Cleaning company licence for your own team
A DET licence covers cleaning by your own supervised team. Maids for homes, pest control and rope access need separate approvals.
- Usual route
- Mainland (DET)
- Extra approval
- Wording only
- Timeline
- Days to weeks
- AML
- Not a DNFBP activity
A cleaning company in Dubai usually licenses with DET on the mainland and cleans offices, towers and handovers with its own employees under its own supervision. Supplying maids to households is a different business, licensed by MOHRE under the domestic workers law. Pest control needs a Dubai Municipality NOC before the trade licence, and rope access needs EIAC-certified teams.
- Covers
- Office, tower, handover and deep cleaning by your own staff
- Not covered
- Supplying maids to households (MOHRE domestic worker licence)
- Premises
- An office sized to the visas you need
- Timeline
- Days to weeks; weeks where pest control is added
What a cleaning services licence covers
Scope follows who employs the cleaners and who directs them on the job.
Covered
Not covered
- Covered by Domestic worker recruitment (MOHRE)
- Covered by Pest control, with a Dubai Municipality NOC
- Covered by Certified rope access work
- Covered by Technical services
Tick what you plan to do. The result shows here.
We fix the wording before you apply. Send us your list on WhatsApp
The moment workers live or work in a home under the family's direction, MOHRE's domestic worker rules apply.
Mainland licence or free zone branch
Cleaning teams work on client sites all over Dubai. The usual base is a DET licence on the mainland.
| If most of your clients are | Likely route | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Offices, towers and facility managers in Dubai | Mainland (DET) | Contract work on mainland sites sits naturally on a DET licence |
| Clients in free zones and on the mainland | Either route | A free zone company adds a DET branch for mainland sites |
| Developers, for handover and snagging cleans | Either route | Where each building sits decides it, project by project |
A free zone cleaning company can take mainland contracts through a DET branch licence or permit under Executive Council Resolution 11 of 2025. Income from those contracts can affect its QFZP tax status.
Several free zones license this activity; we match the zone to your visas, office and banking. Compare free zones
Three questions. The closest row is marked in the table above.
Your likely route shows here.
Approvals beyond the trade licence
General cleaning usually rests on the right wording in the DET licence, which we confirm at application. Pest control works the other way round, because Dubai Municipality must issue its NOC before DET issues the licence.
Before the licence
- Trade name and initial approvalDET
- Pest control NOC, if addedDubai Municipality
The licence
- Trade licenceDET
After the licence
- Certified rope access teamsEIAC-accredited certification
- Corporate bank accountThe bank
- Work permits and visasMOHRE and GDRFA Dubai
- Accommodation for larger low-wage teamsMOHRE
We put the pest control NOC ahead of the licence.
Who directs the cleaner decides the licence
Two questions place your model: who directs the worker on the job, and what the job involves.
Hourly home-cleaning models vary, so we read yours against MOHRE's rules before anything is filed.
| Your own supervisor | The household | |
|---|---|---|
| Cleaning only | Commercial cleaning company Your employees under the Labour Law, on a DET licence with cleaning wording. | Domestic worker placement A MOHRE domestic worker licence, under a separate law from the Labour Law. |
| Pesticides or disinfection | Pest control company Dubai Municipality issues a pest control NOC before the trade licence. | Still pest control Treating homes is pest control work, so the municipality's NOC comes first. |
Answer both to highlight your square.
What a bank asks a cleaning company
Bank viewStandard, with questions on payroll and household payments
A cleaning company is payroll-heavy from the first month, so the bank looks at whether wages will run through WPS and how many staff the visas cover. Card or cash payments from households draw questions when the contracts are with companies. A client list, the first signed contracts and a staffing plan answer most of them. We put those together in the bank file before the application goes in.
AMLNot a DNFBP activity; the bank's own customer checks still apply.
Where cleaning companies get caught out
Maids supplied on a cleaning licence
A cleaning licence covers your own staff on your own jobs. Supplying maids to households needs a MOHRE licence, and MOHRE closes unlicensed recruitment offices and refers them to prosecution.
Pest control added after licensing
Pest work looks like a small add-on. Dubai Municipality issues the pest control NOC before the licence, inspects staff, stores and vehicles, and treats fumigation and termite work as separate approvals.
Facade work taken on without certification
Facade and high-rise window jobs often come with the first building contract. The municipality's rope access guideline allows only EIAC-certified companies and staff to do that work, so the contract waits until the company and the rope team hold certification.
Questions about a cleaning company licence
A question about your plan? Describe your cleaning company plan and an advisor replies on WhatsApp.
Ask on WhatsAppCan a cleaning company in Dubai supply maids to homes?
Can a free zone cleaning company work across Dubai?
Do I need Dubai Municipality approval for a cleaning company?
What approval does a pest control company need in Dubai?
Is it safe to buy a cleaning company licence for sale in Dubai?
Related pages
ActivityRecruitment agency licence and domestic worker placementRecruiting or supplying workers in the UAE needs a MOHRE agency licence.
JurisdictionDubai mainland licence through DETSuits businesses that sell to UAE customers or bid for Dubai tenders.
ServicePRO services for visas and work permitsPRO services in Dubai for companies: visas, Emirates ID, labour permits, licence renewals and approvals run on a calendar, not chased at the deadline.
Check where your cleaning model sits with MOHRE before the first cleaner is hired
Thirty minutes with a senior advisor on your clients, your team and any pest or facade work you plan. You leave with the activity wording, the route and the extra approvals that specialist work brings.
On the call
- The activity wording that fits your plan
- The route, and the approvals in order
- A written scope, agreed before any work starts
