MEP services in Dubai — electrical, plumbing and HVAC
One contractor for the three trades that sit behind the finish, with drawings, DEWA and Civil Defence submissions, and a commissioned handover. Est. 1984, Ras Al Khor.
MEP services in Dubai cover mechanical, electrical and plumbing — the cooling, power and water that decide whether a fit-out works or merely looks finished. Abdulla Carpentry EST has run MEP works Dubai clients rely on since 1984: a full two-bedroom apartment sits at AED 35,000–70,000, an office fit-out at AED 90–220 per sq ft, and a restaurant with kitchen extract at AED 180–380 per sq ft. We draw it, submit it, install it and commission it, then hand over the test sheets.
MEP contractors Dubai fit-out teams keep on speed dial
Most MEP contractors Dubai offers are single-trade outfits wearing a three-letter name. We are not. As an MEP company in Dubai that also builds the joinery, the ceilings and the partitions those services run through, we are the ones who find the clash on the drawing rather than on site with a hole already cut.
Mechanical, electrical and plumbing are quoted as three schedules and delivered as one programme. That matters most on MEP fit out work, where the ceiling cannot close until the ducts, trays, sprinkler drops and pipework are all in and signed off. On MEP for fit out projects we hold that sequence ourselves instead of chasing three subcontractors who each blame the other two.
We work across Business Bay, DIFC, JLT, Al Quoz, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Jebel Ali, Dubai Marina, Dubai Hills and Damac Hills, and we handle the building management side — access letters, working hours, lift bookings and the fit-out deposit — so you are not the one on the phone to the facilities office.
1984MEP and fit-out on one licenceElectrical works and rewiring
Our electrical contractors Dubai side covers everything from a single socket to a full strip-out and rewire. Electrical wiring on a renovation is rarely a blank sheet: we trace what is there, work out what is reusable, and price rewiring only where the cable is genuinely at the end of its life rather than as a reflex.
A distribution board upgrade is the job people underestimate. Adding an oven, a second AC or a car charger changes the load calculation, and a DB board that was adequate in 2009 may not be now. We size it properly, label every way, and where the supply itself has to change we make the DEWA application — a licensed electrician Dubai side means the paperwork is part of the job, not an extra you discover later.
Beyond that: socket and switch installation and relocation, smart home wiring roughed in so the automation can arrive later, appliance circuits, and data and network cabling, CCTV and access control pulled on the same first fix so nobody is chasing a wall twice.
Plumbing and sanitary works
Our plumbing contractors Dubai team does the unglamorous half of a bathroom or kitchen: the part that is buried before the tiler arrives and cannot be revisited afterwards without breaking something. Water supply and drainage is set out from the fixture positions backwards, pressure tested, and photographed before anything is covered.
Concealed plumbing is where a cheap plumber Dubai wide costs you the most. Push-fit behind a tiled wall, a trap with no access, a waste run laid at the wrong fall — each of those is invisible on handover day and expensive eighteen months later. We use pressed or welded joints on concealed runs, keep falls correct, and leave an access panel wherever a trap or valve sits behind a finish.
Pipe replacement on older towers, water heater installation and relocation, water pump and pressure sets, water tank connections and leak detection and repair all sit in the same schedule. For a leak we trace it before we cut — thermal and acoustic first, chisel second.
AC installation, ducting and HVAC
AC contractors Dubai wide will happily sell you a bigger unit. Correct sizing is cheaper to run and quieter to live with, so AC installation here starts with a load calculation per room rather than a guess per bedroom. Split AC suits a villa or a standalone room; ducted AC suits an apartment where you want the plant out of sight and the noise out of the ceiling.
AC ducting and duct modification is most of the work on a renovation. Move a wall and the supply pattern no longer matches the room, so we re-run duct, reposition AC diffusers and grilles, and rebalance rather than leave one bedroom cold and another useless in August.
