Mohamad Khodr Al-Dah, director for technical affairs, DLD
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Dubai Land Department (DLD), the Dubai Government’s property regulatory arm will adopt International Property Management Standards (IPMS) to enhance its property measurement techniques.
“While standards, such as Taqyeem, exist to ascertain property valuations in Dubai, there are no specific standards to measure area,” said Mohamad Khodr Al-Dah, director of technical affairs at DLD. “Architects, depending on their backgrounds, may use either the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA; USA) or British Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS; UK) standards on the projects they work on in the emirate.
“These variations affect the overall project and property valuation. In that regard, we are fortunate to have the IPMS collaborating with us,” Al-Dah added.
The IPMS Coalition was formed in May 2013 by a group of 22 professional and not-for-profit organisations from around the world. Ken Creighton, director of professional standards at RICS and chairman of the IPMS Coalition said the new standards for Dubai would be drafted and revealed by June 2014.
“The standard setting committee, consisting of 19 independent experts appointed by the Coalition, will meet in Dubai in May 2014,” Creighton said. “The structures under consideration will be offices, residential buildings, retail setups, industrial buildings and mixed-use structures.
“We expect the new standards for office buildings to be announced by June 2014 after they have undergone due consultation,” he added.
Al-Dah praised the IPMS structure for the consistency in data feeds it allows, adding it would lead to ethical stability and financial certainty in the Dubai market. Speaking to Big Project ME, Al-Dah said he hopes the Dubai Municipality will adopt the approach soon.
“While the building codes in the emirate are excellently created, it would be extremely beneficial for the property market if the organisation endorsed the IPMS standards.
“DLD is fully committed to the Coalition, and we are working for full compliance with their codes. We hope developers will receive these standards with the same level of enthusiasm, as they will solidify the property market and raise the bar for efficient FDI influx,” Al-Dah added.