Having not found a suitable facility last month, we were back out inspecting properties in DIP this week. Previously we were looking at newer facilities in DIP 2 however none were proving suitable and within budget. This time we ventured over to the older side of the road to look at options in DIP 1.

Other than being older facilities, DIP 1 offered better value for money. Here we could get a facility 30% larger for the same price as one in DIP 2. The other key difference was that DIP warehouses appeared not to have any fire sprinkler systems installed. I’d suggest these were built and approved before the rules changed. As our factory work doesn’t involve any flammable material or process, this wasn’t too much of a concern. Having said that, we did have some concern if the lack of fire system would effect our insurance policy.

This time we found a place that fitted our requirements. While no place is perfect, we located a property that was in a facility of 24 warehouses with most of them performing some type of aluminium construction or custom steel work. At least we knew the area was zoned for our business activities.

Now to negotiate the price. The price was advertised as ‘all in’ meaning that it included fees and taxes. This included a 15% DIP fee and 5% service fee. This is on top of the real estate agent fees 5%, security deposit 5%, Ejari fees, DED fees based on the business and annual rent (TBD), DEWA connection, municipality fee of 9k AED for any fitout works we want to undertake and phone connection fees. The list doesn’t seem to stop!

With the price agreed and the offer letter in hand we were back to the DED office to get approval for the business to operate from the selected premise.