Property Valuation in the UAE: How the Rules Differ Across the Seven Emirates

There is no single rulebook for property valuation in the United Arab Emirates. Real estate is largely regulated emirate by emirate, so the licence you need, the authority you answer to and the official channels available all depend on where the property sits. Dubai and Abu Dhabi have detailed published rules for valuers. For the other emirates, far less is published in English, and some of it is only visible through the government services on offer.

This guide is written for valuation firms that work across the UAE, or plan to. It sets out what applies nationally, what we could verify for each of the seven emirates, and where you need to ask the regulator directly. We say plainly where we found no published rule: that does not mean that no rule exists.

What applies across the UAE

We did not find a federal law that licenses property valuers. Licensing sits at emirate level in the emirates where we found a published regime. Three things do cut across the emirates.

• Central Bank rules on mortgage valuations. The Central Bank of the UAE's Regulations Regarding Mortgage Loans (Circular 31/2013, as amended) require an independent on-site valuation by a professional third party before any irrevocable commitment to lend. The valuer must be independent of the borrower, the seller, the developer or contractor and the loan decision. Each bank and finance company should have a board-approved list of independent valuers, and reports should not reflect expected future price growth.
• International standards. The International Valuation Standards (IVS) and, for RICS members and RICS-regulated firms, the RICS Red Book apply wherever those firms work. They sit alongside local law and do not replace a local licence.
• Capital markets. The Securities and Commodities Authority became the Capital Market Authority on 1 January 2026. Valuations for capital market transactions or funds may carry their own requirements, and older guidance will still use the former name. Check the current rules for the specific transaction.

Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi has the most detailed regime after Dubai, and the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre publishes the texts.

• A licence is mandatory. Law No. 3 of 2015 bars anyone from acting as a valuer, or presenting themselves as one, without a licence. Article 77 provides for up to six months' imprisonment and/or a fine of AED 50,000 to AED 200,000. Law No. 2 of 2025, which amends it, keeps appraisers among the licensed professions.
• Register and card. Decision No. 248 of 2015 sets up a register of appraisers and a practitioner card. Reports may not be presented to a private or public authority unless the appraiser is licensed and registered, and the appraiser's name and registration number must appear on correspondence and reports.
• Independence and records. Law No. 3 of 2015 requires a written agreement and total independence from the contracting party. The valuer must keep a register of appraisals recording the property, the value, the appraisal type, the method and the assumptions. Decision No. 248 of 2015 adds a work file for each assignment and records of the reports and files for the last five years.
• Procedure. Decision No. 284 of 2015 on real estate appraisal policy requires, unless the appraisal is based on a government action, the owner's written consent, and a check of the data supplied against the real estate register. It describes comparison, income, cost, discounted cash flow and residual methods, limits disclosure of the report to the applicant, and states that the Property Appraisal Certificate is valid for 30 days.

Separate rules can apply inside the Abu Dhabi Global Market free zone. Its rulebook has its own provisions on real property professionals, so check it before taking work there.

Dubai

Valuers and firms must be registered with the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA), and regulations set the minimum report content and require records to be kept for at least five years. The Dubai Land Department's valuation guide states that Dubai aligns its practice with IVS. We cover this in full in Valuing Property in Dubai.

Sharjah

The Sharjah Real Estate Registration Department handles property registration, and a recent report on its new Muwaileh branch lists property valuation among its services. We did not find a published regime in English for private valuers. Confirm with the department whether a private report will be accepted for your purpose, and what registration is needed.

Ajman

The Department of Land and Real Estate Regulation was established under Amiri Decree No. 7 of 2017 and offers an official valuation service. A 2024 decree is reported to make the Evaluation and Reconciliation Committee the sole body for property valuation in the emirate, using standards from the department, so ask whether a private report can serve your purpose. The government service catalogue also lists a per-report fee to accredit valuation reports from real estate offices, so ask whether your report needs that accreditation.

Ras Al Khaimah

The Real Estate Regulatory Administration sits within RAK Municipality. Official valuations are issued by the committee responsible for real estate valuation at the Municipal Council. RAKEZ, the economic zone authority, refers to a law regulating the appraisal profession in the emirate and says that a company licence and an official valuation certificate serve different purposes. We could not obtain that law's text, so confirm the requirements with the Municipality.

Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain

We found the least published information for these two emirates. Fujairah's land and property functions sit within Fujairah Municipality. In Umm Al Quwain, the Land and Property Department is reported to list estimates of land and property among its services, and several real estate laws were issued in 2023. We found no published English-language regime for private valuers in either emirate, so ask the authority directly before accepting an instruction.

Five checks before you accept a UAE instruction

1. Where is the property? Do not assume that a licence or registration in one emirate carries over to another, and check separately for free zones.
2. Who will rely on the report? A bank, a court, a land department and an auditor can each expect something different. If a bank is involved, ask whether you are on its approved list.
3. Is an official certificate needed? In some emirates a government committee issues official valuations, so a private report may not serve that purpose.
4. Which standards apply? Agree the basis of value and the standards in writing, and note any local requirement that sits on top of IVS or the Red Book.
5. What must be kept, and for how long? Dubai and Abu Dhabi both refer to five years, and Abu Dhabi also requires a register of appraisals. Where you find no stated period, set one in your own procedures.

The common ground is a contemporaneous file: the agreement with the client, independence checks, inspection records, evidence, method, assumptions and the report. A good valuation audit trail holds most of that. RICS members can read what the Red Book requires alongside the local rules above.

Where a platform helps

InterVal is valuation report software for firms working to RICS and IVS standards. It incorporates the 2025 RICS, IVS and IFRS standards, guides each assignment from conflict check and terms of engagement through inspection records and valuation methods to the report, and builds the audit trail as the work is done. For a firm working across several emirates, that means one consistent process for the common ground above.

Its templating system stores your templates for different contracts, clients and jobs, so your firm can keep its local wording and details in one place. Your valuers keep the judgement and the professional responsibility. If you are weighing InterVal for UAE work, tell us during the demo which emirates and requirements matter most to your firm.

The bottom line

In the UAE, start with the emirate. Abu Dhabi and Dubai publish detailed rules, Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah run official valuation channels, and elsewhere you may need to ask the authority directly. Across all of them, a disciplined file built to IVS and, where it applies, the Red Book gives you the common ground. The local items then have to be added deliberately.

This guide is provided for general information and reflects the sources we reviewed at the date of publication, some of them secondary. Where we say we found no published rule, a rule may still exist, including in Arabic or in unpublished circulars. It is not legal advice: confirm current requirements with the relevant authority or a local adviser before relying on them.