for major replacements and needs RERA approval before it is drawn on. District cooling or chiller charges are billed separately where the building uses them, and that can be a meaningful monthly cost in its own right.

Then check the unit level. Are there arrears attached to it, penalties, or a special assessment approved for works that have not yet been carried out? Ask for a complete owner statement rather than a single invoice, and reconcile it against the sale contract and the no-objection certificate process.

What should you request from the management entity?

Current approved service-charge evidence for the project and year.
An owner statement showing invoices, payments, arrears and penalties on that specific unit.
The budget and reserve-fund position, and any planned major works.
Written confirmation of any separate cooling, utility, parking or facility charges.
The no-objection certificate requirements and who is responsible for adjustments at transfer.

Put the requests in writing and keep the replies. A management company that answers these questions clearly is itself a piece of information about the building.

Who is liable if the tenant does not pay?

The owner. Under the jointly owned property law, liability for service charges rests with the owner even where a tenant has agreed to pay them. A tenancy arrangement can allocate the cost commercially, but it does not move the legal obligation, and an owner who assumes otherwise discovers it at the worst moment.

The enforcement route is worth knowing before you need it. Non-payment can lead to a thirty-day notice, a claim enforceable through the Rental Disputes Centre execution judge, and ultimately a lien and a possible auction of the unit. More immediately for most owners: unpaid service charges block the developer's no-objection certificate, which means the unit cannot be sold until they are cleared.

Is a low service charge always good news?

No, and this is the check most buyers skip. An unusually low approved budget can reflect an efficiently run building, or it can reflect deferred maintenance, a thin reserve fund and a large bill waiting a few years out. The figure alone does not distinguish between the two.

Read it alongside the building. Walk the common areas, the car park, the plant rooms and the lifts. Ask how old the main systems are and when they were last replaced. Ask what the collection rate is, because a building where many owners do not pay is a building where services eventually degrade. A moderate charge in a well-maintained building with a funded reserve is a better position than a low charge in a building living on borrowed time.

How should service charges enter your decision?

Treat them as a permanent cost of ownership, not as a line to minimise. For an owner-occupier they belong in the monthly budget alongside any mortgage instalment and cooling costs. For an investor they sit between gross rent and net income, together with management, maintenance, insurance and a vacancy allowance.

Two buildings can look identical on paper and behave very differently over ten years. Compare them on the approved charge, the reserve position, the condition of the shared systems and the quality of the management, rather than on the headline figure alone.

What does a rising charge mean after you buy?

Not necessarily poor management. Higher energy, maintenance or insurance costs, or deferred works finally entering a budget, are all legitimate causes. A rise still deserves a question: ask for the newly approved budget, compare it line by line with the previous one, ask which contracts changed and why, and ask whether the reserve is being drawn on. If the charge rises every year with no clear explanation, review the owners' association minutes and the actual standard of maintenance before assuming the figure will settle.

When does this apply?

This guide applies to jointly owned property in Dubai governed by the emirate's jointly owned property law and administered through Mollak and RERA. It does not apply to other emirates, which run their own systems, and it does not apply to a standalone villa on its own plot with no owners' association, although master-community fees may still apply there. It also does not replace the specific building's approved budget, which is the only document that states your actual position.

Bottom line

Look up the approved charge for the exact project, use type and budget year on the DLD Service Charge Index before you make an offer, and save the dated result. Add district cooling and any separate charges. Obtain the owner statement and check arrears, because they will block a sale. Remember the obligation stays with the owner regardless of what a tenancy says. And treat an unusually low figure as a question rather than a saving. These rules reflect what was published as of September 2026 and can change; verify on the official DLD and Mollak channels.

Frequently asked questions

Are Dubai service charges fixed?

No. Budgets and approved rates are set annually, by project, so a figure can move from one year to the next as contracts, energy costs and planned works change. Use the approved figure for the budget year that will apply to you, and treat any quoted number older than the current approval as background rather than evidence.

Does the buyer inherit the seller's arrears?

The sale and no-objection certificate process is where liabilities are identified and cleared, which is why a current owner statement matters before transfer rather than after it. Do not rely on an assurance that everything is settled; ask the management entity for the statement, and make the position part of the contract in writing.

Where do I check the approved rate?

The DLD Service Charge Index, accessible through the DLD website, Mollak or the Dubai REST app, lets you enquire about approved service fees for a jointly owned project free of charge. Search on the correct project, use type and budget year, and save a dated result to keep with your file.

What is the reserve fund for?

It is ring-fenced for major replacements rather than day-to-day running costs, and drawing on it requires RERA approval. A building with a thin reserve and ageing systems is carrying a future cost that is not visible in this year's charge, which is why the reserve position is worth asking about before you buy rather than afterwards.

Are cooling charges included?

Where a building uses district cooling or a chiller system, those charges are commonly billed separately from the service charge. Ask for written confirmation of what is included and what is not, and add the separate items to your own monthly figure before comparing two buildings that look similar.

Can I dispute a service charge?

Start by establishing what has actually been approved for that project and year, because many disputes turn out to be billing or area errors rather than disagreements about the budget. If the charge does not match an approved figure, raise it in writing with the management entity, keep the correspondence, and take advice on the route available for your case.

Related guides

Send us the project and unit and we will pull the approved charge, the separate cooling items and the arrears position into one ownership-cost sheet before you make an offer. WhatsApp +971 56 100 0928 or visit lagunalife.ae. Register your interest now.