#1. 2026 indicative rates in Dubai
These are working ranges for structures inside Dubai municipality limits, assuming normal access, mains services already disconnected, and debris hauled to an approved Dubai Municipality disposal site. They are a starting point for budgeting, not a quotation.
- Single-storey villa, block and concrete frame: AED 12–20 per sq ft of built-up area
- G+1 / G+2 villa with boundary walls and hardscape: AED 15–28 per sq ft
- Villa with basement or swimming pool: AED 22–38 per sq ft
- Warehouse / steel portal frame: AED 8–16 per sq ft (steel recovery can offset this)
- Interior strip-out, office or retail: AED 9–22 per sq ft of leasable area
- Reinforced concrete slab and core structures: priced per cubic metre, not per sq ft
#2. What a per-square-foot rate normally includes
When we issue an all-in rate, it covers mobilisation of plant and crew, mechanical demolition of the superstructure, on-site segregation, loading, transport, and tipping fees at an approved site. It also carries the HSE package — hoarding, dust suppression, banksman, and the method statement submitted with the permit application.
#3. What it almost never includes
This is where budgets break. Assume these are excluded unless the quotation names them line by line:
- Dubai Municipality demolition permit fees and consultant drawings
- DEWA and Etisalat/du disconnection NOCs and any meter removal charges
- Asbestos or hazardous material survey, and licensed removal if positive
- Underground tanks, septic pits, and deep foundation grubbing below slab level
- Backfill, compaction, and levelling of the cleared plot
- Shoring or propping where the structure adjoins a live neighbouring building
- Out-of-hours or night working where the community imposes restricted hours
#4. The five variables that break the rate
Access is the biggest one. A plot in Jumeirah with a 3.5 m gate cannot take a 50-tonne machine, so the same villa is demolished with smaller plant over more days — the rate rises even though the area is unchanged.
Structure type is second: heavily reinforced concrete takes far more breaker hours per cubic metre than block infill. Third is depth — anything below the ground slab is excavation work, priced separately. Fourth is proximity: a detached plot is straightforward, a party wall is an engineering exercise. Fifth is disposal distance and current tipping rates, which have moved upward with tighter Dubai Municipality waste segregation rules.
#5. How to turn a rate into a budget
Take the mid-point of the range for your structure type, multiply by built-up area, then add a permits and NOC allowance of AED 8,000–20,000 depending on emirate and utility count, a hazardous survey allowance, and a 10–15% contingency for below-slab surprises. That figure is normally within 10% of the final account on a surveyed project.
Then insist on a site survey before you commit. A written, itemised quotation issued after a survey is the only number that transfers risk away from you.