Painting a one-bedroom apartment in Abu Dhabi starts from AED 750 and a two-bedroom from AED 1,150. A three-bedroom villa runs AED 2,500 to AED 5,000. Interior wall painting is quoted at AED 15 to AED 25 per square metre, and most painters add AED 250 per extra colour beyond white.
The extra-colour line is where the quote you accepted stops matching the invoice you get. The AED 850 you were quoted was for white or off-white. You chose a grey feature wall in the living room and a soft blue in the bedroom, and two published Abu Dhabi painters charge AED 250 and AED 400 per extra colour. Ceilings are extra too, at AED 150 for a one-bedroom and AED 250 for a two-bedroom.
None of that is dishonest. All of it is published, by the painters themselves, on pages nobody reads before saying yes on WhatsApp. The money is saved by asking how many colours the price covers before you pick the colours.
How much does it cost to paint an apartment in Abu Dhabi?
Apartment painting in Abu Dhabi is priced per unit by bedroom count, and the published figures cluster tightly at the bottom end. The table lists four independent Abu Dhabi sources side by side.
Two Abu Dhabi painters publish a one-bedroom flat at AED 850 and AED 950 with Jotun paint in white or off-white, and both attach a per-extra-colour surcharge. ServiceMarket publishes rates starting from AED 550 for a studio. Sources: Painters Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Fixit, YMS Group, Apartment Painters Abu Dhabi and ServiceMarket.
How much does it cost to paint a villa in Abu Dhabi?
Villa painting in Abu Dhabi is published by bedroom count and by square metre, and the two methods give very different answers on the same house. The table sets out both.
A room in a villa is published at around AED 850 against around AED 550 for the same room in an apartment — a villa premium of roughly 55% on identical work, driven by ceiling height and access. Ask which of the two your quote is built on.
What is the per-square-metre rate for painting in Abu Dhabi?
Per-square-metre pricing is the only way to compare an Abu Dhabi painting quote against the actual wall area, and the published rates are narrow enough to be useful. The table lists them.
Labour on its own is published separately at AED 35 to AED 50 per hour without materials, with a stated minimum order of AED 450. A per-hour labour quote with no materials is a different product from a per-unit quote that includes Jotun paint, and the two should never be compared directly.
• Extra colours: AED 250 per extra colour at one Abu Dhabi painter, AED 400 at another. Quotes are built on white or off-white.
• Ceilings: AED 150 for a one-bedroom and AED 250 for a two-bedroom apartment, charged on top.
• Minimum order: AED 450, so a single small room will not be cheaper than that.
• Covering dark colours costs more — published as a cost driver, with no figure attached, so get it quoted before you paint over a feature wall.
Does Abu Dhabi require a permit to paint a villa?
Abu Dhabi publishes a service called "Issuing a Permit for Residential Villa Maintenance for Paint and Ceramic Work", issued by the Department of Municipalities and Transport. The published cost is AED 100, the processing time is 6 minutes, and the required documents are listed as "Not Applicable". The three published steps are to log in using UAE PASS, submit the application and pay the fees.
🔴 One honest limit on that. The TAMM page does not say when the permit is mandatory rather than optional, does not say whether the homeowner or the contractor applies, and states no penalty for proceeding without one. So the accurate statement is that Abu Dhabi publishes an AED 100 villa paint-and-ceramic maintenance permit — not that every repaint requires one. Confirm with your contractor and with the TAMM service page before assuming either way.
A separate DMT service, "Issuing Maintenance Permit", covers maintenance, improvements or decor for a building or shop where the work includes no modification to interior spaces, no new openings and no construction affecting structural safety. The published position is that service has no additional costs and takes 7 working days. No equivalent service exists for an individual apartment interior.
When can painters work outside in Abu Dhabi in summer?
Exterior painting in Abu Dhabi is governed by the federal midday break. The published rule is that all work performed under direct sunlight and in open places shall not be allowed between the peak hours of 12.30 pm and 3 pm, from 15 June to 15 September of every year, under Article 3 of Ministerial Resolution No. 44 of 2022.
For a villa exterior repaint between mid-June and mid-September, that removes two and a half hours from every working day, and a contractor who has priced the job on an eight-hour day has mispriced it. The fines announced for the 2025 season were AED 5,000 for every worker per breach, up to a maximum of AED 50,000 where several workers were in violation. Source: u.ae workplace regulations.
How do you check an Abu Dhabi painting company is licensed?
A painting contractor in Abu Dhabi needs an Economic Licence from the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development. The verification service is called Economic Licence Enquiry, branded TAHAQAQ, and the field it asks for is the economic licence number in the format CN-XXXXXXX.
⚠️ TAHAQAQ renders a UAE PASS sign-in wall, so it is not an anonymous lookup. If you want a login-free check, the federal National Economic Register at moec.gov.ae is the alternative. Either way, ask the company for its licence number before work starts rather than after.
Who repaints at the end of a tenancy in Abu Dhabi?
