RERA and DLD compliance checklist for Dubai brokerages (2026)

A Dubai brokerage needs a brokerage licence registered with Dubai Land Department (DLD), which gives the office its registration number (ORN), and a broker card with its own number (BRN) for every agent who deals with clients. Every advert needs a RERA permit from Trakheesi, sales run on the smart contracts A, B and F, off-plan projects may be marketed once they are registered with an escrow account and a permit, and the UAE's anti-money laundering rules apply to the sales you broker. Since February 2026, calling owners who are not your clients can cost AED 50,000.

Who regulates a Dubai brokerage

Dubai Land Department regulates brokers through its Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA). RERA's Real Estate Brokerage Practice Guide, in its second edition of November 2024, gathers the rules, circulars and systems a broker works with, and DLD publishes newer circulars on its rules and regulations page. Two DLD systems sit under almost everything:

• Trakheesi, DLD's licensing system: office registration certificates, broker cards, advertising permits, and the violations and warnings RERA issues to a company.
• Dubai REST, the app the guide says every broker must download: broker data, the smart sales and marketing contracts, the green list of owners and the details of off-plan projects.

The trade licence itself comes from Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism (DET). DLD's licensing service asks you to apply there, register the licence in Trakheesi and then apply for the broker cards. The practice guide also sets out ten ethics every licensed broker must keep, from fair treatment and privacy to preserving all documents.

Office and broker registration: ORN, BRN and the exam

DLD's FAQ says a brokerage office is registered automatically once its licence is issued. That registration gives the office its ORN, the office registration number that DLD's standard lease brokerage forms ask for next to each broker's BRN, the broker registration number on their card.

According to DLD's card service, no one may practise the activity on the licence before they hold the card for it. For a real estate broker card, the service page lists:

• A Dubai Police certificate of good conduct.
• A pass in RERA's annual broker exam. People over 55, brokers with five consecutive years in the same office and start-up licence holders are exempt from the exam.
• A personal photo and a copy of the Emirates ID, submitted through Trakheesi.
• The fees: AED 500 for the card and AED 700 for the broker exam, plus AED 10 knowledge and AED 10 innovation fees and an ERES fee of AED 50 plus VAT, as listed on 2 November 2026.

The card's validity is tied to the trade licence, and the renewal service adds a condition: all sales staff must be registered and hold their cards. And since April 2023, RERA has required brokers to use the phone numbers registered in the brokers' registry when they market property or deal with clients.

Advertising: the permit, the QR code and the portals

The practice guide is direct: a brokerage needs a Trakheesi permit for any property advertisement or marketing material, and the permit number goes on the ad. DLD's ad permit service covers 14 kinds of advertising, from newspaper, SMS and online ads to billboards, open days and exhibitions, and gives a service time of one working day. For most ad types a broker must attach the marketing contract with the owner, and since 1 August 2022 the permit system has been linked to Form A, so that agreement is completed online by entering the Form A contract number.

Then come the details on the ad itself. RERA's terms for real estate ads (circular 2-2022) ask for:

• The permit number and the name of the brokerage on every ad, written or visual.
• For off-plan projects, the developer's name, the project name and number, its location and the approved escrow account number.
• Nothing the permit does not cover, and a separate promotional campaign permit for offers such as discounts, free extras or fee waivers.
• The Madmoun QR code on print and audio-visual ads. DLD introduced it in April 2023 so that buyers can scan an ad and see that RERA approved it, and RERA's circular set the fine for leaving it off at AED 50,000.

Portals may not post an ad without a RERA permit, and they must take down properties that are no longer available or mark them clearly as sold (circular 3-2022), so keep your own listings current too. Our Trakheesi permit checklist walks through each step, and the portal integration page shows how the permit number and its expiry sit on each listing in Propfusion.

Calling owners: the green list and the 2026 cold-call ban

Three rules govern calls to owners:

• The green list. The practice guide says brokers may not contact owners who are not on the green list in Dubai REST, and that a complaint leads to a violation and a suspension. RERA's 2022 terms for ads also forbid marketing by direct call to anyone who is not on it.
• Registered numbers. Calls and messages to clients go from the numbers registered in the brokers' registry (circular 01-2023).
• The cold-call ban. Circular 02-2026, dated 26 February 2026, bans obtaining owners' or investors' data from any source through unlawful means, and contacting them by phone or any other channel to offer, market or buy property. The exception it names is a client with a documented earlier transaction with the office, as long as the office keeps a record of that relationship and shows it to RERA on request. After a complaint, the circular lists a three-month suspension and a fine of AED 50,000, and a broker who repeats the violation can have their registration permanently revoked.

