A spa or massage centre in Dubai is licensed under one of three Dubai Municipality activities, each for men or for women: a spa club, a massage and relaxation centre, or an oriental bath. On top of the trade license, the municipality issues a no-objection permit for the activity, which is free and takes one working day, and it sets the room layout: every treatment room at least 6 square metres, entered through its own dressing room, with one bed and its own hand basin. After opening, the centre is inspected and graded from A to E.
Which License Does a Spa Need?
Dubai Municipality's no-objection requirements group these activities together, each licensed separately for men and for women:
- Spa club, gents or ladies.
- Massage and relaxation centre, gents or ladies.
- Oriental bath (such as a Moroccan bath), gents or ladies.
The municipality's table of permitted services sets which services each activity may offer, so match the activity to everything on your menu before the license is issued. Massage given as medical treatment by licensed therapists is a health service under the Dubai Health Authority, covered in the massage therapist license guide. Hair, nails and beauty treatments are the salon license.
Dubai Municipality's No-Objection Permit
The municipality's "no objection permit to practice health and safety activities" covers massage and relaxation centres, oriental baths and health clubs. According to its service card in SP06:
- Fee: free. Time: one working day.
- When you need it: a new company, a new branch, a change to the furniture layout, adding an activity to the license, moving the premises, or a mobile activity.
- Applied for through Dubai Municipality's channels; the service card is on the municipality's website (service code 3950).
The Room Rules
SP06 sets the technical requirements for spa clubs, massage and relaxation centres and oriental baths:
- Each service room at least 6 square metres.
- A dressing room for each service room, connected to it, so the client enters the service room through the dressing room.
- A separate hand wash basin in each room, with waterproofing at least half a metre around it.
- One bed or basin per room, with the rooms separated: curtains, accordion partitions and other temporary separators are not allowed.
- Corridors at least 1.2 metres wide.
These rules decide which units can work for you: a unit too small for the number of rooms you plan cannot be fixed after the lease is signed.
Inspections and the A to E Grade
After opening, the centre falls under the spa and massage centre compliance guideline. Inspections can be routine (scheduled by the centre's grade), follow-up, complaint, management-order, random or sampling visits for products, water and air. Each finding is rated minor, major, critical or catastrophic, and the grade follows from the count:
| Grade | When it is given |
|---|---|
| A | No critical or major findings and at most 2 minor |
| B | No critical or major findings and up to 3 minor |
| C | 1 to 2 critical, or 3 to 4 major, or 5 to 6 minor |
| D | 3 to 4 critical, or 5 to 6 major, or 7 to 9 minor |
| E | 1 catastrophic, or 5 or more critical, or 7 or more major, or 10 or more minor |
Violations are penalised under Local Order No. 11 of 2003, and the guideline gives a dispute route by email to ehcinspection@dm.gov.ae within the grace period stated in the report.
What Inspectors Check
The guideline's annex lists the requirements and how serious each breach is. Among those rated critical:
- A Civil Defence fire protection completion certificate, fire extinguishers, detectors, exit signs and a practised evacuation plan.
- Effective pest control (with a valid contract) and bio-hazardous and general waste disposal (with a valid contract).
- Clean toilets, bathing facilities, basins, floors and walls, and covered drains.
- Shelving at least 20 cm above the floor and 50 cm below the ceiling, labelled chemical containers and safety data sheets on request.
- An eyewash in chemical handling areas, and no expired or spoiled products.
- No smoking inside, and ashtrays at least 7.5 metres from the building's entrances and exits.
- No illegal sale of consumer products or handling of medicines.
Valid occupational health certificates for all staff, an up-to-date staff list and a person in charge on site are rated major.
Spa License Cost in Dubai
The municipality's no-objection permit is free. The government lines that can be read in Dubai's published fee schedule are below; the full license amount depends on the activity and appears on DET's payment voucher.
| Item | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Dubai Municipality no-objection permit | Free | Dubai Municipality, SP06 |
| Trade name reservation | AED 200 | Resolution No. 13 of 2011, Schedule 1 |
| License issuance or renewal (the license line) | AED 600 | Resolution No. 13 of 2011, Schedule 1 |
| Name board on the shop front | AED 350 | Resolution No. 13 of 2011, Schedule 1 |
| Permit to open until 2:00 am | AED 2,000 | Resolution No. 13 of 2011, Schedule 1 |
| Fine for trading without a license | AED 5,000 | Resolution No. 13 of 2011, Schedule 2 |
The fit-out to the room rules, the yearly contracts and staff visas are the larger costs. Our Dubai mainland license package starts at AED 10,999.
How to Open a Spa in Dubai, Step by Step
- Choose the activity and the gender: spa club, massage and relaxation centre or oriental bath, for men or for women. Match it to every service you will sell.
- Reserve the trade name and get DET's initial approval.
- Lease a unit that fits the room rules for the number of rooms you plan, and register the Ejari.
- Get Dubai Municipality's no-objection permit for the activity and the furniture layout.
- Fit out: dressing room per service room, basin per room, no temporary partitions, 1.2 metre corridors, and Civil Defence completion.
- Sign the pest control and waste contracts and get occupational health certificates for the staff.
- Pay the fees and receive the license, then the establishment card and staff visas.
Getting Your Spa Licensed
We match the activity to your treatment menu, run the DET side and the Dubai Municipality permit, and handle the staff visas through our PRO services. Tell us the treatments you will offer, whether the centre is for men or women, and the unit you are looking at, and you get a written quote.
Spa and massage centre questions
With a DET trade license for the massage and relaxation centre activity (gents or ladies) and Dubai Municipality's no-objection permit for health and safety activities, which is free and takes one working day. The premises must meet the room rules: at least 6 square metres per service room, a dressing room for each, one bed and a basin per room.
The municipality's no-objection permit is free. Dubai's published schedule sets AED 200 to reserve a trade name and AED 600 for the license line; DET's voucher gives the full amount. Fit-out to the room rules usually costs far more than the license.
The municipality lists each activity separately for gents and for ladies: spa club, massage and relaxation centre and oriental bath. Tell us your plan and we confirm the activities before the license is issued.
No. Dubai Municipality's requirements say service rooms must be separated, with one bed per room, and curtains, accordion partitions or other temporary separators are not allowed.
From A to E, by the number and seriousness of findings at inspection. An A means no critical or major findings and at most two minor; one catastrophic finding, or five critical, means an E.
Sources
- Technical Requirements for No Objection for Practicing Health and Safety Activities, DM-HSD-SP06-NOPHSA2, Dubai Municipality, version 3.0, 4 May 2024: activities (6-2), service card (8). Read 26 October 2026.
- Technical Guidelines for Spa and Massage Centers Compliance (Ladies and Gents), DM-HSD-GU19, Dubai Municipality, version 4, 27 May 2024: inspections (7), risk (8), grading (9), penalties (11), Annex 1. Read 26 October 2026.
- Executive Council Resolution No. 13 of 2011, Dubai Legislation Portal: DED fee and fine schedule.