No published Abu Dhabi instrument says. We read the full consolidated text of Law No. 20 of 2006 concerning the leasing of spaces in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, from the official Dari PDF. The words "paint", "repaint", "decorate" and "whitewash" appear zero times, as do "wear and tear" and "original condition" — on an extraction where "Article" appears 85 times and "tenant" 46, so the absence is real rather than a failed read.
What the law does say: under Article 7 the Lessor shall maintain the leasehold to keep it fit for utility and carry out all necessary repairs excluding rental repairs, unless otherwise agreed. Under Article 13 a tenant may not make any change to the leasehold without written permission, and a change beyond those limits entitles the Lessor to compel reinstatement. Article 19 requires the tenant to turn over the leasehold on expiry with no condition standard attached.
What does the paint itself cost in Abu Dhabi?
Knowing the material cost tells you whether a quote is mostly labour or mostly markup. Published UAE retail prices for the brands Abu Dhabi painters actually name are below.
An 18-litre drum of Jotun Fenomastic is AED 649 at retail while National Paints Tornado is AED 88 — a difference of AED 561 on one drum. A painter quoting AED 850 for a one-bedroom flat "with Jotun paint" is giving you most of that drum inside the price, which is why a cheaper quote usually means a cheaper brand rather than a cheaper painter.
✓ Ask how many colours the price covers — most quotes assume white or off-white only
✓ Ask the per-extra-colour surcharge in dirhams, published at AED 250 to AED 400
✓ Ask whether ceilings are included or extra at AED 150 to AED 250
✓ Ask which paint brand and how many coats — the brand is worth AED 561 a drum
✓ Ask whether the quote is per unit with materials, or AED 35 to AED 50 per hour labour only
✓ For an exterior job in June to September, confirm the 12.30pm to 3pm break is in the schedule
✓ Ask for the CN- economic licence number and check it
✓ Ask whether VAT is included, because no Abu Dhabi painter we read states it
Get the colour count on the quote before you pick the colours
Painting is the home job with the widest gap between the number you are told and the number you pay, and almost all of that gap is colours, ceilings and brand. The painters worth hiring will tell you all three without being pushed, and will put the coat count in writing.
TaskRight is a verified, zero-commission home services platform in the UAE — every painter on the platform is RightPro-verified, and you hire and pay them direct. We take nothing from the job, so the figure you are quoted is the figure the painter set. Describe the flat once and compare the answers on colours, ceilings, coats and brand.
👉 Compare verified painters in the UAE →
Related reading:
Painting costs in Abu Dhabi: your questions answered
How much does it cost to paint a one-bedroom apartment in Abu Dhabi?
Painting a one-bedroom apartment in Abu Dhabi is published at AED 850 and AED 950 with Jotun paint in white or off-white by two Abu Dhabi painters, with wider ranges of AED 700 to AED 1,800 elsewhere. Extra colours are charged at AED 250 to AED 400 each, and ceilings add AED 150.
How much does it cost to paint a villa in Abu Dhabi?
Painting a three-bedroom villa in Abu Dhabi is published at AED 2,500 to AED 5,000 and a four-bedroom at AED 4,000 to AED 7,000. By area, villa interior is AED 12 to AED 20 per square metre and villa exterior AED 15 to AED 25 per square metre. A single villa room is around AED 850.
What is the per square metre painting rate in Abu Dhabi?
Interior wall painting in Abu Dhabi is quoted at AED 15 to AED 25 per square metre and exterior at AED 20 to AED 30 per square metre, with a stated minimum rate of AED 2 per square foot. Labour only, without materials, is published at AED 35 to AED 50 per hour with a AED 450 minimum order.
Do you need a permit to paint a villa in Abu Dhabi?
Abu Dhabi publishes a service called Issuing a Permit for Residential Villa Maintenance for Paint and Ceramic Work, from the Department of Municipalities and Transport, costing AED 100 with a 6 minute processing time and no documents required. The page does not state when the permit is mandatory or any penalty.
Can painters work outside during the day in Abu Dhabi in summer?
No. All work performed under direct sunlight and in open places is not allowed between 12.30 pm and 3 pm from 15 June to 15 September of every year, under Article 3 of Ministerial Resolution No. 44 of 2022. Fines announced for 2025 were AED 5,000 per worker per breach up to AED 50,000.
Does a tenant have to repaint at the end of a tenancy in Abu Dhabi?
No Abu Dhabi law requires it. The full text of Law No. 20 of 2006 contains the words paint, repaint, decorate and whitewash zero times, and no wear-and-tear standard. Repainting at the end of an Abu Dhabi tenancy is governed by whatever your own tenancy contract says, not by statute.
How do you check an Abu Dhabi painting company is licensed?
Ask for the economic licence number in the format CN-XXXXXXX and check it through Economic Licence Enquiry, branded TAHAQAQ, run by the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development. TAHAQAQ requires a UAE PASS sign-in, so the federal National Economic Register is the login-free alternative.
Last updated: October 2026
