# Dubai Municipality OSH PIC and Comparable UAE Schemes

**Review date:** 22 August 2026  
**Purpose:** To determine whether other UAE emirates publicly operate an occupational-safety responsible-person scheme genuinely comparable to Dubai Municipality’s **Certification Scheme for Occupational Health and Safety Person in Charge (OSH PIC)**.

> **Bottom line:** Dubai Municipality is the only emirate authority identified in this review whose official public technical-guideline catalogue expressly names an **OSH Person in Charge certification scheme**. Abu Dhabi and Sharjah have meaningful OSH practitioner-registration or competency frameworks, while RAKEZ has a functionally close, zone-specific **HS&E Representative** appointment requirement. None of the reviewed official public sources established a second, emirate-wide municipal scheme identical to Dubai’s OSH PIC.

## How “similar” was assessed

| Classification | Test used in this review |
|---|---|
| **Direct analogue** | An authority scheme expressly identifies an occupational-safety *Person in Charge* or equivalent named responsible person and operates as a formal competency/certification or registration control. |
| **Partial analogue** | The authority operates an OSH practitioner registry, competence framework, named safety representative requirement, or project-responsibility mechanism, but the reviewed material does not establish the same individual PIC title, a project-by-project PIC appointment, or equivalence to Dubai’s scheme. |
| **No confirmed public analogue** | Official public material reviewed shows permit, contractor, consultant, Civil Defence or inspection controls, but no identifiable OSH PIC/safety-officer registry or named responsible-person scheme comparable to Dubai’s. This is **not proof that a project-specific, free-zone, client, Civil Defence or internal requirement does not exist**. |

## Executive comparison

| Emirate / jurisdiction | Official scheme or control | Classification | What is confirmed | Practical conclusion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Dubai** | Dubai Municipality **Certification Scheme for Occupational Health and Safety Person in Charge** | **Direct analogue / baseline** | Dubai Municipality’s Health and Safety Technical Guidelines catalogue expressly lists the OSH PIC certification scheme. It separately lists the OHS Practitioner scheme and Technical Guidelines (131) for Health and Safety Officers in Labour Accommodations. [1] | Treat OSH PIC as a distinct Municipality-recognised certification scheme. Do not substitute a practitioner or labour-accommodation officer credential without the applicable guideline/service confirming that it is accepted. |
| **Abu Dhabi** | ADPHC **Qudorat** / ADOSH-SF Mechanism 7.0; OSH Construction Management Plan | **Partial analogue** | ADPHC states that Qudorat registers OSH practitioners and service providers; the listed practitioner categories include General Practitioner, Senior Practitioner and Auditor. The Construction Management Plan CoP applies to all Abu Dhabi employers, requires project OSH-CMP controls and says the Principal Contractor is responsible for legal/ADOSH-SF compliance. [2] [3] | Use the relevant Qudorat-registered OSH professional where the role/services fall within the registration framework. The reviewed sources do **not** establish an Abu Dhabi-wide role titled OSH PIC or a one-for-one replacement for Dubai’s PIC. |
| **Sharjah** | Sharjah Occupational Safety and Health System (**OSHJ**) Practitioner Membership | **Partial analogue** | SPSA’s official certificate portal is titled **“OSHJ Practitioner Membership List”** and presents practitioner membership information. [4] | This is a practitioner-recognition mechanism, not confirmed in the reviewed public material as a construction-permit PIC appointment or Dubai-OSH-PIC equivalent. Confirm the applicable SPSA/permit condition before relying on it. |
| **Ajman** | Municipal building-permit, contractor/consultant and Civil Defence compliance controls | **No confirmed public analogue** | The official building-permit and completion services identify contractor/consultant approval, inspection and, where applicable, Civil Defence preventive-safety compliance. [5] [6] | These are project and building controls, not a documented municipal OSH PIC registration scheme. Confirm any named safety-role condition on the actual permit or with Ajman Municipality & Planning Department. |
| **Umm Al Quwain** | Municipal building-permit and engineering approval controls | **No confirmed public analogue** | The publicly accessible service information identifies conventional permit actors and approvals, including owner, consultant, contractor, contractor licence, inspection and engineering approval. No dedicated safety PIC/register was located in the accessible official material. [7] | Do not assume an UAQ municipal OSH PIC scheme. Obtain written clarification for the specific permit/project, particularly where Civil Defence, industrial, port or client controls apply. |
| **Ras Al Khaimah — RAKEZ only** | **HS&E Representative** appointment; construction TWC/TWS controls | **Partial analogue; zone-specific** | RAKEZ’s published HSE rules require industrial/commercial employers to appoint at least one HS&E Representative at each workplace and submit appointment details to RAKEZ; the publicly described construction framework also includes TWC/TWS appointments. [8] [9] | This is the closest *functional* responsible-person requirement found outside Dubai, but it applies to **RAKEZ**, not automatically to all Ras Al Khaimah Municipality projects. Do not describe it as emirate-wide OSH PIC equivalence. |
| **Fujairah** | Municipality engineering/planning and online-services channels | **No confirmed public analogue** | The reviewed official Municipality legislation/sitemap material identifies the local authority and services but did not expose a public safety-PIC, registered-safety-officer or competent-person scheme. [10] [11] | Confirm project-specific requirements directly with Fujairah Municipality and any relevant Civil Defence, port/free-zone or client authority. |

## Dubai Municipality OSH PIC — what the public evidence does and does not establish

Dubai Municipality’s catalogue is clear on the **existence and title** of the OSH PIC certification scheme. It also demonstrates that OSH PIC, OHS Practitioner and the labour-accommodation Health and Safety Officer scheme are separately catalogued items. [1]

