Law No. 13 of 2008 is known for a single article — the one about a defaulting buyer. Its other articles, though, set the very frame of off-plan: a disposition outside the register is void, a contract in an unapproved project is void, nothing may be charged to a buyer beyond administrative costs approved by the Land Department, and extra area found after handover is not billable. Read from the official text — including an honest note on which article must NOT be read from that page.
Verified against official sources on 2026-09-15: the text of Law No. 13 of 2008 comes from the Dubai Legislation Portal (dlp.dubai.gov.ae). Source links sit next to each rule and again at the end. The portal notes that the English version is a translation and that the Arabic text prevails in case of conflict. This is not legal advice: a specific contract is judged on its own facts.
Law No. 13 of 2008 has a reputation as a one-article law: people reach for it when a buyer stops paying. But the default article comes last in the logic; the earlier ones set up everything without which an off-plan transaction does not exist at all.
The document is Law No. (13) of 2008 Regulating the Interim Property Register in the Emirate of Dubai. Its implementing bylaw — Resolution No. 6 of 2010 — is covered separately.
⚠️ One article must not be read from that page
We start with the warning, because it concerns the most-quoted provision. The law's page on the portal carries the original 2008 version, and its Article 11 describes a mechanism that was replaced by Law No. 19 of 2020. We print neither the percentages nor the consequences from the 2008 text: publishing them as today's rule would pass a repealed provision off as current. The version in force is covered by us from its own text.
Everything below concerns articles that the 2020 law did not replace.
Registration or nothing
Article 3 states the foundation of the whole construction:
«Any disposition that occurs in respect of any Real Property Unit sold off-plan will be entered in the Interim Property Register, and any sale or any other legal disposition that transfers or restricts ownership or any ancillary rights will be void unless entered in that Register.» — Law No. (13) of 2008, Article 3(1)
Not "an unregistered deal is weaker" but void. The same principle in the main register is covered in our reading of Law No. 7 of 2006, and what a buyer actually holds during construction is in our piece on Oqood.
Before the first sale
Article 4: neither a master developer nor a sub-developer may commence a project or dispose of its units off-plan before taking possession of the land and obtaining the required approvals from the competent entities. And then a duty addressed to the department itself: in all events it must designate the property's entry as "under development".
Article 10 closes the same door from the other side:
«No developer or Real Estate Broker may enter into a private sale contract to dispose of Real Property or Real Property Units by way of Off-plan Sale in projects which are not approved by the Competent Entities. Any contract which is entered into prior to obtaining such approval will be null and void.» — Law No. (13) of 2008, Article 10
Two words matter here: "private sale contract". Nullity reaches not only the developer's formal contract but also a private paper signed "while the project is still being approved". The prerequisites for launching a project are covered separately.
What the entry gives, and what may not be charged on resale
Article 6: units sold off-plan and entered in the interim register may be sold, mortgaged or otherwise legally disposed of. The entry is not a formality; it is what makes the unit tradable.
Article 7 limits the developer on money:
«No Master Developer or Sub-developer may charge any fees on the sale, resale, or on any other legal disposition of the Real Property Units which are completed or sold off-plan except those administrative costs which are approved by the Department» — Law No. (13) of 2008, Article 7
This is the rule against an "assignment fee" invented at will: only administrative costs approved by the Land Department are permitted.
Moving into the main register
Article 8 takes two steps. First: upon receiving the completion certificate, developers must enter completed projects in the main register — including registering sold units in the names of purchasers who have performed their contractual obligations. Second: the department may — on the purchaser's request or on its own initiative — itself register in the purchaser's name a unit held in the interim register, provided the purchaser has performed in full.
That second part answers the question "what if the developer drags his feet on the paperwork": the law provides a route that does not depend on his goodwill.
The broker
Article 9: if a developer wishes to market his project through a broker, he must contract with a certified broker under Bylaw No. 85 of 2006 — and register that contract with the department. Broker permits can be checked publicly, and how exactly is in our piece on Trakheesi.
Area: an asymmetry in the buyer's favour
Article 12 works in three moves: the area of a sold unit is deemed to be correct; if the area turns out larger after delivery, the developer may not claim any increase in price; if smaller, he must compensate the purchaser — except where the decrease is inconsequential.
The law does not quantify "inconsequential". The threshold is named not here but in the implementing bylaw — not a contradiction but a division of labour between statute and subordinate instrument; the figure and the calculation base appear in our reading of the 2010 bylaw, where they belong.
When a breach is proven
Article 13: where the department proves that a developer or broker has committed an act or omission in breach of this law or other applicable legislation, the Director General prepares the relevant report and refers the matter to the competent entities for investigation. The department does not impose the sanction — it records and refers.
What we do NOT claim here
- The content of Article 11. It was replaced by Law No. 19 of 2020; neither percentages nor consequences from the 2008 version are printed here.
- The size of an "inconsequential" shortfall in area. The law does not name it; the figure lives in the implementing bylaw.
- The list of administrative costs approved by the department. The law defers to its decisions; we do not reproduce the list.
- The contents of Bylaw No. 85 of 2006 on the brokers register. It is named in the text; we found no page carrying its provisions on the portal and therefore do not quote them.
- Amendments after 2020. We cross-checked the original text and the fact that Article 11 was replaced; nothing is said here about later amendments, if any.
Sources
- Law No. (13) of 2008 Regulating the Interim Property Register in the Emirate of Dubai — Dubai Legislation Portal: Article 2 (definitions of the interim register, off-plan sale, master and sub-developer, broker), Article 3 (nullity of a disposition outside the register; 60 days to enter pre-existing deals), Article 4 (possession of land and approvals before launch; the "under development" designation), Article 5 (form of application), Article 6 (off-plan units may be sold and mortgaged), Article 7 (no fees other than administrative costs approved by the department), Article 8 (duty to enter a completed project in the main register; registration by the department on the purchaser's request or its own initiative), Article 9 (contract with a certified broker and its registration), Article 10 (nullity of a private contract in an unapproved project), Article 12 (area deemed correct; excess not billable; shortfall compensated unless inconsequential), Article 13 (Director General's report and referral for investigation). The portal page carries the 2008 version; Article 11 is in force as replaced by Law No. 19 of 2020.
