How to Pass the RERA Exam in Dubai: a 14-Day Plan by Topic

To pass the RERA exam in Dubai, study the current laws area by area, learn the exact numbers each one sets, and test yourself under time until you clear the pass mark with room to spare. RERA Circular 31/2014 sets the pass mark at 85% on the initial licensing exam and the annual renewal exam. DLD’s current e-service pages state no pass mark, and we found no published DLD exam syllabus in the official sources reviewed, so this plan follows the eight areas we use for practice, built from the RERA Brokerage Practice Guide 2024 and the laws it and DLD publish: the Brokers Register, commission, ethics, DLD contracts, land registration, escrow, Oqood and Ejari, and rent, with anti-money laundering and the guide’s own “Real Estate Mathematics” domain. Below: a day-by-day plan, the traps where candidates lose marks with the exact rule from the source, and what DLD does and does not tell you about the exam itself.

The RERA Brokerage Practice Guide 2024, read 28 October 2026. The plan, the daily time and the eight areas are ours.

The RERA Brokerage Practice Guide, second edition, November 2024, says it “contains all the information, laws and procedures relating to the practice of real estate brokerage in Dubai” and calls on all brokers to abide by its contents. Its chapters are the nearest thing to an official topic list: Bylaw No. (85) of 2006, real estate circulars, the ethics of practising the profession, smart contracts A, B and F, the Trakheesi system and the Dubai REST app, real estate permits, the green list, the classification of offices and brokers, off-plan marketing, the amicable settlement of contract F, the registration and services trustee offices, and how to obtain a broker card. It closes with sample pages under two domains, “Real Estate Mathematics” and “Laws and Legislation”.

About 75 minutes a day suits most people with a job; take longer on the days that cover a whole law. Each day: read the text named, write down every number and period it sets, then answer practice questions on that area only.

Bylaw No. (85) of 2006 is the broker’s own law. Article (3): no person may engage in real estate brokerage in Dubai “unless he is licensed by the Competent Entities and entered in the Register.” Article (26): a brokerage agreement “must be in writing” and state the parties, the property specifications and the brokerage terms. Article (21) makes the broker the trustee of any amounts or items delivered to him for safekeeping or for delivery to the other party. Then Chapter Four, which sets when a commission is earned and who pays it, but no percentage: Article (27) says remuneration “will be determined by agreement, and in absence of agreement, remuneration will be determined according to prevailing practice.”

Learn the ten ethics in the 2024 guide by name: fair treatment, respect, privacy, honesty and uprightness, quality control, integrity, commitment to society, the interests of the contracting parties, preserving all documents, and respecting DLD’s regulations and procedures. Then the rules that turn them into practice. Brokerages “must obtain a permit for any real estate advertisement or marketing material through the Trakheesi system”, and “the permit number must be displayed on the ad”. On the green list, the 2024 guide says brokers “are not allowed to contact owners not registered as part of the green list”; a broker who does faces a violation and suspension “in the event of a complaint or a report”. DLD Circular 02-2026 (26 February 2026) is stricter: it prohibits direct contact with owners or investors by phone or other channels to offer, market or purchase properties, except clients with duly documented prior transactions with the office, supported by an approved record the office submits to the Authority on request. The circular does not mention the green list, so do not treat green-list inclusion alone as an exception. The guide also says all brokers are required to download the Dubai REST app.

For contracts, be sure who the parties are: A is between the seller and the brokerage (marketing), B between the buyer and the broker (desire to purchase), F between the seller and the buyer (sale). If the parties agree to seek RERA’s amicable settlement service for Contract F, they apply through Trakheesi; if no amicable solution is reached, “the parties must resort to the judicial authorities”. Bylaw No. (85) of 2006 has its own route for brokerage-agreement disputes: under Article (35) its Council considers them only if the agreement provides for amicable settlement by the Department or the parties later agree in writing, and Article (38)(4) requires settlement within thirty days from referral of the file, a period that may be extended only for valid reasons.

