Advertising an off plan property in Dubai, permit by permit

What has to be true about the project before a single unit gets advertised?

The Real Estate Brokerage Practice Guide sets out project level obligations that sit before any advertising permission is even requested. A broker marketing an off plan project must confirm the project is licensed and registered with the agency, confirm that an escrow account exists for the project, and instruct buyers to pay only into that escrow account rather than to the developer or the brokerage directly. Project registration status is checked in the Dubai REST app through Mashrooi, which is DLD's project registration and tracking system for off plan developments.

This is the step that catches brokerages advertising early, before a developer has finished registering a project. An eye catching render circulating on social media ahead of a formal launch, without a validated project registration behind it, is advertising a project that has not cleared the first gate DLD sets, regardless of how the individual unit permit application later goes.

What is the marketing contract for an off plan unit, if there is no individual owner to sign one?

Secondary market advertising rests on Contract A, the marketing agreement between an individual owner and the brokerage. Off plan advertising rests on a different document: a marketing contract between the developer and the brokerage office. The developer is the counterparty because the developer, not a future buyer, is the party who currently holds and can market the units. A brokerage advertising an off plan project without that developer level agreement in place is in the same position as an agent advertising a secondary unit without Contract A: authorised by nobody in the eyes of the regulator, whatever informal understanding exists on the ground. Our guide to Forms A, B and F covers how the secondary market version of this document works and where the two tracks diverge.

What changed with the Primary Unit Permit in April 2024?

Before April 2024, off plan advertising permission worked primarily at the project level. DLD introduced the Primary Unit Permit that month specifically to add a unit level layer to off plan advertising, meaning an individual unit within a registered, escrow backed project now needs its own permit rather than relying on the project's registration alone to cover every unit inside it. A brokerage still working from an older project only registration, without the newer unit level permit, is operating under a rule that has since been superseded, and that gap is one of the more common causes behind an off plan permit application stalling. Our guide to why a Trakheesi permit gets rejected sets out how this specific gap shows up as a rejection.

Does the three broker cap apply the same way to off plan units?

The mechanics are the same as the secondary market: a maximum of three active permits can exist against one unit at a time, which caps the number of agents who can simultaneously advertise it. Off plan adds a layer on top through the portals themselves. Bayut, for instance, offers a Checked and TruCheck badge specifically for off plan resale listings, verifying the listing's authenticity against DLD records, valid for 45 days per listing, and covering off plan resale property in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Bayut states that a listing carrying the badge draws 20 times more impressions and 5 times more leads than one without it. That is a portal level incentive sitting on top of the regulatory permit requirement, not a substitute for it. A badge verifies a listing's authenticity to a buyer. It does not replace the project registration, the escrow confirmation or the unit level permit underneath it.

What is genuinely unclear about off plan resale?

Off plan resale, where a buyer who purchased directly from a developer sells their contract before handover, sits at the intersection of both worlds: the unit is still off plan, but the seller is now an individual rather than the developer. Neither the Practice Guide text available nor the portal documentation reviewed for this guide states plainly whether an off plan resale listing needs the developer marketing contract, an individual Contract A with the reselling buyer, or both. Given that ambiguity, the safer position for a brokerage is to hold documentation for both relationships, the original project registration and a signed agreement with the current seller, and to confirm directly with DLD or the developer's sales office which document Trakheesi expects for that specific resale transaction, rather than assume one document covers a situation the published guidance does not spell out.

Stage	What is required	Who confirms it
Project registration	Project licensed and registered with DLD, escrow account confirmed	Validated via Dubai REST, Mashrooi
Marketing authority	Marketing contract between developer and brokerage	Held by the brokerage, not an individual owner
Unit level permit	Primary Unit Permit, required since April 2024	Applied for through Trakheesi per unit
Portal verification	Checked or TruCheck badge for off plan resale	45 day validity, Dubai and Abu Dhabi only

Frequently asked questions

Can a brokerage advertise a project before the developer has an escrow account set up?

No. The Practice Guide requires the broker to confirm an escrow account exists as part of the project level obligations that sit before advertising, alongside confirming the project is licensed and registered. Advertising ahead of that confirmation is advertising ahead of the requirement.

Does the Primary Unit Permit replace the project level registration?

No. It sits on top of it. The project still needs to be registered and escrow backed. The Primary Unit Permit, introduced in April 2024, adds a unit specific layer that the project registration alone does not cover.

Who signs the marketing contract for an off plan project?

The developer and the brokerage office. There is no individual unit owner to sign in the way there is on a secondary market listing, because the developer holds the units being marketed.

Does the three broker cap apply before or after handover?

The published cap, three active permits per unit, is written around the permit mechanism itself rather than around handover status, which suggests it applies throughout, including pre handover off plan resale. Confirm the specific application with your ORN holder if a resale transaction is close to handover, since that is one of the areas this guide flags as not clearly published.

Where does a broker check whether a project's registration is current?

In the Dubai REST app, through the Mashrooi section, which is DLD's project registration and tracking system for off plan developments.

Sources

• Dubai Land Department, Real Estate Ad Permit service card, categories and marketing contract requirement
• Bayut agent portal, the Checked and TruCheck badge for off plan property listings, scope, 45 day validity and performance figures
• Dubai Land Department, Verify License and Permits service

Last verified: 2026-09-02