In practice: use no owner data you cannot show was obtained lawfully, don't call owners who are not already clients, and keep each client's history, from signed contracts to past deals and notes, ready to show RERA.

Contracts A, B and F, and the leasing forms

For sales, the practice guide requires RERA's smart contracts, made in Dubai REST:

• Contract A: the agreement to market a property, between the seller and the brokerage.
• Contract B: the buyer's agreement to buy a property through the broker.
• Contract F: the agreement to sell, between the seller and the buyer.

DLD's FAQ lists what a brokerage contract must state: the parties, the property, the agreed amount, the commission rate and the date the property was registered with DLD. The commission is set by that agreement, and custom applies when the contract is silent. If a Contract F dispute can't be resolved directly, RERA offers an amicable settlement service through Trakheesi before the parties go to court.

For leasing, DLD publishes standard forms: a lease brokerage agreement between the owner and the broker, one between the broker and the tenant, and a property viewing agreement. Each carries the office's ORN and the broker's BRN, and the owner's agreement records the commission and whether the mandate is exclusive. Our guide to RERA Forms A, B, F and I covers who signs what, and commission splits between agencies covers sharing a deal with another office.

Marketing off-plan projects

Before an agent shares a single off-plan brochure, check that:

• The project is licensed and registered with RERA. The practice guide points brokers to Mashrooi in the Dubai REST app to check.
• It has an approved escrow account, and buyers are told to pay into that account. A RERA circular to developers (02-2025) also bans collecting any payment for a project outside its escrow account.
• Your brokerage has a marketing contract with the developer.
• RERA has issued the permit for the marketing, and your ads carry the project details and the escrow account number.

DLD's circular 01-2026, issued in January 2026 under Law No. 8 of 2007 on escrow accounts, restates three of these for brokers: a registered project, an approved escrow account and a RERA permit before any marketing. It warns of fines, suspension and removal from the brokers' register. Exhibitions follow the same logic: DLD's permit service does not allow Dubai off-plan projects that are not registered with its escrow accounts department to be shown. For the full sales flow, see the off-plan sales process for agents and off-plan sales in Propfusion.

Money, AML and the records to keep

Real estate brokers fall under the UAE's anti-money laundering law whenever they act for clients buying or selling property, and the Ministry of Economy and Tourism supervises them in the mainland and the commercial free zones. DLD lists the current texts on its rules page: Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025 and its executive regulation, Cabinet Resolution No. 134 of 2025. In short, a brokerage must:

• register on goAML, the Financial Intelligence Unit's reporting platform;
• identify each client, and the real owner behind any company, before acting for them;
• file a Real Estate Activity Report when a freehold sale or purchase involves AED 55,000 or more in cash, or any virtual assets;
• report suspicions straight away, without telling the client; and
• keep the records for at least five years.

AML for real estate brokers in the UAE explains each step.

Beyond AML, keep a paper trail you can show RERA. For every listing and deal, that means the signed Contract A, B or F or the leasing agreement, the permit number and its QR code, the client's identity documents, and the record that proves an existing relationship before anyone calls an owner. Propfusion's document management keeps the files on the listing, contract or deal they belong to.

The one-page checklist

• A trade licence for real estate brokerage, registered in Trakheesi, with the office's ORN on forms.
• A broker card (BRN) for everyone who deals with clients, renewed with the licence, with the good conduct certificate and the exam pass or exemption on file.
• Dubai REST on every broker's phone, and registered numbers for every call and message.
• Form A signed before a listing is advertised, a Trakheesi permit for every ad, the permit number and brokerage name on the ad, and the Madmoun QR code on print and audio-visual ads.
• A promotional campaign permit before advertising discounts, extras or fee waivers.
• Ads taken down once a property is sold or let.
• No calls to owners or investors who are not clients, and a record of each existing client relationship.
• Contracts A, B and F in Dubai REST for sales, and DLD's lease brokerage and viewing agreements for rentals.
• Off-plan: project registration checked in Mashrooi, an approved escrow account, a developer marketing contract and a RERA permit before any marketing, with the escrow details on every ad.
• Anti-money laundering: goAML registration, a compliance officer, a due diligence file for each client, a report for cash of AED 55,000 or more or virtual assets, and records kept for five years or more.