The public catalogue page reviewed does **not** disclose the generic OSH PIC scheme’s current eligibility conditions, competency syllabus, examination process, appointment form, renewal period, sector threshold, construction applicability, or permit-signatory authority. Those details must be checked in the actual current guideline, service condition, permit condition or Municipality response. The official labour-accommodation document page confirms that a separate labour-accommodation officer scheme was launched in 2025, but its browser-accessible document page only exposed the circular’s title and download details; its operational process should not be generalized to all OSH PIC cases without reading the circular itself. [12]

## Abu Dhabi — why Qudorat is comparable but not identical

Abu Dhabi’s approach is best understood as a **practitioner and service-provider competency framework**, combined with project-level construction OSH management responsibility. The Construction Management Plan CoP requires an OSH-CMP for the building and construction sector, with the submission/detail level set by project risk and complexity when applying for the building permit. It identifies the Principal Contractor as responsible for ensuring legal requirements and relevant ADOSH-SF requirements are met, and requires persons who manage, supervise or monitor the CoP requirements to be trained and competent. [3]

This is robust OSH governance. However, the reviewed official sources do not establish a compulsory individual called an **“OSH PIC”** for every Abu Dhabi project, nor a single designation with the same confirmed certification/appointment pathway as Dubai Municipality’s named scheme. Therefore, it should be described as a **partial analogue**, not as an equivalent.

## Sharjah and RAKEZ — the nearest practical comparators

Sharjah’s official practitioner portal supports the conclusion that OSHJ has a formal practitioner-membership layer. [4] The accessible public evidence did not establish its use as the named, permit-submission PIC for each construction project. Projects should verify any project-specific appointment or signatory need with SPSA and the relevant municipal/permitting channel.

RAKEZ’s published requirement for a nominated, competent HS&E Representative is stronger as an operational responsible-person analogue, and the RAKEZ construction framework’s TWC/TWS appointments add temporary-works governance. [8] [9] It remains a **free-zone/RAKEZ jurisdictional** requirement, not evidence of a Ras Al Khaimah-wide Municipality PIC scheme.

## Recommended project-control matrix

| Project location | Minimum verification action before mobilisation or permit submission | Do not assume |
|---|---|---|
| **Dubai Municipality** | Obtain the current OSH PIC guideline/service/permit condition; nominate the correct certified person; confirm whether a distinct OHS Practitioner or labour-accommodation officer role is also triggered. | That any HSE Manager, practitioner or labour-accommodation officer certificate automatically fulfils OSH PIC. |
| **Abu Dhabi** | Confirm the relevant building/construction SRA’s OSH-CMP level; identify the Principal Contractor, OSH roles and applicable Qudorat registration requirement; include the required registration information in the OSH-CMP. | That Qudorat registration by itself is a named PIC appointment, or that it is optional where the registered-practice/service requirement applies. |
| **Sharjah** | Confirm whether the contractor’s/consultant’s OSH professional needs current OSHJ practitioner membership and whether SPSA or permit conditions require a nominated individual. | That portal membership alone proves a construction permit-signatory or PIC role. |
| **RAKEZ** | Appoint and notify the HS&E Representative; retain competence evidence; make the required TWC/TWS and contractor/NOC appointments for construction activities. | That RAKEZ requirements govern projects outside the zone. |
| **Ajman, UAQ, Fujairah, non-RAKEZ RAK** | Obtain the permit checklist and written authority response for the project; check Civil Defence, utility, developer/free-zone, port and client requirements. | That no safety responsible-person duty exists simply because a public PIC registry was not found. |

## References

[1]: https://www.dm.gov.ae/municipality-business/technical-guidelines-list/ "Dubai Municipality — Health and Safety Technical Guidelines List"
[2]: https://www.adphc.gov.ae/en/Public-Health-Programs/Qudorat "Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre — Qudorat"
[3]: https://www.adphc.gov.ae/Legislation/-/media/AD202F8AAE6C4A47A9C8E67A4E6DBA5D.ashx "ADPHC — Code of Practice 53.1: OSH Construction Management Plan, Version 4.1, February 2026"
[4]: https://cert.spsa.shj.ae/certificate/ "Sharjah Prevention and Safety Authority — OSHJ Practitioner Membership List"
[5]: https://www.ajman.ae/en/servicecatalog/services/3278 "Ajman — Building Permit Request"
[6]: https://www.ajman.ae/en/servicecatalog/services/3395 "Ajman — Certificate of Completion Request"
[7]: https://www.uaq.ae/en/changeLanguage.html?fromPage=services/dfm/building-additions-and-maintenance-permit.html&ignore=&languageCode=en "Umm Al Quwain — Municipal Building Permit Service"
[8]: https://rakez.com/Upload/ManageDocument/hse_regulations_20220401165612.pdf "RAKEZ — HS&E Rules and Regulations"
[9]: https://rakez.com/Upload/ManageDocument/RAKEZ_HSE_Construction_Regulation_20230625105152.pdf "RAKEZ — HSE Construction Regulation"
[10]: https://www.fujmun.gov.ae/laws.aspx?lang=en "Fujairah Municipality — Legislations and Laws"
[11]: https://www.fujmun.gov.ae/sitemap.aspx "Fujairah Municipality — Sitemap"
[12]: https://www.dm.gov.ae/documents/launch-of-health-and-safety-officer-scheme-in-labor-accommodations/ "Dubai Municipality — Launch of Health and Safety Officer Scheme in Labor Accommodations"