Under Dubai's Law No. 26 of 20071, maintenance and repairs of defects that affect your use of the property fall to the landlord, unless the parties agree otherwise3. Because a tenancy contract can move that duty, the answer for your home depends on your lease as well as the law.
What does the law actually say?
Article 16: unless otherwise agreed, the landlord is responsible during the lease for maintenance works and for repairing any defect or damage that may affect the tenant's intended use of the property3. Two parts of that matter. The duty is the landlord's by default, and the test is whether the fault affects the use you rented the home for. In a Dubai summer, an air conditioner that has stopped cooling clearly does.
The tenant's side comes next. Article 19: the tenant must pay the rent on its due dates and maintain the property as an ordinary person would maintain their own property4. And at the end of the lease, Article 21: when the lease ends, the tenant hands the property back in the condition it was received, except for ordinary wear and tear or damage caused by reasons beyond the tenant's control5.
The law was amended in 2008, but not these articles: Law No. 33 of 2008 supersedes Articles 2, 3, 4, 9, 13, 14, 15, 25, 26, 29 and 36 of Law No. 26 of 2007, leaving Articles 16, 19 and 21 as originally issued2.
In practice, keeping the unit in reasonable order, cleaning included, is ordinary care by the tenant. A compressor that fails, a leak in the pipework or a system that cannot cool the flat falls to the landlord by default.
Show the data as a table
| Item | Low | High | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Filter cleaning (routine care) | 50 | 150 | Bestimate, AC cleaning Dubai prices |
| Maintenance visit (routine care) | 150 | 350+ | Bestimate, AC maintenance Dubai cost guide |
| Common part replaced (repair) | 250 | 900+ | Bestimate, AC repair Dubai cost guide |
| Fan motor or PCB (repair) | 450 | 1,500+ | Bestimate, AC repair Dubai cost guide |
Sources: Bestimate, AC cleaning Dubai prices; Bestimate, AC maintenance Dubai cost guide; Bestimate, AC repair Dubai cost guide. Industry figures are published ranges, not quotes.
Which side of Articles 16 and 19 a job falls on depends on the fault and on your lease. The labels show the usual pattern, not a legal ruling.
Does the law set a money limit for small repairs?
No. Article 16 names no amount. If a lease makes the tenant pay for repairs up to a set figure, that limit comes from the lease clause, not from the law, and a clause in someone else's lease says nothing about yours.
It works both ways. A lease can hand small repairs to you, because the article begins with "unless otherwise agreed". But the limit has to be in your contract. If it is not written down, it is not your obligation.
What if the lease says the tenant maintains the AC?
Then that is what you agreed to, and villa leases often say so. Read whether the clause covers maintenance only or repairs as well. Cleaning a coil twice a year and replacing a compressor cost very different amounts, and a clause that only mentions servicing does not obviously cover the second.
Check the other direction too. A Dubai price guide points out that some Dubai leases keep AC servicing with the landlord6. If yours does, a maintenance contract in your own name pays for work the landlord already owes, so read the lease before you buy one.
The AC has failed. What now?
- Find the maintenance clause in your tenancy contract and read it before you call anyone.
- Report the fault to the landlord or agent in writing, with the date and what has stopped working.
- Ask for a repair by a stated date. In summer, a reasonable deadline is short.
- Keep every message, invoice, quote and the technician's written diagnosis. If you end up paying for something the contract puts on the landlord, that paper trail supports your claim.
- Do not approve a large repair on the promise of repayment. Get the landlord's agreement in writing first.
If the bill is yours
Then the question becomes price. A single service visit and a full annual contract cost very different amounts, and knowing what the fault needs protects you from an upsell. Start with AC repair costs in Dubai, and if the unit keeps losing cooling, read what a gas refill should cost before agreeing to another top-up.
A plain-English summary of published law, not legal advice. For a dispute about your own tenancy contract, get advice on its exact wording.