DUBAI —A growing number of major UAE developers are setting up in-house contracting firms in Dubai, after long relying on third-party contractors. The move is aimed at increasing control over construction timelines, costs and quality standards, and ultimately, securing a larger share of profits, though it could also carry risks.
Emaar Properties, which developed the Burj Khalifa, has established Rukn Mirage under its subsidiary Mirage, joining developers such as Samana Developers, Ellington, and Azizi, all of which have launched in-house contracting units in the past two years.
The shift comes as Dubai’s real estate surges, with prices up 70 percent over four years to December 2024 and a government plan to double the population to 7.8 million by 2040.
Property launches rose 83 percent in 2024, though completions fell 23 percent, industry data shows.
But bringing construction in-house may also carry risks.
“When developers try to become builders, they start splitting focus — and that’s when things can get muddy,” said Gordon Rodger, founder and managing partner at construction consultancy Stonehaven.
“They end up with teams stretched between land acquisition, sales, marketing, events, PR, funding… and now also procurement, site logistics, health and safety, and huge amounts of sub-contractor management.”
Rodger also cautioned that developers could be left with idle construction capacity in a downturn.
“You’ve got a big factory, a pre-cast yard, a huge joinery division, in-house plant, in-house equipment all sitting idle and you’ve got no work because your master developer can’t sell any real estate,” he said.
