The Dubai Land Department (DLD) has participated in the first ever global conference to discuss international standards for measuring space. Organised by The International Property Measurement Standards Coalition, the inaugural event took place in London, UK, last month.
DLD became a member of the International Committee for Area Standards in September 2013, with the department assigning a special delegation from its Technical Affairs Department to represent them at the UK capital’s event. The conference was supported by the World Bank in order to standardise the measurement of real estate area across the world and is expected to become an established annual activity on the global property calendar.
“DLD is keen is keen to support this global project on both the local and international level in order to ensure greater transparency in the real estate market,” said HE Sultan Butti Bin Mejren Director General of DLD. “We believe that these standards are very important to Dubai’s real estate market, which is currently a world-leader. For us to achieve the best possible results, the agreed criteria for the measurement of real estate space are to be progressively applied to the department’s records over this year and next. From 2016, the system based on international standards will be used in the ‘Tabu areas,’” he added.
Bin Mejren continued: "Dubai’s property market was undergoing a renaissance when we decided to become members of the International Committee for Area Standards. We joined the organisation to benefit the UAE and we will immediately begin applying the international standards as soon as they are finalised. These will be translated into Arabic and officially launched in Dubai, with the views of senior developers and government agencies a part of the launch process. Once applied at the local level, we will coordinate with the Dubai Real Estate Institute regarding training staff and those interested in the new standards on the initiative."
For his part, Mohamad Al-Dah, Technical Director at DLD, who was a part of the delegation to London, said: “The first ever conference for International Committee for Area Standards was extremely productive, with the participating delegations discussing the new criteria for calculating real estate space, especially in light of the vast differences between countries for these calculations. The conference decided that at the end of June 2014 the committee will launch the international standards of measurement for office space. The other objectives being met included an agreement on approved standards on translation for various languages, such as Arabic, German, Italian and French, with their also being a discussion on the criteria for the future measurement of residential buildings.”
Al-Dah added: “The standards committee consists of senior real estate stakeholders from the US, UK, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, China and Japan. The UAE is considered the first country to formally adopt the standards thanks to the proactivity of DLD. Other countries are involving experts in the fields of technical and vocational education and are still considering the agencies they will be employing before formally adopt the standards.”
The International Committee for Area Standards Conference saw participation of delegations representing the International Monetary Fund as well as the World Bank. There were also representatives from a number of prominent international companies, including GM and Ernst & Young. The event took place at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in Parliament Square, close to the UK capital’s famous Big Ben clock tower.
