Why Do UAE Health Authorities Reject Some Clinic Layout Plans?

When applying to license a new healthcare facility in the United Arab Emirates, approval of the facility’s engineering layout is one of the most critical and detail-sensitive stages of the licensing process. Before any clinic or medical center is authorized to operate, its architectural plans undergo rigorous review by the relevant health authority the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) for facilities outside Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), or the Department of Health  Abu Dhabi (DOH).

Many investors and clinic owners are surprised when their layout is rejected or sent back for major revisions, even after hiring an architectural firm to design it. So what are the real reasons behind these rejections?

The Layout Is Not Just an Architectural Design

UAE health authorities do not treat a clinic’s layout as an ordinary architectural drawing. They treat it as a regulatory tool that safeguards patient safety and clinical quality. For this reason, each authority has developed its own detailed design manual:

• Dubai Health Authority (DHA) issues its Health Facility Guidelines, which establish minimum acceptable standards and serve as the basis for approving and licensing healthcare facilities, as well as for qualifying the design consultants who work on them.
• Department of Health  Abu Dhabi (DOH) applies its Health Facility Design Standards, a comprehensive set of requirements covering the planning, design, and construction of all types of healthcare facilities in the emirate. Any consulting firm wishing to design healthcare projects must first be pre-qualified against these standards.
• Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) requires, as part of its Initial Approval for Licensing/Re-Licensing Health Facility service, a certified engineering layout that clearly reflects the facility’s internal divisions and complies with applicable health and engineering requirements. MOHAP has also launched a Smart Audit Project, an AI-based system that reviews the compliance of healthcare facility architectural blueprints against globally approved standards.

In practice, this means that any layout that does not strictly follow these guides  no matter how visually appealing  will be rejected or sent back for correction.

1. The Design Firm Is Not Pre-Qualified by the Relevant Authority

In both Dubai and Abu Dhabi, a healthcare facility layout is only accepted if it comes from an engineering consultancy formally approved and registered with the relevant health authority. Using a general architectural firm that is not pre-qualified for healthcare projects is one of the most common reasons applications are rejected from the very start.

2. Internal Layout Doesn’t Match the Licensed Activity

Every medical specialty  dental, dermatology, cosmetic surgery, laboratory, radiology, and so on has its own spatial and zoning requirements under the relevant authority’s guidelines. Recurring issues include:

• Failure to separate clean and contaminated flow paths, particularly in dental and minor-surgery clinics.
• Missing mandatory rooms, such as a dedicated sterilization room, medical waste storage room, or a consultation room separate from the examination room.
• A mismatch between the number and size of rooms and the number of practitioners or units actually licensed.

3. Minimum Area and Corridor Requirements Aren’t Met

Both the DHA and DOH guidelines define minimum floor areas for each room type, along with specific dimensions for corridors and entrances to ensure smooth movement, including accessibility requirements for people with disabilities. Even a minor deviation from these dimensions is often enough to trigger a rejection or a request for redesign.

4. Gaps in Safety and Technical Infrastructure Requirements

This category typically includes:

• Missing or inadequate emergency exits and evacuation routes, in line with Civil Defense requirements.
• Ventilation and air-conditioning systems that don’t suit the nature of the activity, particularly in operating rooms and radiology units.
• Electrical and plumbing installations that don’t meet technical specifications  especially in radiology units, which also require separate authorization from the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation.

5. The Layout Doesn’t Reflect the Actual Use of the Space

Sometimes the submitted layout doesn’t match the actual site or the registered commercial activity. This requires reconciling the classification of the trade license issued by the Department of Economic Development with the space’s actual medical use.

6. Technical Non-Compliance in the Drawing Itself

Beyond content, health authorities require the layout to be prepared using approved engineering symbols and scales, with the use and function of every room clearly labeled. Any ambiguity or missing detail sends the plan back to the applicant for correction.