Law No. 4 of 2021 gives the Roads and Transport Authority the planning, design, construction and maintenance of roads and rights of way across the Emirate — including free zones and Special Development Zones. Among its eighteen powers is one that touches every plot: the authority determines the TEMPORARY AND PERMANENT entrances and exits of buildings, plots and projects that lead directly to a road. And Article 7 expressly limits claims against the authority for harm caused by road works — with two named exceptions.
Verified against official sources on 2026-09-16: the text of Law No. 4 of 2021 comes from the Dubai Legislation Portal (dlp.dubai.gov.ae), credited to the Supreme Legislation Committee of the Emirate, 2021. 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 situation is judged on its own documents.
Working through the bylaw on works in the right of way took us to the subordinate level. Above it sits a law.
The document is Law No. (4) of 2021 Regulating Roads in the Emirate of Dubai, issued on 3 March 2021; it is published in the Official Gazette and comes into force on the day of publication (Article 10). Ten articles in all.
What counts as a road and a right of way
A road (Article 2) is any public way on which traffic is allowed: main, side and byroads; public squares; bridges; tunnels; interchanges; median strips; public car parks; pavements; pedestrian crossings; pedal cycle lanes; and other operational facilities.
A right of way is a road and the area from its edges to the boundaries of adjacent plots, as demarcated on plans approved by the Municipality or by an authority supervising a free zone or a Special Development Zone. Note the addition: in bylaw 273/2025 the definition referred to the Municipality's plans; here the zone authorities are named too.
Operational facilities are lamp posts, traffic lights, road and information signs, billboards, plantings, concrete and steel barriers, speed bumps, shades, public transport car parks, public car parks, electric vehicle charging stations and other equipment within rights of way supervised by the authority.
The scope (Article 3) covers all roads and rights of way in the Emirate, including Special Development Zones and free zones such as the DIFC.
The power that touches your plot directly
Article 5 lists eighteen powers of the authority. For a property owner the key ones are:
- determining the temporary and permanent entrances and exits of buildings, land plots, projects or events where they lead directly to a road (item 15);
- issuing permits for activities and events organised within rights of way, after verifying they will not compromise traffic or the utilities and facilities there (item 9);
- issuing permits for any works within rights of way (item 13) and for traffic diversions where a road or a lane is fully or partly closed (item 14);
- installing operational facilities within rights of way and determining their locations (item 10);
- determining and managing parking and waiting areas, taxi stands and bus stations (item 8);
- maintaining, in coordination with the Municipality, the road naming and numbering system (item 12);
- setting speed limits, the times and places where trucks or buses may not run, and axle loads of heavy vehicles (items 16 and 17).
Item 15 is worth remembering for anyone planning an access to a villa, a car park or a site: the access point itself is the authority's decision, and the works to create it need a permit under bylaw 273/2025.
The zones build their own roads — under someone else's rules
Article 6 is an exception with conditions. The authorities supervising free zones and Special Development Zones perform all road and right-of-way works within their boundaries — but must:
- obtain the authority's prior approval of road and right-of-way designs and plans, and the approval of the utility providers;
- carry out all works in accordance with the authority's applicable legislation, specifications and requirements;
- ensure the works are carried out by prequalified contractors and consultants — the same prequalification as in bylaw 273/2025;
- perform corrective and preventive maintenance as required by the authority;
- enable the authority's employees to supervise and monitor the works and to record violations;
- enable the authority to conduct congestion and safety studies on roads within their zones.
Paragraph (c) lets the zones commission the authority to do the works under an agreement setting out rights, obligations and charges, including supervisory and administrative fees.
What a Special Development Zone is: Decree 22/2009.
Article 7: where claims stop
This is the law's most practical rule, and it must be read verbatim.
"Except for the compensation for expropriation of property for public interest, or for any material damage to property or harm to persons, no compensation may be claimed from the RTA for any harm sustained by the members and various segments of the community due to the public-benefit works and projects implemented by the RTA with a view to developing, constructing, and maintaining Roads or other works related to Rights of Way, Operational Facilities, or relevant services." — Law No. (4) of 2021, Article 7
Two exceptions are named outright: expropriation of property for public interest — its procedure covered under Law 2/2022 and the official interpretation of the term — and material damage to property or harm to persons.
We go no further than that text: what exactly falls within "material damage" and how it is proven the law does not describe, and we will not draw that line ourselves.
What the law repealed
Article 9 repeals Law No. 7 of 2002 along with conflicting provisions of other instruments. Yet the resolutions, bylaws and instructions issued under the 2002 law remain in force so far as they do not contradict this law, until superseding ones are issued. The same construction we saw in the waste law: the old act repealed, its subordinate rules alive.
What we do NOT claim here
- Fines or sanctions. This law contains none: it is organisational. Permits, deposits and black points live in the authority's instruments — we covered bylaw 273/2025 separately, and we have not read Executive Council Resolution No. 54 of 2021.
- Road toll amounts. Article 5(7) gives the authority the power to install toll systems and to propose their fees; the fees themselves are not in the law, and we do not quote any.
- The procedure for obtaining an access point. The law vests the power to determine entrances and exits but contains no procedure.
- The contents of the instruments in the preamble — in particular Law No. 6 of 2006 on beneficiaries' contribution to the cost of road and public transport contracts; we have not read it and claim nothing about its operation.
- The boundaries of "material damage" in Article 7. We quote the rule verbatim and do not widen it.
- The calendar date of entry into force. The law applies from the day of publication; we have not verified that date. The date of issuance is 3 March 2021.
Sources
- Law No. (4) of 2021 Regulating Roads in the Emirate of Dubai — Dubai Legislation Portal: issuance by the Ruler of Dubai on 3 March 2021 and entry into force on the day of publication (Article 10); preamble references to Law No. 17 of 2005, Law No. 6 of 2006, Law No. 9 of 2004, Decree No. 22 of 2009 and Regulation No. 4 of 2009 on works in the right of way; definitions of a road including car parks, pavements, pedestrian crossings and pedal cycle lanes, of the right of way per plans approved by the Municipality or by a free zone or Special Development Zone authority, and of operational facilities including billboards and electric vehicle charging stations (Article 2); scope over all roads and rights of way in the Emirate including Special Development Zones and free zones such as the DIFC (Article 3); objectives (Article 4); eighteen powers of the authority, including determining temporary and permanent entrances and exits of buildings, plots, projects and events leading directly to a road, issuing permits for activities, works and traffic diversions within rights of way, installing operational facilities, the road naming and numbering system, speed limits and restrictions on trucks and buses (Article 5); the regime for free zones and Special Development Zones with six duties, including prior approval of designs by the authority, works by prequalified contractors and consultants, access for the authority's employees to supervise and record violations, and the option to commission the authority under an agreement with charges and supervisory fees (Article 6); the limit on compensation claims against the authority with two exceptions — expropriation for public interest and material damage to property or harm to persons (Article 7); issuance of implementing resolutions by the Director General and their publication in the Official Gazette (Article 8); repeal of Law No. 7 of 2002 with its subordinate instruments surviving so far as they do not contradict (Article 9).
