BIM mandates in the UAE and GCC compared with Saudi Arabia

BIM mandates in the UAE and the wider GCC took shape earlier and more publicly than in Saudi Arabia. Dubai has tied BIM to building permits since 2013 and now asks for IFC models with applications. Abu Dhabi has built BIM into its permit platform. Qatar's Public Works Authority mandates BIM on its own projects. Saudi Arabia's clearest published requirement sits in government project deliverables, and its building permits do not ask for a model.

For firms that work across the Gulf, the differences decide what you submit, in what format and to whom.

How did Dubai's BIM mandate develop?

Dubai moved in three steps, each one wider than the last.

Circular 196 (2013)

According to the CMS expert guide to BIM, Dubai Municipality's Circular 196 of 2013 required BIM for architectural and MEP work on buildings above 40 floors, buildings larger than 300,000 square feet, specialist buildings such as hospitals and universities, and buildings requested on behalf of a foreign office.

Circular 207 (2015)

Circular 207 of 2015 lowered the thresholds: buildings above 20 floors, buildings, facilities and compounds larger than 200,000 square feet, hospitals and universities, all government projects, and projects requested from a foreign office. CMS notes that neither circular set a minimum level of BIM, which left the depth of modelling to the project.

Circular 9-1-2 (2023, effective 2024)

Dubai Municipality's circular 9-1-2 is dated 13 October 2023 and took effect on 1 January 2024. Summaries by LRQA and Autodesk set out its scope: new building permit applications must include BIM models for:

• architectural designs of buildings above 20 floors, and structural designs of buildings above 40 floors;
• architectural designs above 20,000 m², and structural designs above 30,000 m²;
• specialised facilities such as hospitals and universities;
• government projects, with exceptions that Autodesk's summary describes as utility infrastructure.

Autodesk's summary states that submissions must include models in Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) format. That makes the Dubai rule an openBIM rule: the authority receives a neutral file, not a native Revit or ArchiCAD model.

We read the circular's dates from Dubai Municipality's own PDF, but its Arabic text did not extract cleanly, so the scope above comes from LRQA's and Autodesk's summaries. Dubai Municipality's documents page lists the circular under 18 October 2023, a few days after the date on the PDF. It also lists a newer circular, 9-1-3, dated 3 February 2026 on BIM models; we could not open its text, so we do not describe its scope here. Check both circulars, or the Dubai Building Permits portal, before you submit.

What does Abu Dhabi require?

Abu Dhabi took a platform route. In April 2024 the Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT) launched an AI-enabled BIM and Automated Plan Review System. The Abu Dhabi Media Office described it as integrating AI with BIM to handle the submission, review and approval of building permits, with automated code compliance checks. Consultants can submit 2D CAD drawings, which the system turns into 3D models.

In June 2025, DMT launched Binaa, a digital permit platform that incorporates BIM, introduced in 2024, along with AI and virtual and augmented reality. DMT says Binaa will cut processing times by up to 70% and flags over-design, such as unnecessarily heavy construction for villas.

We did not find a published Abu Dhabi rule that sets height or area thresholds for BIM submission like Dubai's. The authority has built the model into its review process instead.

What about Qatar and the rest of the GCC?

In Qatar, the Public Works Authority, Ashghal, mandates BIM on all public infrastructure and building projects over the complete lifecycle, according to a 2023 paper presented through Qatar University. Its Ashghal BIM Standards (ABIMS), a set of specifications, templates and guides, build on ISO 19650.

For Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain, our searches did not find a published national BIM mandate. That does not mean clients there do not require BIM; large public and private clients often write it into contracts. Check each project's requirements.

How does Saudi Arabia compare?

The Saudi approach puts BIM in the hands of the project owner. EXPRO's National Manual for Project Management requires design data and drawings for government facilities to come from 3D models, names a BIM Manager on large BIM projects and asks for COBie data in IFC format. Giga-project developers set their own requirements. Several industry sources report a broader national mandate, including Oxford Business Group's account of oversight by the Saudi Contractors Authority, but we could not find the official instrument. Our article on whether BIM is mandatory in Saudi Arabia covers each source.

One practical consequence: going by the ministry's published licence requirements, a private building in Riyadh can still get a permit without a model, while a comparable tower in Dubai cannot. On government and giga-project work, the Saudi requirements often go further than Dubai's, because they cover construction and handover data, not only the permit design.

What should firms working across the Gulf do?

1. Standardise on ISO 19650. It underpins Qatar's ABIMS and most Saudi giga-project requirements, and works for Dubai submissions too. See ISO 19650 in Saudi Arabia.
2. Test your IFC exports. Dubai receives IFC; EXPRO asks for COBie in IFC. Check that your exports carry the properties each authority or client needs.
3. Keep local appendices in your BEP. Submission portals, naming rules and approval steps differ by emirate and by client. Handle them as project-specific sections, not separate processes.
4. Model to the stage, not to the permit. A permit model is a design model. Construction and handover need LOD 400 and LOD 500 work on top.

AIM United works from Jeddah across the Kingdom and serves clients in the UAE and the GCC. Our BIM standards and ISO 19650 consultancy writes BEPs for each jurisdiction, our BIM modelling team delivers IFC-ready models, and our scan to BIM service records existing buildings anywhere in the region. For the Saudi market picture, read BIM adoption in Saudi Arabia in 2026.

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Written by the AIM United BIM team in Jeddah. AIM United delivers BIM, scan to BIM, digital twins and design-build across Saudi Arabia.