When you’re moving into a high-rise apartment in Dubai, you’ll have to rely on some of the factors that don’t come with a moving quote. Not the truck size. Not the number of boxes! A service lift slot, a permit which is not approved in a developer site, a ramp for a 3 tonne vehicle which is a few centimetres too low. Those are the things that can make a 5 hour job into a 2 day job.
We have been contacted to a tower in Dubai Marina at 8:50AM for a lift slot at 9:00AM and the NOC (landlord) has then been submitted as a photo rather than a PDF and held at the barrier. The furniture was in carts.Carts of furniture. The truck was loaded up. The building responded with a no. That’s the aspect of a Dubai tower relocate that not one individual informs you regarding and also it could be prevented.
Most of the people plan to move around the time of the date of their handover or their Ejari. Wrong anchor. The actual day that counts in a managed Dubai tower would be the day that the building management grants the moving crew the date that they move in, because without the date in their hands, the security wouldn’t let the moving crew into the tower.
All Dubai’s managed buildings and gated communities are like that. This move-in NOC (also known as a permit) gives permission for your office movers to go into your property, use the loading bay and service elevator. The one thing that is most likely to have a Dubai move fail is not turning up without it.
The approval process varies from one to another. Once the tenant’s file is complete, Emaar does its best to process the application within 2-3 working days via the community’s portal. There are three processes, one for each company (Nakheel, DMCC and independent building management companies). Towers in Stricter Downtown and Business Bay could take a week or more to approve, and some Emaar towers limit moves to one per building per day.
Use the default of 5-7 days prior to the day you are applying. If moving at the end of the month or on a weekend make it ten. Those are slots everybody else desires as well.
Most tenants won’t be able to imagine that the document list is longer than it is and one missing document will slow down the application:
Active Ejari certificate. Most developer portals automatically reject the expired or unregistered Ejari. This is the #1 reason why they get delayed.
An apartment owner’s NO CO confirming you are able to come live in and occupy the apartment.
A copy of the tenant/owner’s Emirates ID or passport.
The trade licence of your moving company.
Move insurance policy – Third Party Liability Insurance Certificate from the mover. Typical Emaar communities have a demand for a cover of AED 1 million.
Paid bills including phone, electricity, gas, water and other services. In several communities permit issuance will be denied if there are outstanding dues on the unit.
Take note how many of those are not products of your own. The two are from your moving company. When you’re getting quotes from licensed moving companies Dubai, be sure to inquire for the trade licence and insurance certificate, but not on the day of the move.
This is the part that befuddles people moving from villas, or from outside the UAE: The permit entitles you to access the building. The approval for the lift booking is not included.
For a residential tower, one move elevator is likely to be used for moves. One. It’s an extremely limited resource in a 60-floor building with 500 units: that lift is allocated in fixed windows, typically two to four hours, typically within a 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM window on a weekday, in the building’s interior. Some towers have padding on the interior of the lift and charge for damage to the padding.
If you miss your window, you can’t just run late. You have to stand in the rear of the line which may not be opened again until the following working day.
For this reason we make the plan to tower moves backwards from the lift slot and not forwards from the packing. For example if you’re in a slot of 9am-1pm in a JLT cluster, the truck must be loaded and standing at the loading bay before 9am, which means that if you’re packing it the truck must be packed before a week, which is the survey date. All the steps upstream are triggered by that 4-hour window.
Slots slip. As you are moving forward, there is a lift in front of you which is moving over you, and a security change of schedule is made. There are two lines of defense to guard you.
Wherever possible use the buffer day during the overlap of the lease. For instance, if you have some load on the truck, then you need to have a contingency plan for that load. While you are negotiating with building management, furniture is not going to be able to sit in 45°C heat in the car. There is a solution to this and it is called short term storage and not having to spend a second full crew callout for to replace the sofa is a lot less expensive than one of the two day storage periods in Dubai.
This one is a “catch it all” and it is physics.