In towers, the chilled water system belongs to the building and the unit in your ceiling is yours. FCU replacement in apartments and offices means coil, drain, valve and thermostat, coordinated with the building engineer and isolated at agreed times. Ongoing AC maintenance and AC servicing — coil cleaning, drain flushing, filter changes, gas checks — keeps that plant off the failure list. Ventilation and exhaust systems, including kitchen extract and make-up air, are designed with the same care.
Lighting design and installation
Lighting is the cheapest line on a schedule of MEP services in Dubai and the one people notice first. Lighting installation starts with a reflected ceiling plan rather than a shopping list: where the light needs to land, what it is washing, and how many circuits it takes to make the room usable at three different times of day.
LED lighting has made the hardware trivial and the detailing everything. Spotlights want the right beam angle and a consistent colour temperature across a floor; cove lighting wiring has to be roughed in before the gypsum closes, with the driver somewhere reachable. We set out the drivers at first fix and label them, because a cove strip that fails behind a sealed ceiling is a joinery job, not an electrical one.
Dimming, scene control and outdoor circuits are run at the same time whether or not you fit them now — the cable is cheap while the ceiling is open and expensive once it is not.
Fire fighting and fire alarm works
Fire sprinkler heads, fire alarm devices, smoke detectors and emergency lighting are the part of a fit-out where the drawing matters more than the workmanship, because Dubai Civil Defence (DCD) approval is granted against the drawing and inspected against the installation. Move a partition and you have moved a sprinkler coverage pattern, whether or not anyone redrew it.
We set out sprinkler drops and detector spacing against the new layout, coordinate with the building’s existing system and the landlord’s appointed contractor where the tower requires one, and run the DCD submission through to the fire NOC. On restaurants and offices that NOC is usually the item holding up the trade licence, so it is started early rather than at the end.
Gas piping for restaurants and villas is handled the same way — certified pipework, pressure tested, with the approval documentation completed rather than promised.
Kitchen and bathroom MEP
Kitchens and bathrooms are where all three of the MEP services in Dubai meet in the smallest space in the building, which is why they are where MEP goes wrong most often. A kitchen needs water in, waste out at the right fall, extract that actually reaches outside, and enough dedicated circuits that the oven and the hob are not sharing with the dishwasher.
A bathroom needs the same discipline in less room: supplies set out to the exact fixture centres, a waste that clears the tray build-up, a shaver or heater circuit on the correct protection, and extract sized for the volume. We set both out from the joinery and tiling drawings, because a waste pipe positioned before the vanity is drawn ends up in the wrong place by 90 millimetres.
Because the wardrobes, vanities and kitchen carcasses come from our own workshop, the pipe centres and the cabinet cut-outs are drawn from the same file. That single fact removes most of the snag list on a wet room.
Residential MEP for villas and apartments
Residential MEP services in Dubai split cleanly into two jobs. In an apartment you are working inside someone else’s building: the riser, the chilled water and the incoming supply are fixed, and the work is alterations inside the demise with building management approval, strict working hours and a service lift you have to book.
In a villa you own the whole system. That means the DB and the incoming supply are yours to upgrade, the AC plant is yours to size, and drainage and irrigation are on your plot. It is more scope but fewer constraints, and it is where a proper load and cooling calculation pays for itself over the first few summers.
Either way the scope is the same shape: lighting and power set out room by room, AC sized and ducted, bathrooms and the kitchen re-plumbed where fixtures move, and everything tested before the finishes go on top of it.
Commercial MEP for offices, shops and restaurants
Commercial MEP services in Dubai are driven by density. An office is priced on how many desks, screens and data points per square metre; a shop on lighting load and shopfront power; a restaurant on the kitchen, which carries the extract, the make-up air, the grease line and most of the electrical load in the unit.
Offices need floor boxes or perimeter trunking set out against the furniture plan, emergency and exit lighting to the escape route, small power at the right density, and data and network cabling tested and certified. Shops need signage power, POS positions and display lighting circuits that can be changed without an electrician.
Restaurants and cafes need all of that plus a kitchen that passes inspection: extract canopy and duct sized for the equipment line-up, make-up air so the room is not in negative pressure, a grease trap on the correct drainage run, and gas piping certified. That package is what the fire NOC and the food-safety inspection are both looking at.
