You can verify a Dubai home-services contractor in about 10 minutes with seven checks: the trade licence and the activity printed on it, the company name on the quote, the FTA tax registration number, the trade-specific regulator (DEWA, SIRA or Dubai Municipality), a liability insurance certificate, and a written itemised scope.
Nobody runs these checks. Skipping them is the whole problem. Somebody replies to your WhatsApp in four minutes, quotes a number that sounds fair, and by Thursday two men you have never met are standing in your apartment with a drill. You never asked for a licence. You paid a deposit to a personal bank account.
Then the tiles crack, the phone stops connecting, and you discover the part that hurts most: you have no idea who to chase. Ten minutes of checking, done before the deposit, kills almost every version of that story. Here is how to spend them, and which government portal answers each question.
⚡ Quick Summary
- A trade licence is not enough — the activity on it must cover the work. A cleaning licence is not an electrical licence.
- A Dubai company adding 5% VAT must hold a Tax Registration Number, verifiable free on the Federal Tax Authority site.
- Pest control, CCTV and electrical fit-out carry a second regulator on top of the trade licence — Dubai Municipality, SIRA and DEWA respectively.
What are the 7 checks that prove a Dubai contractor is real?
The table below lists the seven checks a homeowner in Dubai can run without leaving the sofa. Checks 1 to 4 apply to every trade, check 5 depends on the work, and checks 6 and 7 are documents you request rather than portals you visit.
How do I check a Dubai trade licence and the activity printed on it?
A Dubai trade licence names the company, its owner, and the commercial activities it may carry out. Dubai's mainland licensing authority is the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), and the Dubai business directory on the Invest in Dubai portal searches by business name or by Dubai Unified Licence (DUL) number.
The UAE Government's own portal keeps a page called Verify business licences, which states its purpose plainly: those links help you check business activities registered, and licences issued, in the UAE. The same portal describes the National Economic Register as the federal platform holding data for listed economic licences nationally. Free-zone companies are licensed by their free zone, not by DET, so a free-zone contractor is checked with the authority named on their licence.
💡 The check almost nobody runs
Most homeowners in Dubai stop at "yes, they have a licence." The licence is not the answer — the activity list on it is. A company licensed for building cleaning services that rewires your kitchen in Arabian Ranches is performing work it is not licensed for, and your insurer, your building management and the Rental Disputes Centre will all ask that question later. Read the activity line. Match it to the job.
How do I verify a UAE TRN before I pay 5% VAT?
VAT in the UAE is 5%, and a company may only charge it if it is tax-registered and holds a Tax Registration Number. The Federal Tax Authority publishes a free TRN verification tool in the header of tax.gov.ae: enter the number, type the captcha, submit. The form accepts a 15-character value — a useful sanity check in itself, because a "TRN" of nine digits scribbled on an invoice is not a TRN.
Run this check on any Dubai quote showing a VAT line, and again on the invoice, because the two do not always agree. A contractor who quotes "plus VAT", takes the 5%, and issues no tax invoice with a verifiable TRN has simply added 5% to your bill and kept it.
⚠️ VAT with no verifiable TRN
If a Dubai company adds 5% VAT and cannot produce a Tax Registration Number that verifies on tax.gov.ae, do not pay the VAT line. Ask for a corrected invoice at the net price. A company that argues about this is telling you something about every other number on the page.
Which Dubai regulator covers your trade?
Some Dubai trades need clearance from a second authority on top of the DET trade licence. The table below shows which regulator covers which work and what to ask the company for.
DEWA publishes its Enrolled Electricity Fit-Out Consultants & Contractors list, plus a separate list of enrolled solar PV contractors. Read DEWA's own caveat before treating that list as a guarantee: DEWA states it only provides the list of enrolled consultants and contractors for the fit-out process, and is not responsible for the professional advice those companies give. Enrolment proves standing, not workmanship. For everyday electrical jobs the licence activity is still the gate — our guide to the best electricians in Dubai covers what a good one quotes and how.
How does Dubai Municipality classify pest control companies in Dubai?
Dubai Municipality runs a published classification system for public health pest control companies — the single most useful vetting tool in any Dubai trade. The table below shows the six criteria in its Pest Control Companies Classification Guide and the weight each carries.
Ask a Dubai pest control company for its classification and its inspection grade — one question that tells you more than an hour of reviews. The same guide sets physical standards you can see on the day: the service vehicle must be registered in Dubai, display the company phone number and logo clearly, separate the driver's cabin from the pesticide compartment, and ventilate that compartment so the temperature does not exceed 26°C. A man arriving at your villa in JVC with unlabelled chemicals in the boot of an unmarked car fails before he rings the bell. Our guide to the best pest control companies in Dubai goes deeper on treatments and contracts.
What does a SIRA licence cover for CCTV work in Dubai?
SIRA is the Security Industry Regulatory Agency, the Dubai authority regulating the security trade. SIRA describes its New Security License service as issuing a security activity licence that lets the company complete its trade licence procedures with the licensing authority — so a Dubai security company's SIRA licence sits underneath its trade licence, not instead of it.