Law No. (7) of 2006 is short; learn its key lines closely. Article (9) is now the text of Law No. (7) of 2019, issued 4 September 2019: all dispositions that create, transfer, change or extinguish real property rights, and final rulings validating them, must be recorded in the Real Property Register, and they “will not be deemed effective unless recorded in the Real Property Register”. Recorded dispositions are effective against all persons even if the transferor is in debt, unless the disposition is meant to harm that third party. Article (7): the register has “absolute evidentiary value against all parties” unless its data is proven to result from fraud or forgery. Article (23): without prejudice to other laws, apartment and multi-storey buildings are treated as a single real property unit with one record in the Property Register, supplemented by records naming the owners of the apartments, floors and common areas. For jointly owned property, the law in force is Law No. (6) of 2019, which repealed Law No. (27) of 2007. Learn its pre-emption right (Articles 14 and 15): a co-owner of a Unit has a pre-emption right when another co-owner offers a share for sale or disposition to a non-owner, except dispositions to ascendants, descendants, a spouse, relatives up to the fourth degree or in-laws up to the second degree. A co-owner who accepts must notify it through a notary public within 30 days of receiving the seller’s notarised notice, and must finalise the sale with DLD within 10 working days after that period expires; if no co-owner accepts in time, the right is forfeited.

Escrow under Law No. (8) of 2007 is where numbers matter. Learn Article (9) (one account per project, used only for its construction, safe from the developer’s creditors), Article (14) (the 5% retention), Article (16) (a jail sentence and a fine of at least AED 100,000, or either, including for a developer who deals with a broker not on the Brokers Register) and Article (17) (a developer is struck off if, without an acceptable reason, construction has not started six months after permission to sell off-plan). Then the circulars: 02-2025 requires a QR code linked to the project’s marketing permit on adverts and prohibits collecting payments outside the escrow account; 01-2026 tells brokers to verify registration with DLD, an approved escrow account with RERA and a RERA permit before marketing any off-plan project.

After six days of reading, sit a timed mixed set of about 40 questions on days 1 to 6 only. The point is not the score but the pattern: mark each miss by area, then sort it: a number you did not learn (the 5%, the six months, the thirty days), a party you confused (A, B and F), or a word in the question you read past (“only”, “not”). Re-read the article behind each miss before day 8. If you would rather follow a ready-made version of this fortnight, the Dubai RERA Broker Exam Complete Pass Pack has its own 14-day practice plan, about 75 minutes a day on average (days 12 and 13 are each a separate 70-question full mock with a 120-minute limit), 6 timed practice mocks of 70 questions with a 120-minute limit (our practice format, not a confirmed official one), 8 topic drills and 6 scenario drills, Revise fast answer cards whose explanations cite the law, bylaw or official DLD/RERA guidance behind them, a plain-English revision kit PDF and the Annual Renewal Refresher, with no expiry. You can try 4 free questions first.

Law No. (13) of 2008 created the Interim Property Register, known as Oqood. Article (3): any disposition of a unit sold off-plan is entered in the Interim Property Register, and any sale or other disposition that transfers or restricts ownership “will be void unless entered in that Register.” Its Article (11), on a purchaser who defaults, was amended by Law No. (9) of 2009, Law No. (19) of 2017 and, most recently in the texts we read, Law No. (19) of 2020, issued 24 November 2020, which is the text in force. The developer notifies DLD on DLD’s form; DLD serves a 30-day notice on the purchaser and, where possible, mediates; then DLD issues an official document confirming the procedure was followed and the completion percentage. The developer’s options depend on that percentage:

