EV Charging for Owners Associations in Dubai: How to Get Chargers in Your Building Without a Service-Charge Increase
Most apartment towers in Dubai built before 2014 have no EV charging, and residents are starting to ask for it. This guide explains what an owners committee or management company can approve, what DEWA requires once charging is shared, who has the authority to sign, and how an operator-funded installation keeps the cost out of the service-charge budget.
Why does our building have no EV charging?
Older towers were designed before electric cars were common, so their parking levels have no spare circuits, dedicated bays or metering for chargers. Dubai Municipality's Green Building Regulations require new non-villa buildings with more than 20 parking spaces to designate at least 5% of required parking as preferred parking for low-emission vehicles.
That rule reserves bays. It does not require anyone to install a charger in them. The Dubai Building Code, section G.5, sets out how an EV charge point must be designed and installed, not how many a building must have. In practice, a retrofit decision sits with the owners and whoever manages the common areas.
Can residents simply install their own wallboxes?
A resident who charges only their own car from a charger on their own exclusive-use bay is operating private charging equipment. Building management will still normally ask for a no-objection certificate, exclusive use of the bay, a DEWA-approved contractor and an indemnity before work starts.
The limits appear quickly. Every wallbox draws on the building's shared supply, and managers raise load capacity, fire safety and fair distribution of electricity as objections. More importantly, the moment a charger serves anyone other than its owner, the Regulation treats it as Public Charging Equipment. Under Article 7.1 of DEWA's EV Charging Infrastructure Regulation, operating public charging without a CPO licence is not permitted, whether or not money changes hands.
What are the three routes to shared charging in a jointly owned building?
Three routes exist. They differ in who pays, who holds the DEWA licence and whether the service-charge budget is touched.
| Route | Who pays for hardware and installation | Who holds the DEWA licence | Effect on service charges |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resident-funded wallbox on an exclusive bay | The individual owner | None needed if it serves only that owner | None, but it serves one car and one bay |
| Owners association funds shared chargers | The owners, through the budget | The association or its manager must obtain a Free or Paid Provision licence, or appoint a licensed CPO | Capital cost and running costs enter the RERA-approved budget |
| Licensed operator funds and runs the chargers (Hikari Model A) | The operator | The operator | None. The operator carries capital, licence, insurance and maintenance |
A fourth variant exists for buildings that want to own the hardware. The association pays for the equipment and a licensed operator designs, installs and runs it under its licence for a fee. Hikari offers this as Model B. Where compliant chargers already exist, an operator can also take them under its licence, but that is the exception rather than the starting point.
Why does the operator-funded route avoid a service-charge increase?
Under Law No. 6 of 2019, which governs jointly owned property in Dubai, the annual service-charge budget must be approved by RERA (Article 27). A charger purchase, its DEWA connection works, insurance and maintenance would all need a line in that budget and a justification to owners.
When a licensed operator funds the installation, nothing enters the budget. The operator owns the chargers, pays the annual DEWA licence fees on each port, insures them and maintains them. The building grants the bays under a site agreement. Any income to the building can be a fixed rent, a revenue share or a blend, and Hikari sets this in the proposal after a site visit rather than in a brochure.
Who has the authority to sign a site agreement?
This depends on how the building is classified under Law No. 6 of 2019. In Major Projects the developer manages the common parts and may appoint a RERA-approved management company (Article 18). In Hotel Projects the developer appoints a RERA-approved hotel project management company. In other buildings the management company is selected and engaged by RERA.
The owners committee has up to nine members selected by RERA and holds monitoring and complaint functions (Article 24). It can ask RERA to replace the management company (Article 24(5)), so a long-term agreement signed only by the manager carries continuity risk. The answer is a committee resolution, step-in and successor clauses, and an agreement that binds the property rather than the current manager.
What about the building's electrical capacity?
A DC fast charger needs spare capacity of roughly 60 to 150 kW at a connection point within cable reach, or a DEWA connection route that can be built. Load management, which reduces charger output during the afternoon air-conditioning peak, is a recognised way to fit chargers into an existing supply.
DEWA has made one route easier for residential sites. Licensing of DC chargers up to 50 kW at locations with restricted access, such as gated communities, is to be streamlined through the CPO Licensing Portal, which DEWA still describes as upcoming. Any larger DC charger, or any DC charger open to the general public, needs DEWA's specific approval.
How are bays allocated and how do residents pay?
Under Article 8.1 of the Regulation, bays with public charging equipment are dedicated to electric vehicles for the purpose of charging, and it is forbidden to occupy them otherwise unless DEWA or the operator authorises it. The operator may display an overstay fee. Enforcement on the ground stays with the building.
Residents pay the operator at the regulated tariff of AED 0.70 per kWh for AC and AED 1.20 per kWh for DC, plus VAT, with the operator acting as DEWA's collection agent for the electricity portion. The association cannot bill residents for charging itself. Licence condition 7.2.h expressly prohibits facility owners and parking operators from receiving remuneration from consumers for EV charging services.
How Hikari handles this
Hikari is a DEWA-licensed Independent Charge Point Operator. Under Model A, our lead offer, Hikari funds the chargers, the DEWA approvals and the connection from the agreed point, then owns, insures, operates and maintains the site under a ten-year site agreement. The building pays nothing and no line is added to the service-charge budget.
We prepare the NOC pack and a one-page committee note covering bays, charger power, connection point, term and the confirmation that nothing falls on the budget, and we write availability, response times and quarterly reporting into the agreement. For associations that prefer to own the hardware, Model B delivers the same installation and operation under our licence for a management fee.
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Sources: DEWA EV Charging Infrastructure Regulation for the Emirate of Dubai, Version 1.3 (November 2025); DEWA Independent CPO Form of Licence for Paid Provision of EV Charging Services, Version 1.2 (June 2025); DEWA Regulatory Framework for EV Charging Infrastructure webpage (last updated 16 June 2026); Cabinet Resolution No. 81 of 2024 on EV charging fees; Law No. 6 of 2019 Concerning Ownership of Jointly Owned Real Property in the Emirate of Dubai; Dubai Municipality Green Building Regulations and Specifications; Dubai Building Code 2021, section G.5.