The base of Dubai towers are used for cars. Overhead clearances on access ramps will not be for three tonne or seven tonne moving trucks, it will be for saloons and suvs. If a vehicle can’t go over the ramp, it can’t go to the loading bay next to the service lift — so the crew has to park at surface level, and then load and unload the service lift (in some cases 60 or 80 metres away and in direct sunlight).
That Shuttle is an expensive time and manpower consumption. This also affects the price. When the moving company quotes without even touring the area, they are taking a chance and that is where the gap will be filled.
The solution is to pre-move survey the three things; ramp clearance, turning radius on the ramp into the loading bay and if the loading bay slot you are given by your permit is on one side of the service lift or the other. This is a constant problem in dense districts: there are several towers there that have loading that means the truck has to be in a public facing bay for a very short time and if it doesn’t, it gets a ticket.
Where the truck is to be parked on a footpath or in public parking next to the tower, an RTA right-of-way permit could be required in addition to the building permit. This is a standalone application that will take an additional time to lead.
They are selling three items: The Lift Cabin, the Corridor, and the Furniture That Won’t Fit.
Typically, service lifts in towers in Dubai are spacious. Usually. However, usually isn’t a plan.
Before move day you should measure 3 things: Service lift internal depth, clear door opening width, smallest turn between the service lift lobby and your apartment door. More furniture can be stopped in Dubai by corner turns than lifts can be, a 3 seater fitted in the cabin diagonally can be stopped by a 90 degree turn in the corridor outside a fire door.
Wardrobes taller than 2.2m will be provided with number 3 support as well.
Split sofas are a great option, but when you can’t, consider a corner or L-shaped sofa.
Fixed (with non-removable) dining tables
Older towers such as Marina and JBR have mattresses that are bigger than king.
Through-the-door fridges that fit through standard apartment doorframes (American style)
That’s not the solution with the balcony or window cranes! The building management in Dubai high-rises usually won’t allow your external lifting and the buildings that may allow you to lift it out of the building will need to be given engineering approval (which takes a lot longer than your move window)! The logical thing to do is to take them apart, off their legs, wardrobes flat-packed, sofas taken apart at the frame, and then put them back together on the upper floors. It should be a standard part of any moving company’s day-to-day operations that they offer apartment moving in Dubai, no matter whether it be a surprise on the day or not.
This book outlines the limitations of the budget and explains the process for making deposits and securing insurance.
The security deposit that is returned if the applicable items are returned in good condition. Lift padding and flooring in lobby and walls in corridors, loading bay, etc. are protected by building a deposit to prevent damage. Normally between AED 500 – 2000 (may be paid in cheque form depending on tower). It returns following a post-move inspection (typically a walkthrough with building supervisor).
Processing fee (Non-refundable). It does exist, though it is smaller, and it’s different for different management companies.
There’s insurance, too. The third-party liability cover of your mover protects your building’s common areas. It is not insurance to cover personal property while it is being transported. They’re two separate policies and many tenants find out the difference when they scratch a marble work top. Write a letter to the crew asking which one is applicable to which.
As part of the job we run the permit process and coordination of lifts with the tenant, as the tenant is typically the one who can’t find a building supervisor at the worst time of the week.
All high-rise moves begin with a survey to determine the access route, which means the gap in the ramp, bay location, dimensions of the lift cabin, turns in the corridor, and more – NOT the apartment itself. Our crews can bring the trade licence and liability documentation securing security of our building demands. All dismantling/reassembly is done in-house, lift interiors and corridors are protected before any item is removed and packing debris is taken out rather than left in the bin room.
We’ve been operating in Dubai Marina, JLT, JBR, Downtown, Business Bay, Palm Jumeirah, JVC, Dubai Hills, Al Barsha and Mirdif for 15+ years and have had a lot of experience in the moving process.
Call +971 56 248 2804 or request a free survey and fixed quote. If you can send us the name of the building and the floor, we should be able to tell you what your move-day will look like!
