Terms and conditions — Abdulla Carpentry EST
The terms on which this website is provided, and the general basis on which we quote and carry out work. Last updated 25 September 2026.
About these terms and conditions
These terms and conditions govern quotations issued by, and work carried out by, Abdulla Carpentry EST, trading as ACE, a licensed fit out and renovation contractor established in Dubai in 1984 and operating from 32b Street, Ras Al Khor Industrial Area 2, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Our trade licence number and TRN appear on every quotation and tax invoice we issue. You are welcome to verify our licence with Dubai Economy and Tourism before appointing us, and we would encourage you to do the same with any contractor you are considering.
These terms and conditions apply together with the quotation and bill of quantities issued for your project. Where a signed contract, a main contractor’s subcontract or a client’s own purchase order says something different, that document takes precedence over these terms and conditions for that project only.
Quotations and validity
Every quotation is valid for 30 days from its date of issue. After 30 days we may reissue it, because material prices, supplier lead times and labour availability in Dubai move within that window.
Quotations are prepared from a site survey and measurements taken by our team, together with the drawings, lease documents or fit-out manual you provide. The bill of quantities (BOQ) attached to the quotation defines what is priced: quantities, specifications and finishes. Anything not listed in the BOQ is not included in the price.
The site visit, the survey and measurements, the quotation and the BOQ are provided free of charge and without obligation. Prices are quoted in UAE dirhams and are exclusive of VAT unless the quotation states otherwise.
Scope of works
The scope of works is what the bill of quantities describes, and nothing beyond it. We set it out line by line precisely so that both sides can see what is in and what is out before anything is signed.
Unless the BOQ says otherwise, our scope excludes: items supplied directly by you, works by other contractors on the same site, authority fees paid on your behalf, furniture and loose items, and making good to areas outside the working zone. Where the BOQ carries a provisional sum or a prime cost item, that figure is an allowance and is adjusted to the actual cost once the selection is confirmed.
Where drawings and the BOQ disagree, the BOQ governs the price and we will raise the discrepancy with you in writing before proceeding rather than assume which one you meant.
Payment terms
Unless your quotation states otherwise, payment is in three stages: 50% advance payment on acceptance of the quotation, 40% as stage payments against progress on site, and the final 10% on handover.
The advance payment covers procurement. Materials, joinery carcasses and long-lead items are ordered against it, which is why work does not begin until it clears. Stage payments fall due as the milestones in the programme are reached and are invoiced with a tax invoice showing our TRN.
The final 10% becomes due on handover, after snagging is completed and the handover documents are issued. Retaining it until then is your protection, not a formality. Invoices are payable within 7 days of issue. We may suspend work on overdue amounts, having given you written notice first, and any resulting delay is not counted against our programme.
Variations and additional works
Any change to the agreed scope — a different finish, an added room, a moved wall, an upgraded specification — is handled through a written variation order. The variation order states what is changing, what it costs and what it does to the programme.
We do not carry out additional works on a verbal instruction and add them to the final bill. A variation order is priced and approved by you in writing before the work is done, and it is signed by both sides. This is the single most common source of disputes in Dubai fit-out projects, and a signed piece of paper before the work removes it entirely.
Where a variation is required by an authority — a condition imposed at permit stage, for example — we will tell you as soon as we know, price it, and wait for your approval unless the work is a life-safety matter that cannot wait.
Project timelines
Project timelines are issued with the quotation and run from site possession, not from the date you accept the quotation. The programme shows approval dates alongside build dates, because on most projects the approvals take longer than the building work.
We commit to the programme and we work to it. Where a delay is caused by something outside our control, the programme is extended by the period lost, without penalty to us. Those causes are: approval times at Dubai Municipality, Civil Defence, DEWA, a free zone authority or your developer; denial or restriction of site access; building management rules on working hours, lift bookings or noise; material availability and shipping delays; variations you instruct; delay in your decisions or selections; late payment; and events genuinely beyond either party’s control.
We will notify you in writing when any of these arises, with the revised date, rather than let a programme quietly slip.
Approvals and permits
We prepare, submit and chase the approvals your project needs: Dubai Municipality building permits, Dubai Civil Defence, DEWA, and the relevant free zone authority — DDA, Trakhees, DMCC or JAFZA — where the unit sits in one. We also obtain developer and building management approvals where required.
