To open a salon in Dubai you need a trade license that names the exact salon activity (gents, ladies, children, henna or a beauty center), and a no-objection certificate from Dubai Municipality's Health and Safety Department for your furniture layout. The certificate is free and takes one working day once the layout meets the municipality's spacing rules. Anything medical or cosmetic beyond hair, nails, facials and waxing needs a separate permit from the Dubai Health Authority.
Opening a Salon in Dubai, Step by Step
- Pick the activity that matches your services. The license must list it, and you may only offer what it lists.
- Reserve the trade name and get DET's initial approval.
- Lease the unit and register the tenancy in Ejari.
- Draw the furniture layout to the municipality's spacing rules and apply for the no-objection certificate online.
- Fit out to the approved layout, with fire safety cleared by Dubai Civil Defence.
- Get every service provider a valid professional health certificate, and the trade certificates for specialist work.
- Apply to the Dubai Health Authority if you will offer non-surgical cosmetic treatments.
Which Salon Activity Goes on the License?
Dubai Municipality's no-objection requirements list the salon activities separately: gents haircutting and hairdressing salon, women's salon, children's hairdressing, henna salon, gents and ladies cosmetic and personal care centers, and gents and ladies hair fixing centers. The municipality's compliance guideline then requires that the services you provide match the activities on your commercial license. Choose the activity from the services you will actually sell; adding one later means a new application.
Men and women under one license. If the license covers activities for both, the municipality requires the men's and women's sections to be completely separate, each with its own external entrance, and no common areas. That decides which units can work before you sign a lease.
A Dubai mainland company fits a salon that serves walk-in customers in Dubai. Free zone licenses are generally set up for business inside the zone, so check the zone's rules before choosing one for a street-facing salon.
The Municipality's No-Objection Certificate
The certificate approves your furniture layout for health and safety. You apply on the Dubai Municipality website, upload the layout, and receive the approved layout through your company's account. According to the municipality's service card, the service is free and takes one working day; an incomplete application is returned once for amendment.
You need a new certificate for a new company or branch, a change to the furniture layout, a new activity on the license, a move to a new location, or a mobile activity. The layout must be a single page showing every service, the furniture, and dimensions in meters with areas in square meters; a two-floor shop puts both floors on that one page.
Layout Rules the Municipality Checks
- Hair chairs: one meter between chairs, and at least half a meter between the last chair and the wall.
- Manicure and pedicure: set apart from the other services, half a meter between chairs and from the wall, with a hand wash basin and a foot wash basin at the service.
- Facial and waxing rooms: at least 6 square meters, with a cleanable bed and a hand wash basin inside the room.
- Washing: a basin for washing hair and a separate one for washing hands in the common area.
- Nothing medical on the layout: treatments outside the Health and Safety Department's scope need approval from the authority responsible for them.
The shop also needs its construction or architectural approvals from the building licensing authority, and a valid fire safety certificate from Dubai Civil Defence.
Staff Certificates and Documents to Keep
The compliance guideline lists what the municipality's inspectors can ask to see at any time:
- the business license and the no-objection certificate for the approved layout;
- an up-to-date list of all employees;
- a valid professional health certificate, under Dubai's health requirements, for everyone who provides a service;
- professional certificates for specialist service workers, and training certificates for staff using professional-use products;
- a valid fire safety certificate from Dubai Civil Defence, and an elevator safety certificate where there is a lift;
- a cleaning and disinfection record for shower heads.
A salon in an independent building adds contracts with municipality-approved companies for water tank cleaning, pest control and waste disposal, with their reports and test results.
Treatments That Need the Dubai Health Authority
The municipality's guideline sends non-surgical cosmetic services to the Dubai Health Authority for approvals and permits, and forbids salons from giving medical advice, treating skin conditions or offering unauthorised medical services. If your menu includes procedures of that kind, plan the DHA permit and the qualified practitioner before you print the price list.
Home Service and Mobile Salons
The compliance guideline covers mobile salons, and a mobile activity needs its own no-objection certificate. For the vehicle and equipment, the municipality refers to its technical guideline for service vehicles and mobile commercial activities, which is published in Arabic only. A home-service salon is still a licensed business: the license, the activity and the health certificates apply as they do to a shop.
Salon License Cost in Dubai
Rent and fit-out are the large numbers and depend on the unit. The government lines we can source:
| Item | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Trade name reservation | AED 200 | Resolution No. 13 of 2011, Schedule 1 |
| Foreign or numeric trade name | AED 2,000 | Resolution No. 13 of 2011, Schedule 1 |
| License issuance (the schedule's line) | AED 600 | Resolution No. 13 of 2011, Schedule 1; DET's voucher gives the full amount |
| Shop name board on the facade | AED 350 | Resolution No. 13 of 2011, Schedule 1 |
| Municipality no-objection certificate | Free | Dubai Municipality service card (DM-HSD-SP06) |
| Civil Defence and DHA approvals | On application | Not stated in the documents we read |
Ask for a quote that separates government fees, our fee and your fit-out; the cost calculator gives a first figure for the company side, and what it costs to start a business in Dubai at the minimum shows where the money goes.
Renewal and Fines
The license renews every year at the schedule's same AED 600 line; the rest of the renewal stack is set out in what a Dubai trade license renewal costs. Failing to renew in time is fined AED 250, plus AED 200 for each month of delay, and trading without a license AED 5,000. Moving, changing the layout or adding an activity needs a new no-objection certificate.
Salons, Spas and Massage
Massage, Moroccan baths and spa services are separate activities with their own municipality guideline, and an individual therapist's license is a Dubai Health Authority matter, explained in our DHA massage therapist license guide. If your concept mixes hair and nails with treatment rooms, tell us the full menu first so the license carries every activity you need.
Getting Your Salon Licensed
We run the DET side (activity, trade name, initial approval, license) and coordinate the municipality approvals, so the furniture layout is approved before you fit out rather than after. Send us the services you will offer, whether the salon is for men, women or both, and the unit you are looking at, and you get a written quote.
Salon license questions
On the government side, Dubai's published schedule sets AED 200 to reserve a trade name and AED 600 for the license line, and the municipality's no-objection certificate is free. DET's voucher gives the full license amount during the application. Rent and fit-out are the larger costs.
Only with complete separation. Dubai Municipality requires separate men's and women's sections, each with its own external entrance, and no common areas, when one license covers both.
The no-objection certificate for the furniture layout takes one working day according to the municipality's service card, if the layout meets the rules; an incomplete application is returned once for amendment.
Not for hair, nails, facials and waxing. You need the Dubai Health Authority for non-surgical cosmetic services, and a salon may not give medical advice or treat skin conditions.
A mobile activity is covered by the municipality's salon guideline and needs its own no-objection certificate; the vehicle and equipment rules are in the municipality's guideline for mobile commercial activities, published in Arabic. Tell us the services and we check the activity before you apply.
Sources
- Technical Guidelines for Compliance of Salons, Barbershops and Beauty Centers, DM-HSD-GU77, version 5, Dubai Municipality, 26 March 2026: scope (5), general requirements and required documents (7), public and operational health (8-3). Read 25 October 2026.
- Technical Requirements for No Objection for Practicing Health and Safety Activities, DM-HSD-SP06, version 3.0, Dubai Municipality, 4 May 2024: scope and cases, procedure and documents (4), general instructions (5), salon technical requirements (6-1), service card (8). Read 25 October 2026.
- Executive Council Resolution No. 13 of 2011, Dubai Legislation Portal: DED fee and fine schedule.
