Missing instalments on a developer payment plan is not settled by email with the sales desk: the law sets out a procedure that runs through the Land Department. Thirty days to cure, an attempt at mediation, an official document stating the project's percentage of completion — and only then the developer's remedies, whose size depends on how far the building has progressed. We work through Article 11 in its 2020 version on the official text of the Dubai Legislation Portal.
Verified on 15 September 2026 against official sources: the texts of Law No. 13 of 2008 and of Law No. 19 of 2020, which replaced its Article 11, come from the Dubai Legislation Portal (dlp.dubai.gov.ae). Source links sit next to every rule and again at the end. This is not legal advice: a particular contract and a particular default are judged on their own facts.
A developer payment plan looks like a private arrangement between two parties, which is exactly why a default takes buyers by surprise: they expect a negotiation with the sales desk, and the law describes a procedure involving the regulator, with limits set in advance.
First, why the entry outranks the contract
The base is Law No. (13) of 2008 Regulating the Interim Property Register in the Emirate of Dubai, issued on 14 August 2008. Its Article 3:
«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
The entry an off-plan buyer holds instead of a title is the Oqood; the same "the right lives in the register" principle governs the main register too — the breakdown of Law No. 7 of 2006.
⚠️ Which version of Article 11 we quote
Article 11 as originally enacted in 2008 read differently and set out different consequences. It was replaced by Law No. 19 of 2020, issued on 24 November 2020 — and what follows is that current version. There was an intermediate amendment by Law No. 19 of 2017; we do not quote its text, so as not to pass an interim version off as the present one.
The procedure: three steps before any consequence
Under the current Article 11 a developer does not terminate by letter. The order is:
- Notification to the Land Department. The developer must notify the DLD on the prescribed forms — with the parties' details, a description of the property and the substance of the breach.
- Thirty days for the buyer. On receipt, the DLD must serve on the purchaser a notice requiring performance:
«thirty (30) days' notice on the purchaser requiring him to fulfil his contractual obligations» — Law No. (19) of 2020, Article 11
- An attempt at mediation. In the same step the DLD attempts a settlement; a settlement reached is executed as an addendum signed by both parties.
If the period expires without performance, the DLD issues an official document confirming that the developer followed the procedure and stating the
«percentage of completion of the Real Property project, calculated in accordance with the relevant standards and rules adopted by RERA»
Only after that document do the developer's remedies arise — and their scope depends on the percentage stated.
The developer's remedies by percentage of completion
| Project completion | What the developer may do | Retention | rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| more than 80% | keep the agreement, retain the amounts paid and claim the balance; or ask the DLD to sell by public auction; or terminate unilaterally | up to 40% of the value on termination | Art. 11 |
| 60–80% | terminate unilaterally | up to 40% of the value | Art. 11 |
| below 60%, construction commenced | terminate unilaterally | up to 25% of the value | Art. 11 |
| work not commenced (force majeure, no developer negligence) or project cancelled by RERA | refund all payments made by the purchaser | no retention | Art. 11 |
The words "up to" carry the whole meaning here: 40% and 25% are a ceiling on retention, not a tariff. Reading the table as "the developer will take 40%" is wrong.
The deadline for refunding the excess on termination is stated as: within one year of the date of termination, or within sixty (60) days of the date the property is resold — whichever comes earlier.
And the last row refers to a refund under the rules of Law No. 8 of 2007 — the law governing project escrow accounts: where a buyer's money sits and how it leaves is covered separately.
Four caveats that are easy to miss
- Land sale agreements with no off-plan component stay on their original terms: this procedure does not apply to them.
- Application in time. The provisions apply to agreements entered into both before and after the law came into force.
- Public order. The provisions are declared to be a matter of public order, and non-compliance results in nullity. A contract clause that routes around the procedure therefore has no force.
- The courts remain. The purchaser's recourse to the courts or arbitration is expressly preserved — the out-of-court termination route does not take that away.
What a buyer should actually do
- Do not ignore a notice from the DLD. Thirty days is a cure period, not a formality; it is also the negotiating window.
- Ask for the completion-percentage document. It determines which row of the table applies to your case.
- Check that the unit is on the interim register. Under Article 3 an unregistered disposition is void — that includes an assignment.
- Read "up to", not "exactly". The size of the retention is arguable within the ceiling; it is not automatic.
- Pin the dates. The refund deadline runs from the date of termination and the date of resale, not from the correspondence.
What we are NOT claiming here
- How the percentage of completion is calculated. It is determined under RERA's standards and rules, which we do not quote because we have not checked their text.
- Which forms the developer files. The law refers to prescribed forms; their content is outside this piece.
- That the retention will be exactly 40% or 25%. The law names a ceiling, not an amount.
- How it plays out in practice. We set out the rule, not statistics on how disputes are decided.
Sources
- Law No. (19) of 2020 Amending Law No. (13) of 2008 Regulating the Interim Real Property Register in the Emirate of Dubai — Dubai Legislation Portal: the current Article 11 (notice to the DLD, 30 days for the purchaser, mediation, completion-percentage document, remedies by band, refund deadlines, public order, preservation of recourse to the courts). Issued 24 November 2020.
- Law No. (13) of 2008 Regulating the Interim Property Register in the Emirate of Dubai — Dubai Legislation Portal: Article 3 (off-plan dispositions entered on the interim register; unregistered ones are void). Issued 14 August 2008.
