DHA wants the location and floor plan in your licence application, so your choice of unit comes before the licence. A unit that fails later leaves you with rent and no clinic.
DHA's licensing manual lists what a new facility licence application needs, and two items depend on the premises: the location with its Makani number, and a floor plan designed and approved by a prequalified health facility design consultant.
So you cannot leave the unit until after you apply. You also do not want to sign before you know it works. The answer is to have a consultant test the unit while the lease is still unsigned, or to agree terms that let you walk away if it fails. Take legal advice on those terms.
Once issued, the inactive facility licence lasts one year. If the build runs past that without renewal, DHA can cancel the process and you re-apply, so your lease start date and your fit-out plan should fit inside that window.
DHA's Health Facility Guidelines recognise three planning models for outpatient services. The last two are the usual choices for a private clinic.
| Model | What it means | What to look at first |
|---|---|---|
| Within a hospital | A unit inside a hospital or on its campus, sharing its support services | Which support services you can really share |
| Integrated | A private practice inside a commercial development, such as a shopping centre, office building, hotel or school | Landlord consent, the route from the car park to your door, and rules on signage and works |
| Stand-alone | Not connected with a hospital or commercial facility | Staff rooms, cleaners' room and waste areas you can no longer share, plus entry, drop-off and parking |
A clinic inside a hotel or company is a separate question. DHA classifies hotel and company clinics under general clinics and sets its own team rules for them, so check whether your model falls there.
DHA does not set one size for every clinic, and it says room sizes should be viewed as a minimum. Its sample schedule for an outpatient unit with three consult rooms and a treatment area comes to 174.9 m², including 32% for circulation. Staff rooms are additional in a stand-alone unit.
Check usable area, not the area on the tenancy contract. Columns, risers and awkward shapes can take away more than you expect. Some services also need dedicated rooms, so your service list changes the answer: DHA says dental, ENT and ophthalmology cannot share.
Walk the unit as a patient would, starting from the car or the street. DHA's documents ask for:
DHA licenses facilities subject to the Dubai Universal Design Code as well as its own guidelines. Access problems often come with the building and may be impossible to fit out. Find them early.
These points sit outside DHA's application and vary by building, so get the answers in writing. This list is our view, not a regulator's:
If you later need to move, DHA has a paid change of location service, but you will go through new drawings and inspection. That is another reason to get the first unit right.
HealthcareSetup UAE tests and manages premises as part of its clinic builds. If you have not picked an area yet, start with where to open a clinic in Dubai.
DHA's manual asks for location details with a Makani number and a floor plan from a prequalified consultant in the new facility licence application, so you need an identified unit first.
DHA's Health Facility Guidelines describe an integrated private practice inside a commercial development, such as a shopping centre, office building, hotel or school, as one of its planning models. The landlord, building rules and your service list still need checking.
DHA's documents we reviewed do not give a simple yes or no for villas. Stand-alone units are a recognised model, but zoning, landlord and municipality rules also apply. Ask DHA and your consultant about the specific property before you commit.
It is Dubai's official address number. DHA's licensing manual asks for it along with your location details when you apply for a new facility licence.
A DHA-prequalified health facility design consultant draws the plan. HealthcareSetup UAE manages premises and layout approval as part of a clinic build, and Pharmareg UAE handles DHA licensing. Both are brands of the same company and publish this guide.
Company formation, DHA licensing, premises and layout approval, the clinical team and systems, run as one project and handed over ready for the first patient.
healthcaresetup.ae ↗Regulatory affairs in the UAE: DHA facility and professional licensing, NABIDH, inspection readiness, and pharmaceutical and medical device registration.
pharmareguae.com ↗