Al Reem Island, Abu Dhabi
Al Reem Island apartment renovation: three approvals, three offices
Reem moved into ADGM's jurisdiction in April 2023. ADGM contributes a strata consent but writes no building permits, so the permit is still DMT's, and each tower's Owners Union signs off the works as well. We map all three before a contractor quotes.
Approvals on Reem
Al Reem Island apartment renovation: who approves what?
An Al Reem Island apartment renovation passes more desks than the same job on the mainland, because the island changed jurisdiction on 24 April 2023. From that day ADGM's real estate framework has covered Reem, and ADGM signed a memorandum with DMT to move real estate services into its enlarged territory. Building control stayed put: ADGM writes no building permits.
Who approves a renovation in an Al Reem Island apartment?
Three parties, each for its own part. ADGM supplies the strata consent, under by-law 3(2) of its Strata Title Regulations 2015. The tower's Owners Union approves the works in writing; in the eight Reem communities that Aldar Estates manages, the signature is the Owners Union Director's. The permit itself is issued by the Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT), applied for on TAMM, with Tasareeh checking the file on the plots it covers. Cosmetic work takes a maintenance permit, in the contractor's name, on a 7 working day clock; moving a wall takes a building permit, in a design consultant's name, on a clock of 10.
Which company runs your Reem tower?
Several developers built Reem, and the approval desk follows the developer. Aldar Estates manages eight communities on the island, among them Gate & Arc, a three-tower development joined at the roof in Shams Abu Dhabi, and The Bridges 2, and Aldar's own Reflection is an apartment development. Asteco's community management page describes City of Lights, 60 towers of which 52 are residential, and Marina Square, a mixed-use community of 70 acres. Reem Hills belongs to Modon Holding, the company Q Holding became, which also lists Muheira, Tara Park and Maysan on the island; IMKAN's Makers District is here too.
How much each desk publishes varies widely. Aldar's handbooks repeat one clause in every community: no alteration, addition or renovation goes ahead until the Owners Union Director has signed it off in writing, and that binds occupiers as well as owners. Modon publishes no renovation route at all; its owner portal at customer.modon.com offers a free-text ticket and, before login, no NOC request type. IMKAN names no manager or owner portal. Reem Hills is also the island's exception on stock, adding villas and townhouses to the towers, and Modon says its homes there can be fully owned by all nationalities.
Tower rules: cutoffs, lift slots and access cards
The handbooks set the working day, and on Reem it changes from tower to tower. At Gate & Arc the quiet period on a working day lasts from 8 PM until 8:30 the next morning, and at weekends and on public holidays until 10 AM. Moves there get the lifts from 9 AM to 1 PM on weekdays and from 8 AM to 8 PM at weekends, in slots of up to two hours that must be booked five or more business days ahead, and the community office keeps 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM, Monday to Friday. The Bridges 2, whose handbook took effect on 1 December 2019, stops noisy works at 6 PM but lets moves run until 8 PM.
Two figures in the Gate & Arc welcome pack are easy to misread. The AED 262.50, VAT included, buys a building and car-park access card; it is not a works deposit. On deposits the Aldar handbooks go no further than saying an owner might have to lodge a refundable sum. The same handbooks allow an unapproved structure on common areas to be demolished once 14 days' notice in writing has passed, with the owner paying, legal fees included.
Which permit does a Reem apartment job need?
The maintenance permit's own wording is the test. Maintenance, improvement or decoration is covered as long as the interior spaces keep their shape, nothing is opened up in the existing building and the structure is untouched. The applicant is the contractor, who has to be on the Municipal Electronic Classification System's register already, and the 7 working days break into two days of desk review and five for inspecting the site. Where Tasareeh is the reviewer, its fee schedule lists AED 2,000 for the permit and AED 1,200 to extend the authorised hours.
Move a wall and the file changes hands: the job becomes a building permit for internal modifications, which only a design consultant may apply for. The Abu Dhabi permits page sets out both routes for the whole emirate.
ADGM's part, and where it stops
ADGM's contribution is a consent, not a permit. The consent a renovation needs comes from by-law 3(2) of its Strata Title Regulations 2015, and ADGM delivers its real estate services through AccessRP and its service centre on the concourse of The Galleria mall. It publishes no fit-out manual. The single fit-out line on its fee schedule is a Temporary Fit Out Security Clearance at AED 100, listed among the operating permits on ACCESSADGM, where a contractor without an ADGM licence can hold a guest account. ADGM does not say which home renovations need that clearance.
What does an Al Reem Island apartment renovation cost?
None of the companies whose apartment bands sit on our price guide publishes one for Abu Dhabi, which is why Reem quotes are confirmed per emirate, and we do not pass Dubai's figures off as local ones. As a reference only: Vision Three's Dubai figure to refresh a studio or one-bedroom flat is AED 35,000 to 80,000, its mid-range two-bedroom figure runs to AED 350,000, and ASM Interiors' entry tier for flats of up to two bedrooms starts at AED 15,000.
The approvals carry their own costs: AED 2,000 for the maintenance permit where Tasareeh reviews, AED 100 if ADGM's clearance applies, and whatever the Owners Union charges, which Aldar does not publish. The price guide keeps an Abu Dhabi line for exactly this reason.
Questions
Al Reem Island questions
- Does ADGM issue renovation permits on Reem?
- No. Since 24 April 2023 ADGM's framework has covered Reem's real estate, but building permits were never part of what moved: the maintenance or building permit still runs through TAMM to DMT, with Tasareeh reviewing on the plots in its scope.
- Can a tenant commission the work?
- Through the paperwork, yes. The maintenance permit takes an assignment letter from whoever appoints the contractor, and a renter is one of the four parties it names; TAMM's document list also asks for a registered lease. The Owners Union's sign-off still binds the flat, so get the owner's consent on paper before anything is filed.
- Are Reem Hills homes under the same rules?
- The permit route is the same DMT route. The community layer is not published: asked about adding a villa pool, Modon's FAQ answers 'subject to the applicable community guidelines and approval requirements' without naming the guidelines or the approver. Put the question to Modon through its customer portal before paying for a design.
- What does starting without approval cost?
- Under Article 72 of Abu Dhabi's Law No. 3 of 2015, as the Aldar handbooks apply it, work that starts before the Review Committee has approved it is halted and fined AED 10,000. Each further 30 days without an application adds AED 400 to 4,000.
- Can a foreigner own a flat on Reem?
- Reem is one of the nine Abu Dhabi areas the UAE government portal lists for foreign ownership. The title type still matters for a renovation: under Abu Dhabi's Law No. 19 of 2005 a musataha carries the right to alter a property, while a usufruct carries only the right to use it.
Who you are dealing with
- OperatorWebsiteOS LLC
- Licence2646567.01
- Cost to homeownerNone
- Figures datedSeptember 2026
Tell us about your Reem apartment
Tower, developer, unit size and what you want changed. We come back with the approvals your tower needs and contractors who quote against the published bands, and we show you where each quote sits against them.