All of it is programmed around trading hours. Night and weekend working is normal on commercial MEP, and it is in the programme from day one rather than added as a variation when the deadline tightens.
MEP approvals and testing
MEP drawings are the deliverable that keeps MEP services in Dubai honest. We issue shop drawings for coordination and approval, mark them up as things change on site, and hand over as-built drawings at the end — so the next person who opens that ceiling knows what is above it.
On approvals we handle DEWA connection and any DEWA approval the supply change requires, Dubai Municipality submissions, DDA or Trakhees where the property sits in a free zone, Dubai Civil Defence for the fire NOC, and the building management approval that every tower asks for before a single tool arrives on site.
Testing and commissioning is not a formality. Circuits are tested and the results recorded, pipework is pressure tested, airflows are measured and balanced, and the fire system is demonstrated. Then we snag it with you and hand over the sheets, the as-builts and the warranties together.
How MEP services in Dubai run on our sites
Survey and load check
We measure the unit, trace what exists, then calculate the real electrical load and cooling need.
Drawings and approvals
Shop drawings go out for your sign-off, then onward to DEWA, Civil Defence and the building crew.
First fix, before closing
Containment, conduit, duct and pipework go in, get pressure tested and photographed, then closed.
Second fix and fit-out
Boards, fittings, grilles, sanitaryware and thermostats all go on once every finish is protected.
Testing, balancing, handover
Circuits tested, airflows balanced, fire system shown, then as-builts and test sheets are handed.
Drawings first
Shop drawings and as-built drawings are part of the price, not an extra, so the next contractor is not guessing.
Tested, not assumed
Testing and commissioning with recorded results: circuits, pressures, airflows and the fire system, all documented.
Approvals handled
DEWA, Dubai Municipality, DDA or Trakhees, Civil Defence and building management approval run by our own staff.
Snagging included
We walk the job with you, list what is outstanding and close it before the final account, not afterwards.
MEP cost in Dubai
There is no single MEP cost per sq ft Dubai figure that means anything across an apartment, an office and a restaurant, because the three have completely different service densities. Residential work is usually priced as a package per unit; commercial work is priced per square foot, because the desk count or the kitchen line-up is what actually drives the cable and the duct.
| Scope | Typical range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Full apartment MEP, 2 bedroom | AED 35,000 – 70,000 | Rewire, plumbing alterations, HVAC modifications |
| Full villa MEP | AED 90,000 – 250,000+ | Scale and whether the supply is upgraded |
| Office fit-out MEP | AED 90 – 220 / sq ft | Driven by power and data density |
| Restaurant MEP with kitchen extract | AED 180 – 380 / sq ft | Extract, make-up air, grease trap, drainage |
| Apartment rewire only | AED 18,000 – 45,000 | Circuit count and whether chasing is required |
| Distribution board upgrade | AED 3,500 – 12,000 | Higher where a DEWA application is needed |
| FCU replacement, per unit | AED 2,800 – 6,500 | Including ductwork adjustment and commissioning |
| Bathroom plumbing alteration | AED 4,500 – 12,000 | Depends on how far fixtures move |
| Authority submissions and NOCs | AED 3,000 – 15,000 | Varies by authority and scope |
What pushes a quotation up: a supply upgrade that needs a DEWA application, chasing concrete rather than running in a ceiling void, a kitchen extract route that has to reach the roof, and any scope that triggers a Civil Defence resubmission. What brings it down: keeping fixtures and plant where they already are, and letting the MEP and the fit-out run as one contract instead of two.
Everything is itemised by trade, so mechanical, electrical and plumbing can be phased or dropped independently. The free site visit and MEP quotation costs nothing and carries no obligation.
MEP services in Dubai — common questions
What is included in MEP works for a fit out?
Mechanical, electrical and plumbing. Mechanical is the AC and the ventilation — units, ducting, diffusers, extract and make-up air. Electrical is the distribution board, all power and lighting circuits, and the low-voltage side: data, CCTV, access control and fire-alarm wiring. Plumbing is water supply, drainage, sanitaryware and water heating. On a fit out the package also includes the shop drawings, the authority submissions, and the testing and commissioning at the end.
