How is the DEWA 2017 document structured?

Twelve sections — general requirements, definitions, incoming supply and tariff metering, selection of cables and materials, earthing and earth leakage protection, conduits and trunking, installation of cables and equipment, power factor correction and UV relays, construction site installations, distributed renewable generation (solar), substations and HV, and green building regulations — plus appendices with reference standards, the load schedule format, the inspection certificate, meter data schedules and cable selection tables.

Does DEWA still use the 2017 edition?

The 2017 edition is the current published edition of the Regulations for Electrical Installations, and by its own introduction it incorporates amendments and guidelines issued on the DEWA website over time. Always check the DEWA website for amendments issued after the edition before finalising a design.

Where are the cable sizing tables in the DEWA regulations?

In Appendix 5, referenced from Section 4: Table 1 covers single-core PVC insulated non-armoured stranded copper conductors, Table 2 multi-core armoured PVC insulated copper conductors, and Table 3 multi-core armoured XLPE insulated copper conductors. Colour identification is in Appendix 6.

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DEWA Regulations for Electrical Installations 2017: How to Use the Document (Section Map)

Q: What is the DEWA Regulations for Electrical Installations 2017?

It is DEWA's rulebook for electrical design and installation in Dubai, superseding the 1997 edition and incorporating amendments published on the DEWA website. It guides design, installation, inspection and compliance, references the IET Wiring Regulations (17th edition) and IEC standards, and states that where requirements conflict, DEWA's regulations prevail.

Q: What power factor does DEWA require?

Section 1.9 requires the overall power factor of a consumer installation to be maintained between 0.9 lagging and unity, with 0.95 lagging recommended. Air-conditioning equipment must incorporate integral power factor correction to at least 0.9 lagging, and discharge lighting must include capacitors to reach 0.9 or above.

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What This Document Is

The DEWA "Regulations for Electrical Installations, 2017 Edition" is the rulebook every electrical design and installation in Dubai is judged against. It supersedes the 1997 edition, and it incorporates the amendments and guidelines DEWA issues on its website over time — so the PDF alone is not the whole story; the current website amendments are part of the regulations.

The introduction states the objective plainly: to give consumers, consultants, contractors, electrical engineers and technicians a general guide for the design, installation, inspection and compliance of electrical installations, safeguarding people and property from electrical hazards. It is explicitly not a detailed specification and not an instruction manual for untrained persons.

The document references the seventeenth edition of the IET Wiring Regulations and IEC standards, with attention to fire and shock prevention and to proper operation and maintenance. One hierarchy rule matters more than any other: where these regulations contradict other requirements, DEWA's regulations prevail.

How the Document Is Organised: 12 Sections

The regulations run to twelve sections plus appendices. Knowing the map turns a 130-page document into a quick lookup — below is the structure with what each section actually decides on a project.

Section 1 — General requirements: scope, electricity supply, ambient conditions, DEWA enrolment, workmanship, prior approval, getting electricity, power factor, UV relays, harmonics, inspection and testing, maintenance, extensions.
Section 2 — Definitions: the vocabulary the rest of the document uses.
Section 3 — DEWA incoming supply and tariff metering: point of supply and metering arrangements.
Section 4 — Selection of cables, equipment, materials and wiring system: conductor sizing, current ratings, voltage drop, colour identification, high-temperature and hazardous-area wiring, load balancing.
Section 5 — Earthing and earth leakage protection.
Section 6 — Installation of conduits, trunking, trays and accessories.
Section 7 — Installation of cables, equipment, accessories and wiring systems.
Section 8 — Power factor correction capacitors and under-voltage relays.
Section 9 — Construction site installations.
Section 10 — Distributed renewable resources generation (DRRG): solar PV connection requirements.
Section 11 — Substations and high voltage installation.
Section 12 — Green building regulations.

The Appendices Are Working Tools, Not Fine Print

The appendices hold the formats and tables you will actually fill in. Appendix 1 lists the reference standards behind Section 1.6 — equipment conforming to those standards, or to relevant IEC and ISO recommendations, is deemed to satisfy the regulations. Appendix 2 gives the guideline format for the load distribution schedule required at design approval, including maximum current details for transformers with chiller and motor loads.

Appendix 3 is the contractor's inspection certificate format. Appendix 4 is the data schedule for LV electricity meters and current transformers, tied to Section 3.3.8. Appendices 5 and 6 are the cable selection tables — single-core PVC, multi-core armoured PVC, multi-core armoured XLPE copper conductors — and the colour identification rules for cable cores and bare conductors.

Dubai Conditions Are Written Into Section 1

Section 1.3 is why a design copied from a temperate-climate project fails review here. The declared design conditions include a maximum ambient air temperature of 48 °C, a 24-hour average maximum of 37.8 °C, relative humidity up to 100%, ground temperature of 40 °C, wind speed of 45 m/s at 10 m height — plus heavy condensation and sand storms. Cable ratings, equipment clearances and enclosure choices all have to survive these numbers.

The same section carries the operating rules contractors trip over: the overall power factor of a consumer installation must be maintained between 0.9 lagging and unity, with 0.95 lagging recommended; air-conditioning equipment must incorporate integral power factor correction; all air-conditioning units must have under-voltage relays with auto-reset timers; and harmonic distortion is bounded by BS EN 50160, IEC 61000 and ENA Engineering Recommendation G5/4-1, with excess deviation corrected at the consumer's cost.

The Approval Hooks: Enrolment, Prior Approval, One Window

Three clauses in Section 1 define who may work and how work starts. Under 1.4, all consultants and electrical contractors must enrol with DEWA to undertake electrical design or installation anywhere in the emirate, and DEWA may require specific training and certification for specialised categories; enrolment criteria and procedures are published on the DEWA website.

Under 1.7, before any electrical installation begins — large or small, new or additional — the proposed technical details must be submitted to DEWA for review and prior approval. Under 1.8, a DEWA Building NOC and the building permit from the plot's authority are prerequisites for applying for an electricity connection, and enrolled consultants and contractors file through the One Window System, where the customer can track status, upload documents and follow inspection initiation. The full journey — design approval, NOC, inspection, connection — is covered step by step in our DEWA approval process guide.

How the 2017 Regulations Meet the Dubai Building Code and Al Sa'fat

The 2017 regulations do not stand alone. The Dubai Building Code's Part G sections on electrical design are based on the BS 7671 IET Wiring Regulations and defer to DEWA for supply, metering and substation specifics — which is this document's territory. Green building requirements sit in Section 12 of the regulations and in the Al Sa'fat system, which cross-references back to metering and building management requirements.

In practice: design to the Dubai Building Code Part G, prove the utility-facing details against the DEWA 2017 regulations, and check the sustainability overlay in Al Sa'fat. SparkProof holds the cross-references — ask whether your metering arrangement, cable selection, earthing design or solar connection complies, and it answers with the cited clause from the document that governs it.

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