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We are a maintenance company, so read this knowing that. We have still written it as though you were choosing between us and someone else, because the questions below are the ones that protect you — and any contractor uncomfortable answering them is telling you something useful.
Start with licensing, because some of this work is regulated
Not all maintenance work is equal in the eyes of the law, and two categories in Abu Dhabi carry specific requirements most homeowners do not know about.
Water tank cleaning. Under Abu Dhabi's public health and general appearance law, drinking water tanks in every building must be cleaned and disinfected at least every six months, by a municipality-licensed company. If a company offers to clean your tank, ask to see that licence.
Pest control. In Abu Dhabi, pest control companies servicing residential, commercial and industrial premises must be licensed and approved by Tadweer, and staff carrying out public health pest control must be certified by the Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council. Authorities have publicly warned residents to check credentials before allowing anyone to treat their property, and there have been deaths in the UAE from unlicensed operators using banned substances in occupied homes.
For general maintenance work, ask for the trade licence and check the activities on it match what you are hiring them to do.
The questions worth asking
- Are you licensed, and can I see it? A legitimate contractor produces this without hesitation
- Do you carry public liability insurance, and at what level? If someone is working in your home and something goes wrong, this is what stands between you and the cost
- Who is actually doing the work? In-house staff or subcontracted? Neither answer is wrong; a vague answer is
- What warranty do you give, and on what? Duration, what it covers, and how a claim works
- Will I get a written quote before work starts? And does that price hold?
- What happens if you find something unexpected? The right answer is: stop, tell you, quote it separately
- Will you give me a written report? Particularly for anything you cannot see — inside a duct, a tank, a ceiling void or a wall
- What is your response time, and does it change in summer? Everyone can attend in January
Why the cheapest quote is usually cheap for a reason
Where a quote is dramatically below the others, something has been left out. In this industry it is nearly always one of these, and none of them is visible on the day:
AC servicing: the outdoor condenser coil. Cleaning only the indoor filter is not a service, and in Al Ain heat the condenser is the item that matters most.
Duct cleaning: the extraction equipment. Genuine cleaning puts the duct under negative pressure so debris leaves the building. Fogging a chemical through the system deodorises it and removes nothing. Ask what equipment is arriving.
AC installation: the pressure test and vacuum. Moisture and air left in a refrigerant circuit destroy a compressor over years. Nothing goes wrong on handover day.
Tiling: full adhesive bedding and movement joints. Tiles dabbed at the corners look identical on day one.
Painting: preparation and the correct number of coats.
Any trade: making good afterwards, which reappears later as a separate charge.
Signs to walk away
- No written quote, or reluctance to give one
- Pressure to decide immediately, or a price that expires today
- Cash only, no invoice
- Cannot or will not produce a licence
- Quoting complex work over the phone without seeing it
- Diagnosing and quoting a replacement in the same breath, without measurements
- Vague about who is actually attending
- Offering to fix a persistently tripping breaker by fitting a larger one
One contractor or several?
Honestly: it depends on the job.
A specialist is better for genuinely specialist work — lift engineering, structural assessment, anything requiring specific certification.
A general contractor is better when a job crosses trades, which most maintenance does. A leak means plumbing, then ceiling, then paint. Three contractors means three quotes, three visits, and a conversation about whose responsibility the finish is. It also means the person who spots a problem is not the person who can fix it.
Ask which model you are buying, and ask what happens at the boundaries.
Before you sign a contract
If you are considering an annual maintenance contract, get the exclusions in writing. Every contract has them — parts, major components, pre-existing faults, equipment at end of life. A contract described as covering everything is either mis-sold or very expensive. Read what happens at renewal, too.
Related reading
What to do in a maintenance emergency · Does a maintenance contract actually save you money?