Dubai 2026 Legislative Series · 1 of 3

Dubai Law No. 2 of 2026 on Public Safety

A practitioner's briefing on scope, obligations, and the operational compliance steps every owner, operator, event organiser and product importer in Dubai must take before the law's commencement on 1 June 2026.

1. The headline

On 27 February 2026, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, in his capacity as Ruler of Dubai, issued Law No. 2 of 2026 on Public Safety in the Emirate of Dubai, published in Issue 764 of the Official Gazette on 12 March 2026. The Law takes effect on 1 June 2026 and replaces, in material part, Local Order No. 11 of 2003 on Public Health and Community Safety.

The Law unifies, for the first time in a single instrument, the public-safety obligations imposed on the operators of public places, entertainment venues, public-event venues, residential and commercial buildings, swimming pools and beaches, together with the safety standards applicable to consumer products distributed in Dubai. It vests primary supervisory authority in the Environment, Health and Safety Foundation (the Foundation), an entity affiliated with Dubai Municipality.

2. Territorial and material scope

Article 3(a) extends the Law to all public places, entertainment venues, public-event venues and buildings located in Dubai — including special development zones and free zones, and the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). This is significant: the DIFC and other free zones, ordinarily insulated from onshore civil regulation by their own legislative frameworks, are expressly captured.

Article 3(b) carves out airports, military and security facilities, ports and dry docks, transport vehicles, industrial and craft buildings, and buildings still under construction (save for portions accessible to the public).

3. The Foundation's mandate

Under Article 5, the Foundation is empowered to:

• Set conditions and controls to prevent incidents in public-facing venues;
• Verify that emergency and crowd-management plans are in place;
• Review the design of equipment and rides used in entertainment and event venues, including lifts and lifting gear;
• Set technical specifications for the construction of permanent and temporary swimming pools;
• Issue, suspend and revoke permits for entertainment and event sites;
• Investigate incidents, build a centralised incidents database, and impose corrective measures.

4. Owner obligations: a 21-point checklist

Article 14 imposes twenty-one categorised obligations on the owner — a term defined to include the legal owner, the beneficial user, the service provider, and the operator with full operational control. The most operationally significant are:

1. Compliance with all public-safety requirements set out in the Law and its implementing decisions;
2. Obtaining a Foundation-issued permit before operating any entertainment site, and re-applying on any material change to the venue;
3. Designing accessibility for persons of determination into both ingress and egress;
4. Ensuring all equipment is maintained on a documented periodic schedule by Municipality-accredited contractors;
5. Appointing and training a Public Safety Supervisor qualified and certified by the Foundation;
6. Producing a written incident emergency plan covering crowd control, evacuation, safe-zone access and first aid;
7. Notifying the Foundation of any incident or injury within the timeframes set out in the Foundation's manual;
8. Producing a documented risk assessment, optionally by a specialised firm, and providing it to the Foundation on request.

5. Sector-specific overlays

5.1 Buildings (Article 8)

Inhabited buildings must provide compliant lifts or escalators, fall-prevention barriers on all stairs, terraces and rooftops, fire-fighting equipment, evacuation arrangements, and first-aid provision. Where the controls so require, the building must designate a Public Safety Supervisor.

5.2 Homes (Article 9)

For the first time, the Law extends specific obligations to private residences in Dubai: mandatory installation of fire-detection devices and connection to an electronic monitoring network; safety measures around solar-power, smart-home and electrical systems; safety arrangements for residential swimming pools; ambient-noise compliance; and safety procedures for the domestic use of cooking gas.

5.3 Swimming pools (Articles 11 & 12)

No swimming pool may be constructed in Dubai — including in private villas — without prior Foundation approval of plans and design. Permanent shared pools (residential complexes, hotels, clubs) require: a completion certificate; compliance with Foundation specifications for filtration, heating, lighting and maintenance; an appropriately qualified lifeguard; physical separation between adults' and children's pools; and bilingual Arabic/English signage. Temporary pools open to the public require advance Foundation approval and conformity certification.

5.4 Beaches (Article 13)

The owner or supervising entity must obtain Municipality and competent-authority approvals for any activity (including water sports) on the beach; equip the beach with watch towers, lifeguards and bilingual hazard signage; demarcate swimming and water-sport zones with floating barriers; designate permitted swimming hours; and verify the absence of glass or sharp objects on the sand.

6. Prohibited acts (Article 16)

Three categories of conduct are now prohibited under personal liability:

• Trading or using explosives, fireworks, toxic products, hazardous gases or flammable liquids without authorisation;
• Trading any product that fails the public-safety requirements, that poses a risk to public safety, or that lacks bilingual Arabic/English safe-use instructions;
• Engaging in any activity that poses a risk to public safety without a Foundation permit.

7. Enforcement and penalties

Fines. Article 19 sets a fine band of AED 500 to AED 1,000,000 per violation, doubling on repeat within twelve months up to a cap of AED 2,000,000. The matrix of specific offences and corresponding fines will be published by Resolution of the Chairman of the Executive Council.

Administrative measures. Article 20 grants the Municipality the power to seize unsafe products pending verification, destroy or re-export non-compliant products at the violator's cost, withdraw products pending judicial determination, and partially or wholly close venues that pose a risk to public safety until the violation is cured.

Restoration costs. Article 21 requires the violator to restore the position at its own expense within a deadline set by the Foundation. Failing this, the Municipality may carry out the works (directly or via third parties) and recover the costs plus a 25% administrative surcharge.

Judicial police status. Article 22 confers judicial police status on designated Municipality and competent-authority staff to record offences.

Grievance. Article 23 provides a 10-business-day window to appeal in writing against any decision, with a 30-day time limit on the appeal committee's response. The committee's decision is final.

8. Transition: what to do before 1 June 2026

Article 30 grants persons subject to the Law a two-year transitional period from the law's effective date to bring their affairs into compliance, extendable by a further two-year period by Resolution of the Chairman of the Executive Council. The five priority workstreams for clients with Dubai operations are:

1. Permit audit. Identify every venue, ride, swimming pool and event location that will require a Foundation permit and lodge applications well ahead of the deadline.
2. Public Safety Supervisor. Appoint and put into Foundation-certified training the qualified person who will sign off the safety regime.
3. Risk assessment. Commission (or update) a documented risk assessment for every public-facing site.
4. Emergency plan. Draft, table-top test, and brief staff on the incident emergency plan required under Article 14(7).
5. Product portfolio review. For importers and distributors, review the product range against the Article 16 prohibitions and the bilingual safe-use-instruction requirement, and recall or relabel as necessary.

9. How we can help

Noura Almaazmi Advocates & Legal Consultancy advises owners, operators, event organisers, F&B groups, hospitality operators, leisure-industry sponsors, and consumer-product importers on the public-safety regime in the UAE. Our work on Law No. 2 of 2026 includes permit-readiness audits, drafting of incident emergency plans and risk-assessment frameworks, training of Public Safety Supervisors, and contentious representation before the Foundation grievance committees and in any subsequent appeals.

This briefing is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Specific facts and circumstances may alter the analysis. For tailored guidance, please contact our team. © 2026 Noura Almaazmi Advocates & Legal Consultancy. The official Arabic text of Law No. 2 of 2026 prevails over any English summary.