Oqood explained: off-plan registration, certificate & fees
When you buy off-plan in Dubai, you own something that doesn't physically exist yet — so the law gives you a paper claim instead: the Oqood. Here is what that certificate actually proves, what registration costs, how to confirm yours exists, and why it matters until the day your title deed replaces it.
- SPA signedYour purchase contract
- Money into escrowProtected by Law 8 of 2007
- Oqood issuedInterim register — your legal claim
- ConstructionDLD inspections certify progress
- HandoverKeys, snagging, final payment
- Title deedOqood retired — full ownership
What Oqood is
Oqood (Arabic for "contracts") is the Dubai Land Department's interim real estate register — the official record of every off-plan sale in the emirate. Under Law No. 13 of 2008, every sale of an off-plan unit must be registered in this interim register; a sale that isn't registered has no legal standing. Registration is the developer's obligation, and it is what turns your purchase from a private agreement into a claim the state recognizes.
Once the sale is registered, DLD issues an Oqood certificate (also called an initial contract of sale) in the buyer's name. It records the project, the unit, the buyer, the seller and the purchase value — the off-plan equivalent of a title deed.
What the certificate proves — and what it doesn't
- It proves your legal interest in a specific unit of a registered project. You need it (or the registration behind it) to resell or assign the unit, to mortgage it, for Golden Visa applications counting off-plan value, and for inheritance matters.
- It does not prove that construction is progressing, that the handover date is real, or that the developer is drawing escrow money honestly. The certificate is about ownership; everything about delivery lives in the project registry — the DLD project status we track daily across 695 projects.
What registration costs
- DLD registration fee: 4% of the purchase price. The law splits it between buyer and seller, but in practice nearly every developer passes the full 4% to the buyer — your SPA will say so. ("DLD waived" promotions mean the developer pays this on your behalf; the cost is priced in elsewhere.)
- Oqood admin fees: small fixed charges collected alongside the 4%. Some developers also add their own administration fee for processing the registration — the amount varies by developer, so check the fee schedule in your SPA before signing.
The developer normally collects these at purchase and handles the registration. What you should care about is not the paperwork — it is confirming the registration actually happened.
How to check your unit is registered
- Dubai REST app (iOS/Android) — DLD's official app. Sign in with UAE Pass (or create an account), and your registered properties — including off-plan units in the interim register — appear under your profile, where the certificate can be viewed and downloaded.
- Ask the developer for the Oqood certificate. They receive it when registration completes. A developer who cannot produce it months after you've paid the deposit and fees is a warning sign, not an inconvenience.
- DLD channels — the registration can also be confirmed through DLD's customer service with your passport and SPA details if the app route fails you.
If your payments are flowing but no registration exists, raise it with the developer in writing first — and if the answers stay vague, the escalation path through RERA is the same one described in our stalled-project guide. Unregistered sales are exactly the situation Law 13 exists to prevent.
What happens to your Oqood at handover
The Oqood is temporary by design. When the project is certified complete and ownership transfers, the interim registration converts into a permanent one and DLD issues your title deed — the Oqood certificate is superseded. Until that day, the Oqood plus the project's registry record are the two documents that describe your investment: one says what you own, the other says how it's going.
Watch the half the certificate can't show you
Your Oqood won't email you when the project's certified progress moves, stalls, or the handover date slips. The registry will — through us. Find your project in the directory and hit Track this project: every officially recorded change lands in your inbox, free for one project. The Owner plan adds instant alerts, the handover forecast and stall warnings for people whose money is already in.
Related: how to check any project's DLD status · projects past their planned handover · how our numbers are made
General information, not legal advice — for a dispute, speak to a UAE-licensed property lawyer.