Residential Fit-Out Cost Per Square Foot in Dubai: The 2026 Benchmarks
Residential fit-out cost per square foot in Dubai runs from AED 120 to AED 1,200 for most homes. A cosmetic refresh sits at AED 120 to 250 per sqft, a standard refurbishment lands between AED 250 and 450, premium work costs AED 450 to 800, and a full turnkey project with imported materials and custom joinery runs AED 800 to 1,200 or more. A 2,000 sqft apartment at the standard tier therefore budgets at roughly AED 500,000 to 900,000. These are 2026 market rates from current project pricing, and they move with material choice more than anything else.
One conversion note first. Dubai quotes use both square feet and square metres, sometimes in the same document. One square metre equals 10.76 square feet. A rate of AED 320 per sqft is the same as roughly AED 3,445 per sqm. Check which unit a quote uses before comparing two bids, because a supplier quoting per sqm will look eight to eleven times more expensive at a glance.
The four tiers and what each buys
A refresh keeps walls, floors and services mostly as they are. Paint, wallpaper, lighting swaps, new handles, minor joinery refacing and regrouting fall in this band. It runs AED 120 to 250 per sqft and takes two to four weeks on site for an apartment. It suits a unit being prepared for rent, or a home that needs a lift rather than a rebuild.
Standard refurbishment covers new flooring, a rebuilt kitchen or two bathrooms, repainting, minor MEP changes and some built-in joinery. At AED 250 to 450 per sqft this is the tier most occupied villas and apartments actually build to. Expect three to five months of work for a villa at this level.
Premium work, AED 450 to 800 per sqft, means engineered stone, imported tiles and sanitaryware, custom joinery in veneer or lacquer, full lighting design, false ceilings with concealed details and MEP rework. Villas in Arabian Ranches, Jumeirah Golf Estates and Emirates Hills often refurbish at this level.
Turnkey projects, AED 800 to 1,200 per sqft and above, hand you a finished home from shell or stripped condition: design, procurement, joinery manufacture, installation, styling. Every surface is new and most joinery is made to measure. Budgets here are decided by stone selection and joinery volume more than labour.
What moves the rate up or down
Five factors carry most of the swing between quotes. First, the condition of the existing services. Rerouting drainage or rewiring a villa with old cabling adds 15 to 25 percent to the MEP package, and MEP already makes up 30 to 40 percent of a fit-out budget. Second, joinery volume. A wardrobe run, kitchen and media wall in lacquered MDF can cost AED 90,000 to 250,000 on their own in a family villa.
Third, floor and wall finishes. Porcelain at AED 90 to 160 per sqm supplied looks very different in a budget to Italian marble at AED 600 to 1,400 per sqm. Fourth, ceiling height and coverage: a full gypsum ceiling with cove lighting at AED 95 to 160 per sqm adds up quickly across a large villa. Fifth, the bathroom count. Each stripped and rebuilt bathroom costs AED 25,000 to 90,000 depending on tier, so a five-bathroom villa carries a heavier average than a two-bathroom apartment at identical specification.
These are the same levers we describe in five decisions that quietly rewrite a Dubai fit-out budget. Decide them before tendering, because a contractor can only price what is drawn.
Sample budgets at 2026 rates
A 1,200 sqft two-bedroom apartment refresh: AED 145,000 to 300,000. A 1,800 sqft three-bedroom apartment at standard tier: AED 450,000 to 810,000. A 3,500 sqft villa at premium tier: AED 1.5m to 2.8m. A 5,000 sqft villa turnkey: AED 4m to 6m. These figures exclude furniture and loose items in the refresh and standard bands, and include them at turnkey. Always ask a bidder to state exactly which of the two they have assumed.
For comparison against whole-project figures rather than rates, the villa cost benchmarks and the apartment cost breakdown we published earlier in 2026 still hold: villa renovation costs in Dubai 2026 and apartment renovation cost 2026 both sit within the per-sqft ranges above.
Approvals add time, and time adds cost
Permit fees are small next to the works, but the approval programme is not. Villas need community NOCs and a fit-out permit before site work starts, which typically takes four to eight weeks depending on the authority. Every week a villa sits unoccupied waiting on paperwork is carrying cost somewhere, whether that is rent, a temporary lease or a bridging arrangement. Build the approval window into the programme before signing a start date, and read the permits post for the approvals that apply to your zone.
How to sanity-check a per-sqft quote
Ask three things. Does the rate include MEP, or is it a finishes-only rate dressed up as a whole-house figure? Finishes-only rates of AED 150 to 250 get quoted as if they were full fit-out rates, and the difference surfaces later as a variation. Is joinery priced as a lump sum or inside the rate? Lump-sum joinery outside the rate makes the per-sqft figure look cheaper than it is. And what contingency sits behind it? On a Dubai refurbishment we hold seven to twelve percent before design coordination finishes, because wall conditions and old services surface once opening-up starts.
A rate without an exclusions list attached is a starting point, and the exclusions list decides what the number eventually becomes. Insist on a bill of quantities, not just a rate card.
If you want a rate applied to a specific apartment or villa, we assess the unit, price the tier that matches your finishes list and put the assumptions in writing. Book a consultation and we will walk the numbers with you.
