Dubai Building Code Electrical Requirements: Part G Explained for Contractors
Where the Electrical Rules Live
Electrical design in the Dubai Building Code sits in Part G (Incoming utilities). Sections G.4 to G.7 cover the design, erection and installation of electrical systems; G.5 handles electric vehicle charging points, G.6 renewable energy, and G.7 substation and MV installations. The same part also holds water (G.9), district cooling (G.10) and telecommunications (G.11).
Two framing rules from G.4.1 shape everything else. First, these sections are based on the latest edition of BS 7671 — the IET Wiring Regulations — and the supporting IET documents. Second, they are not a detailed specification and do not cover every circumstance: where a situation is not covered, DEWA must be consulted for guidance, and installations beyond the scope of G.7's 11 kV rules must be referred to DEWA at the concept design stage.
The DEWA Supply You Design For
Section G.4.2 fixes the electrical baseline: the nominal supply from DEWA is 230/400 V ±10%, 50 Hz, three-phase, four-wire, with separate neutral and protective conductors. The neutral is solidly earthed at DEWA's substations and must not be earthed elsewhere in the consumer's installation. The design fault level within the substation is 40 kA for a fault duration of 1 second, except for fuse-protected equipment and circuits.
All equipment, apparatus, materials and accessories must be designed and rated for this supply. Overload, short-circuit and earth-leakage protective devices are mandatory, and depending on the installation design, protection must also cover overvoltages, fluctuations, transients and harmonics, loss of one or more phases, and unforeseen interruptions.
Before You Design: Supply Confirmation, Substations and Metering
Section G.4.3 starts before the first drawing: the consumer must obtain confirmation from DEWA that a power supply is available for the plot. Where the total connected load exceeds 400 kW, provision must be made within the building or plot for a DEWA substation — and the code notes that a substation can be required even below 400 kW in some circumstances.
Metering is equally prescribed. Meters measuring the facility's electricity demand and consumption must conform to DEWA specifications and be approved by DEWA. Where a building tariff meter is not present, submeters must be installed for each individual tenancy for demand management and cost allocation — and virtual meters using run-hours are explicitly not acceptable as submeters. For villas, farms and similar individual premises, G.4.5 places the metering cabinet with the main incomer breaker in the compound wall, with a minimum 2 m clearance between electricity and water service cabinets.
Point of Supply and Main LV Distribution
Under G.4.4, the point of supply is made available at one location within a plot or project unless DEWA approves otherwise — and DEWA decides where it is. The main circuit breaker at the point of supply must be marked as such and identifiable from other breakers for emergency operation; where more than one incoming supply exists in a premises, each main breaker must indicate which installation or section it controls.
Where a main LV distribution panel connects directly to the LV side of the transformer, the main incomer must be a fully withdrawable four-pole air circuit breaker. Where the consumer's main board is fed from two or more DEWA distribution transformers, separate bus-sections with mechanically and electrically interlocked four-pole bus-section breakers or isolators are required. And everywhere in metering cabinets, MDBs and SMDBs, incoming cable terminations, live connections and exposed busbars must be shrouded and insulated.
EV Charging, Solar PV and 11 kV Substations
Section G.5 follows IEC 61851 charging modes with Dubai-specific limits: Mode 1 charging is not permitted because it lacks safety measures; Mode 2 uses an in-cable control box and the final circuit, protective device and socket must be suitably rated and must not exceed 32 A; Mode 3 uses dedicated EV service equipment with a control pilot that verifies connection, continuously checks protective earth integrity, controls energisation and selects the charging rate.
Section G.6 ties solar PV to the DEWA Shams Dubai regulations, plus labelling rules: all circuits, protective devices, switches and terminals labelled; caution labels on DC junction boxes warning of dual supply; the main AC isolating switch clearly labelled; a single-line diagram displayed in the electrical room; inverter protection settings and emergency shutdown procedures displayed; and durable copies of all test and commissioning data handed to the consumer. Contractors must also install meter cabinets where DEWA can access them for smart meters and PV generation check meters.
Section G.7 governs the cases where a DEWA substation sits inside the building or plot and an 11 kV medium-voltage network provides primary power — designed for reliability, with a ring supply of two feeders. Anything beyond G.7's scope goes to DEWA at concept design stage.
- Supply: 230/400 V ±10%, 50 Hz, three-phase four-wire (G.4.2).
- Substation provision when total connected load exceeds 400 kW (G.4.3).
- EV charging: Mode 1 banned, Mode 2 ≤ 32 A, Mode 3 dedicated EVSE (G.5).
- Solar PV per DEWA Shams Dubai regulations, with prescribed labelling (G.6).
How Part G Connects to the DEWA Approval Workflow
Part G is the design baseline, not the approval. Supply confirmation, load approvals, inspection and connection run through DEWA's own process, and the code itself directs you to DEWA wherever a case is not covered. Treat the DBC clauses as what your design must show, and the DEWA process as how it gets accepted.
When a clause decides cable sizes, breaker selection or metering scope, quote it exactly. SparkProof answers Dubai Building Code electrical questions with the precise Part G section behind every answer — in English or Arabic — so the requirement is settled before the DEWA submission, not after a rejection.
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