Two checks matter for a homeowner fitting cameras in a Business Bay apartment or a Dubai Hills villa. First the company: SIRA publishes a searchable Security System Providers Companies directory. Second the hardware: SIRA runs a separate Security Equipment and Devices Certification service, which it describes as examining and approving security devices and equipment in the Emirate of Dubai, to SIRA specifications, for use within approved security systems.
A cheap camera kit bought online and fitted by an unlicensed installer fails twice over: wrong installer, and equipment never approved for Dubai. Ask for the SIRA licence, then whether the cameras are SIRA-approved. Our guide to the best CCTV and security companies in Dubai covers what a compliant installation quote contains.
What paperwork should a Dubai contractor hand over before a deposit?
Two documents, before any money moves: a third-party liability insurance certificate, and a written itemised scope. Check the insured name against the licensed company name and the policy dates against the week of the work. The scope needs materials and brands, quantities, labour, start and finish dates, payment stages, and an explicit list of exclusions — where the "unexpected extras" live.
The deposit red flag has cost Dubai homeowners more than all the others combined — we wrote a whole piece on it: when your renovation contractor demands 70% upfront.
What does TaskRight check before a provider appears in Dubai?
"Verified" is a word anyone can print on a website. Here is the mechanic behind the RightPro badge, as process, not promise. TaskRight collects the UAE trade licence number and a copy of the licence, plus the owner's Emirates ID, and checks the licensed activity against the services the provider asks to be listed for. A provider whose licence does not cover the category does not get the category.
A person at TaskRight then speaks to the business before anything goes live. A new registration is not visible anywhere on the platform — not in search, not on a category page, not in the sitemap — until someone switches it live, and the default for a new sign-up is off. Reviews follow the same rule: every one is held until an admin approves it, with no auto-publish, and the Google rating on a profile is synced from Google's own API.
💡 And here is what TaskRight does not do
TaskRight does not perform the work, does not employ the providers, and does not process payment — you contract with the provider directly. TaskRight does not check that a provider's insurance covers your specific job, so ask for the certificate yourself, every time. And TaskRight does not vet the price you are quoted; that is what three itemised quotes are for. A badge tells you who you are dealing with. RightPro verification does not replace the seven checks in this guide.
How do you run all seven checks in 10 minutes?
Run the seven checks in this order on any Dubai contractor and the whole thing fits in a coffee break. Free lookups first, so a company that fails check 2 never costs you checks 6 and 7.
✅ Your 10-minute run order
- Minute 1–2. Request the trade licence number and the exact licensed company name.
- Minute 3–4. Look it up in the Dubai business directory by name or DUL number, and read the activity list.
- Minute 5. Confirm quote name, licence name and payee account name are one entity.
- Minute 6. If the quote shows 5% VAT, verify the 15-character TRN on tax.gov.ae.
- Minute 7–8. Run the trade regulator: Dubai Municipality grade, SIRA licence or DEWA list.
- Minute 9. Request the insurance certificate; check the insured name and the dates.
- Minute 10. No deposit until the itemised scope, with exclusions, is in writing.
Ten minutes is the price of never wondering who is standing in your hallway. Run them on anyone you find — or start from a shortlist where the licence work is done. TaskRight is a verified, zero-commission home services platform in the UAE — every provider on the platform is RightPro-verified, and you hire and pay them direct. The badge is earned, not bought, and the quotes are free.
👉 Find verified home services in Dubai →
Frequently asked questions about verifying a contractor in Dubai
How do I check if a Dubai contractor has a valid trade licence?
Ask the Dubai contractor for the trade licence number and the exact licensed company name, then look both up in the Dubai business directory on Invest in Dubai, which searches by business name or Dubai Unified Licence (DUL) number. The UAE Government's own "Verify business licences" page links every emirate's licensing authority for the same check.
Does a Dubai contractor need a TRN to charge me 5% VAT?
Yes. A Dubai contractor who adds 5% VAT to your invoice must hold a Tax Registration Number. Verify it free on the Federal Tax Authority site: the TRN verification box on tax.gov.ae accepts a 15-character number and a captcha code. If a company charges VAT and cannot give you a TRN that verifies, do not pay the VAT line.
Does an electrician in Dubai have to be on DEWA's contractor list?
Not for every job. DEWA publishes a List of Enrolled Fit Out Consultants and Contractors, plus a separate list of enrolled solar PV contractors, at dewa.gov.ae. For a fit-out or a solar installation in Dubai, check that list. For a socket or a light fitting, the check is the electrical activity printed on the company's trade licence.
How do I check a pest control company is approved in Dubai?
Ask the Dubai pest control company for its Dubai Municipality classification and its Smart Inspection System grade, which runs from A to F. Dubai Municipality's Pest Control Companies Classification Guide weights that inspection grade at 30% of the classification, approved manpower at 20%, and the company's authorised activity at 15%.
How does TaskRight verify providers before they appear?
TaskRight collects the UAE trade licence number and a copy of the licence, plus the owner's Emirates ID, and checks the licensed activity against the services the provider wants to list. A new registration is not visible anywhere on TaskRight until someone at TaskRight switches it live, and every review is held for manual approval before it publishes.
Regulatory details verified against DEWA, Dubai Municipality, SIRA, the Federal Tax Authority and the UAE Government portal. Last updated: August 2026.