Do I need DEWA approval for electrical changes in my apartment?
Not for everything. Moving a socket, adding a light point or changing fittings inside your own unit does not need a DEWA application — but it does usually need building management approval, and the tower will ask for the contractor’s trade licence and insurance. A DEWA approval is needed once the incoming supply itself changes: a larger load, a meter change, or a new connection. We tell you which side of that line your job falls on at the survey, and we make the application where one is required.
How much does MEP cost per sq ft in Dubai?
For commercial work, an office fit-out runs AED 90–220 per sq ft and a restaurant with kitchen extract AED 180–380 per sq ft, because the kitchen carries most of the load. Residential is quoted as a package rather than per sq ft: AED 35,000–70,000 for a full two-bedroom apartment and AED 90,000–250,000+ for a villa. The variable is density — how many circuits, data points and drainage runs the space actually needs.
Do you handle Civil Defence approval for restaurants and offices?
Yes, end to end. We set out sprinkler coverage and detector spacing against your new layout, prepare the drawings, make the Dubai Civil Defence submission, attend the inspection and follow it through to the fire NOC. On a restaurant or an office that NOC is usually what the trade licence is waiting on, so we start it early rather than at handover.
Can you do MEP without doing the rest of the fit-out?
Yes. We take MEP-only packages where another contractor has the finishes, and we work to their programme and their ceiling drawings. It does mean coordination meetings rather than an internal conversation, so we ask for the architectural and ceiling drawings up front to catch clashes before anything is cut.
How long does MEP take on a two-bedroom apartment?
Roughly three to five weeks of MEP activity inside a longer renovation. First fix is about a week once the strip-out is done, then the work pauses while ceilings, plaster and tiling go on, and second fix plus testing is another week to ten days. Authority approvals run in parallel, which is why we start them at drawing stage.
Do you replace FCUs in apartments and offices?
Regularly. FCU replacement is AED 2,800–6,500 per unit including the ductwork adjustment, the drain, the valve and commissioning. In a tower on a chilled water system the isolation has to be agreed with the building engineer and is usually done outside business hours, which we arrange.
Can you find a leak without breaking the wall?
In most cases. We trace with thermal imaging and acoustic detection first, isolate the section, and only open up where the evidence points. That is cheaper than exploratory demolition and far less disruptive. Once the leak is fixed we pressure test the section before anything is closed back up.
Do you install smart home wiring and data cabling?
Yes, and the right time is at first fix. Smart home wiring, data and network cabling, CCTV and access control are all pulled while the ceilings and walls are open, then terminated and tested at second fix. Even if you are not fitting the devices now, running the cable while the ceiling is open costs a fraction of doing it later.
Will you provide as-built drawings at the end?
Always. You get as-built drawings showing what actually went in and where, the test and commissioning sheets, and the equipment warranties. It is the documentation that makes the next alteration cheap instead of exploratory, and surprisingly few contractors hand it over.
Which areas of Dubai do you cover?
All of it. Most of our MEP works are in Business Bay, DIFC, JLT, Al Quoz, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Jebel Ali, Dubai Marina, Dubai Hills and Damac Hills, and we go out to Sharjah and Abu Dhabi where the project justifies it. Building management approval, permits and access arrangements are handled by us.
Do you offer AC maintenance after the installation?
Yes. AC maintenance and AC servicing — coil and drain cleaning, filter changes, gas and performance checks — can be set up as a recurring visit after handover. Most failures we get called to are drains and filters rather than compressors, and both are preventable on a schedule.
Standards and authorities we work to
Useful if you want to check a requirement, an approval route or a design standard for yourself before committing to anything.
Where these requirements come from
The authorities that approve MEP work in Dubai, and the design standard behind the mechanical side.
Get an MEP quotation
Send a floor plan, a lease drawing or a few photographs of the ceiling void and the DB, and we will tell you roughly where it lands. Book the free site visit and MEP quotation for a fixed figure, a drawing schedule and an approvals programme in writing.