For rent, read Law No. (26) of 2007 together with Law No. (33) of 2008, which superseded eleven of its articles. Article (4) as amended: all tenancy contracts and their amendments “will be registered with RERA”. That function has since moved: under Law No. (4) of 2019, Article (10)(b), “The DLD hereby succeeds RERA in exercising all the functions related to the registration of Lease Contracts and regulation of the relationship between Landlords and Tenants”. Law No. (4) of 2019 itself superseded Law No. (16) of 2007, which had set up RERA. Article (14): a party who wants to change the terms on renewal must give notice “no less than ninety (90) days prior to the date on which the Tenancy Contract expires”, unless otherwise agreed. Article (25): before expiry, eviction for non-payment needs thirty days after a notice to pay, unless otherwise agreed; on expiry, eviction for demolition, restoration, own use or sale needs notice of the reasons twelve months before the eviction date, through a notary public or registered post. Article (20) of the 2007 law lets a landlord take a security deposit to ensure maintenance of the property upon lease expiry, with the deposit or its remaining balance refunded at expiry.

Here is a free sample question on exactly that change:

Decree No. (43) of 2013 then caps the increase on renewal, measured against the average rental value of similar units in the rent index:

The index itself changed in 2025. DLD launched its Smart Rental Index on 2 January 2025, valuing each building on its features, finish and maintenance, location and services; DLD says the index is updated annually. Two rules from DLD matter for questions. First, an increase applies only if the landlord notified the tenant at least 90 days before the contract expires and the index confirms the property is eligible; without that notice, no increase is applied, unless the parties agreed otherwise (Article 14). Second, in DLD’s words, the rental index “is indicative and is not mandatory for the new lease”, but is mandatory when the parties disagree on the increase at renewal.

On day 10, also practise the mathematics: the DLD samples convert square metres with 1 sqm = 10.764 sq ft before applying an AED rate per square foot.

On day 11, Ejari. The tenancy guide calls Ejari “an online program developed by RERA for recording tenancy contracts for all types of property in the Emirate of Dubai”, under Law No. (26) of 2007 as amended by Law No. (33) of 2008, and states that “the registration of tenancy contracts through EJARI is mandatory”. Management contracts between an owner and a licensed real estate company are also registered through Ejari, and Ejari access is given to people who have obtained the training certificates. Registration today is a DLD e-service: registering or renewing an Ejari contract costs AED 177.75 in all by app or website, and AED 220 at a trustee centre. DLD’s FAQ adds that an individual may hold at most three residential Ejari contracts and that the maximum term is 10 years.

For anti-money laundering, learn which texts are in force: Federal Decree by Law No. (10) of 2025, issued 30 September 2025, whose Article (41) repeals Federal Decree by Law No. (20) of 2018, and its Executive Regulation, Cabinet Resolution No. (134) of 2025, which repealed Cabinet Resolution No. (10) of 2019. Article 3(2) of the Resolution names “Real estate brokers and agents, when concluding transactions or settlements on behalf of their customers in relation to the purchase or sale of real estate”, with no value threshold. Article (25) requires records to be kept for at least five years from completion of the transaction or the end of the business relationship. The UAE FIU’s goAML guide adds the Real Estate Activity Report (REAR): brokers and agents file one for a freehold sale or purchase where the payment includes cash of AED 55,000 or more, in one payment or several, where any portion of the price is paid in virtual assets, or where the funds used were converted from or to a virtual asset. On day 13 sit a full timed mock in one go and score each area against the pass mark. On day 14 add nothing new: re-read the traps table and every article behind a miss.

DLD’s card e-service tells you what you need before the card is issued: a certificate of good conduct from the Dubai Police, a passed annual test, a personal photo and a copy of your Emirates ID, applied for through Trakheesi. It does not describe the exam sitting itself. We have not filled that gap with guesses: if your agency or training provider gives you joining instructions, follow those.

The fees, exemptions and registration steps are in the RERA exam format and fee guide, and three more worked questions are in the RERA exam questions guide.

If you want the fortnight laid out for you, the Dubai RERA Broker Exam Complete Pass Pack follows the same eight areas with its own 14-day practice plan, about 75 minutes a day on average (days 12 and 13 are each a separate 70-question full mock with a 120-minute limit). Try 4 free questions to see the style.