An NOC from the landlord or owners’ association is required before work starts in most leased units and most towers. We will prepare the drawings and information the NOC application needs, but the NOC is issued to you as the owner or tenant, and we cannot compel a landlord, developer or owners’ association to grant one or to grant it quickly.
Authority fees, permit fees, deposits and hoarding charges are payable by you at cost unless the BOQ states that they are included. Approval lead times are outside our control and are treated under project timelines above.
Client responsibilities
For the programme to hold, a few things are yours. You provide clear and safe access to the property for the agreed working hours, and tell us in advance about any building management restriction on hours, lifts, parking or noise.
You make material selections and decisions by the dates in the programme. Late selections push the programme, because stone, tiles, veneer and imported sanitaryware have lead times we cannot compress. You obtain the landlord or owners’ association NOC, and you settle invoices when they fall due.
Where you supply items yourself — client-supplied items such as appliances, sanitaryware or light fittings — you are responsible for their specification, quality, delivery on time and any warranty on them. We will install them with care, but we do not warrant goods we did not supply, and we are not liable for a delay or a redesign caused by a client-supplied item arriving late, damaged or not fitting the space.
Materials and warranty
Materials are supplied to the specification in the bill of quantities. Natural materials — timber, veneer, stone, marble — vary in grain, tone and figure between batches, and a reasonable variation from a sample is a property of the material rather than a defect. Where a specified item becomes unavailable, we will propose an equivalent in writing and wait for your approval before ordering.
We provide a 12-month warranty on workmanship from the date of handover. If something we built or installed fails within that period because of how it was made or fitted, we return and correct it at our cost.
Manufacturer warranties on appliances, hardware, sanitaryware and equipment pass to you and run for whatever period the manufacturer gives. The workmanship warranty does not cover fair wear and tear, misuse or accidental damage, work altered by others after handover, failure to maintain the property normally, or client-supplied items.
Cancellation and refunds
You may cancel before work begins. Where nothing has been ordered or manufactured, the advance payment is refunded in full less any design, drawing or survey work already carried out at your request.
Once materials have been ordered or joinery has been cut, those costs are committed and are not refundable. Custom joinery is made to your dimensions and cannot be resold, so it is charged in full once manufacture has started. Cancellation part-way through a project is settled on the value of work completed and materials procured to that date, evidenced by supplier invoices.
If we cancel — which is rare, and usually because access or approvals make the work impossible — we refund everything you have paid less the value of work already completed and materials already committed to your project.
Liability, snagging and handover
We carry liability for the work we do. Where we damage the property or a third party’s property through our own negligence, we put it right, and we hold insurance for that purpose.
Our total liability for any project is limited to the value of the contract for that project. We are not liable for indirect or consequential loss — loss of profit, loss of rent, loss of business, delayed opening revenue — arising from a delay or a defect, and we are not liable for defects in client-supplied items or in work carried out by others.
Nothing in these terms and conditions limits liability that cannot lawfully be limited under UAE law, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.
Snagging is carried out jointly before handover. You inspect, we list what needs correcting, and we correct it before the final 10% falls due. Items raised after handover are dealt with under the 12-month workmanship warranty rather than as snagging.
Governing law
These terms and conditions, and any contract formed under them, are governed by the laws of the United Arab Emirates as applied in the Emirate of Dubai, including the Federal Civil Transactions Law.
Any dispute is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of Dubai, unless the project sits within a free zone whose own jurisdiction applies. Before anyone goes near a court, we would much rather sit down and resolve it — in nearly forty years that has settled almost everything.
If any clause of these terms and conditions is found to be unenforceable, the rest continue to apply. We may update these terms and conditions as our services change; the version published on this page at the time your quotation is issued is the version that applies to your project.
The authorities behind these terms
These terms and conditions refer to real licences, permits and courts. Every one of them can be checked directly.
Contact us
If anything on this page is unclear, ask us before you sign rather than after. A person will answer you.
Abdulla Carpentry EST (ACE)
32b Street, Ras Al Khor Industrial Area 2, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Email: contact@abdullacarpentryest.ae
Phone and WhatsApp: 056-5608073
Last updated: 25 September 2026.
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