How long does a kitchen renovation take in Dubai?

How long does a kitchen renovation take? Longer than the fitting, because the clock starts with paperwork and the working day is shorter than it looks. A Dubai kitchen passes through three stages that each set their own pace: the approvals before anyone arrives, the weeks of work on site, and the checks that close the job. The figures below are the ones developers, authorities and one UAE contractor publish, read in September 2026.

Every stage, with its published time

Two rows deserve a second look. A Minor Modifications Permit is valid for 7 days at most, while the one published kitchen programme runs 3 to 4 weeks, so in a Dubai Holding community ask for the extension in writing before the permit runs out. And Dubai Holding wants approved works finished within six months, sooner if the government approval expires first, which matters when cabinets are made to order.

How long does a full kitchen refurb take?

On site, the one published figure is 3 to 4 weeks, for a budget kitchen that keeps its layout. Inside those weeks the order is fixed, and one step always waits on another: the worktop cannot be templated until the base cabinets are fixed and level, and it is then cut away from the house before it can be fitted. That gap in the middle is the part to ask each contractor about, in days, in writing.

1. Strip-out: the old units, worktop and tiles come out, and water, power and gas are isolated.
2. First fix: new water, drain and power runs, and any gas work by a licensed gas contractor.
3. Walls and floor made good, and the ceiling too if the extraction route changes.
4. Base units fixed and levelled; tall and wall units follow.
5. Worktop templated from the fitted units, cut off site, then fitted.
6. Second fix: sink, tap, hob, oven and dishwasher connected; splashback and lighting finished.
7. Snagging, cleaning and the community's close-out, where it has one.

Which approvals set the start date?

Your developer's, and for a kitchen that keeps its layout that is often the only one. It is short: 3 business days at Emaar, and 2 or 5 working days in Town Square depending on the class of work. In the Nakheel villa communities, Dubai Holding's 2026 rulebook now governs, and it promises only a decision within a reasonable period of time. What has to be settled before that application, and in which order, is on our what comes first page.

A layout change adds an authority step after the developer's. Dubai Municipality states 3 working days for a modification permit, and DEWA 2 working days for the building NOC behind a request for more power. Our layout permit guide explains which moves trigger which step, and the hub lists the Emaar NOC documents that go in the file.

Ask for a programme in weeks

How many hours a day can the work run?

Fewer than a normal working day for the noisy parts. Demolition, drilling and stone cutting have to fit noisy-work windows that add up to five hours a day in an Emaar villa, 10 am to 1 pm plus 3 pm to 5 pm, and six in a Dubai Holding community, which opens at 9 am instead. Quieter work, assembly and connections, can run longer: Dubai Holding allows minor works from 8 am to 6 pm, Monday to Saturday. Neither rulebook allows noisy work on a Sunday or a public holiday.

Deliveries have windows of their own. Emaar's 2026 villa rules keep bulk deliveries to the morning, 10 am until 1 pm, from Monday to Saturday. Dubai Holding wants 48 hours' notice before large vehicles arrive and every load cleared the same day, and in Aldar towers in Abu Dhabi a lift booking lasts at most 2 hours. A cabinet delivery that misses its window waits for the next one.

Can you use your kitchen during the renovation?

For most of it, no. From strip-out to the second fix the sink has no drain, the hob has no supply and the room is a site, so plan to cook somewhere else for the weeks on site. A fridge moved to another room, a kettle and a plug-in induction plate cover breakfasts and simple dinners; a villa with an outdoor barbecue has an easier month.

The rulebooks protect your evenings. Dubai Holding does not let workers stay in the home beyond the permitted hours without the community manager's written approval, and Town Square's manual bars workers from staying overnight. What they cannot protect is the water: expect the supply to be isolated on strip-out day and again when the new sink is connected, and keep a bathroom basin free for the kitchen's jobs.

What makes a kitchen renovation take longer than planned?

• Moving a service. A sink, gas point or extractor in a new place adds a trade and an authority step, and in some buildings a refusal.
• The approval class. In Town Square, new counters are major works at 5 working days, where new cabinets alone are minor works at 2.
• The worktop gap. Templating waits for fixed cabinets, and the top is cut off site, so a late cabinet delivery pushes the worktop with it.
• A permit that runs out. Dubai Holding's Minor Modifications Permit lasts 7 days unless it is extended in writing.
• Summer outdoors. The federal midday break, 12.30 pm to 3 pm from 15 June to 15 September, halts work in the open, so a top cut outside or a noon delivery moves to the morning.
• A meter that moves. If the electricity meter has to be shifted, DEWA issues its Electricity Network Modification estimate within 10 working days.

Kitchen timelines in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ajman

In Abu Dhabi the Maintenance Permit's service time is 7 working days in the capital and 5 in Al Ain or Al Dhafra, per the Department of Municipalities and Transport, and a Building Permit takes 10 once walls or spaces change; a contractor files the first and a consultant the second. Ajman states 2 days for its Maintenance Permit and 7 days to return the deposit paid on it. Sharjah publishes no service time for its residential maintenance permit. The routes are set out on our Abu Dhabi permits, Sharjah route and Ajman fees pages.

Whatever the emirate, a quote that states the programme in weeks, and the payments against finished stages, is the one to hold a contractor to. The hub's payment schedule guide shows how to tie the two together. Budgets begin at AED 12,000 for a small refit on MBC Renovation Services' list, with what kitchens cost set out band by band, and our kitchen quotes service puts one brief to several contractors so their programmes can be compared too.