Swimming pool construction
Villa pools designed and built within one landscape contract — developer NOC, Dubai Municipality or Trakhees permit, DEWA, reinforced shell, waterproofing, plant room, finishes and the decking, lighting and planting around it.
A private pool in Dubai is a reinforced concrete tank holding tens of tonnes of water a few metres from the villa’s foundations, in ground that is often sand over rock with a high water table near the coast. It needs structural drawings, a permit, a waterproofing system that is tested before it is tiled, and a plant room that someone can actually get into to service a pump in August. Pool companies tend to sell the shape and the tile; the problems that come back after handover are almost always in the shell, the waterproofing or the plant.
We build pools within the landscape scope, under our project management. Specialist pool teams handle the shell, waterproofing and filtration; our own site team handles the excavation logistics, surrounds, decking, lighting and planting so the levels and falls around the pool are set out once. Because we are a registered contractor with all six major Dubai developers, the NOC and the permit route are ours to carry, not yours.
What a pool scope covers
Everything below is priced in one BOQ so the pool, its plant and its surroundings are not three separate quotations.
Design, NOC and permit, excavation, reinforced concrete shell, waterproofing, filtration and finishes. See the pool at Quortaj, Al Furjan.
Stone, porcelain or timber surrounds on a drained sub-base, with falls set away from the pool edge and the villa.
Spillways, water walls and underwater lighting on their own pumps and circuits, designed with the pool rather than added to it.
Seating cast with the pool shell so the structure, waterproofing and drainage are one system.
Pergolas and pavilions with their footings set out against the pool excavation, not after it.
Re-tiling, re-plastering, waterproofing repair, new filtration and reshaped surrounds for a pool that has aged badly.
Approvals & sequence
Three approvals, then a build order that cannot be rearranged. We confirm the route for your community at survey.
How we handle approvalsEvery major community requires a no-objection certificate before a pool is excavated, and each publishes how far the water’s edge must sit from the plot boundary and the villa. Emaar communities such as Dubai Hills Estate want drawings in Dubai Municipality format; Nakheel communities such as Al Furjan want Trakhees format and a Trakhees-accredited contractor. A pool drawn outside the setback is the most common reason an NOC is refused.
Dubai Municipality on the mainland, or Trakhees in Nakheel and PCFC areas, issues the building permit against structural drawings for the shell. Pumps, lighting and any heating or chilling add electrical load that DEWA has to approve, and the backwash drainage route has to be agreed. We submit these together so the excavation is not stopped waiting for one of them.
The pool is excavated and the reinforced concrete shell cast with all pipework and light niches in place. The shell is waterproofed and the pipework pressure-tested before anything is tiled, because a leak found after tiling means stripping the finish. The plant room is built where it can be serviced, ventilated and heard as little as possible.
Tiles or plaster, then filtration, dosing and lighting commissioned, then the surrounds, decking, balustrades and planting go in around the finished pool. We hand over with the pump schedule, the chemical balance and the maintenance the pool will need in its first summer explained.
Recent pool and garden work
Al Furjan, Dubai Hills and Abu Dhabi, with the surrounds and planting delivered under the same contract.
Scope & programme
We survey the plot and the ground, check the community rules, then price in a BOQ. These are the decisions that move the number and the programme.
Volume drives excavation, reinforcement, concrete, waterproofing and the size of the filtration plant. A rectangular pool is the most economical shape to form and tile; curves and infinity edges add formwork, structure and a balance tank.
Rock near the surface slows excavation; a high water table near the coast needs dewatering and a shell designed against uplift when the pool is empty. A rear garden with no side access means spoil out and concrete in through the house or over it by crane.
Glass mosaic, porcelain and natural stone cost more than plaster or render systems but last longer against chemistry and sun. Coping and the first metre of surround are chosen for surface temperature underfoot as much as for appearance.
Chilling the water for summer use and heating it for winter each add plant, load and running cost. Salt-water chlorination and automatic dosing add equipment but reduce the maintenance you do yourself.
Water walls, spillways, underwater lighting, a sunken seating area cast with the shell, glass balustrades or a child-safety fence each add a line. We draw them with the pool so they are priced once.
The community’s NOC processing and the authority’s permit set the front of the programme; the shell curing and the waterproofing test set the middle. We run the permits in parallel with the design detailing so the wait is not dead time.
Tell us the community and the plot. We will measure, check your developer’s setback and height rules, tell you which permit applies and come back with a BOQ that covers the pool, the plant and everything around it.
Common questions
Permits, construction, finishes and living with a pool through a Dubai summer. If yours is not here, call +971 50 448 3095.
Yes. You need the developer’s NOC first, which checks the pool against the community’s setback and design rules, and then a building permit from Dubai Municipality on the mainland or from Trakhees in Nakheel and PCFC communities such as Al Furjan and Palm Jumeirah. DEWA must approve the added electrical load for pumps and lighting. We prepare and carry all three submissions as part of the contract.
Each developer sets its own setback from the plot boundary and from the villa structure, and some limit the pool to the rear garden only. The figure differs between Emaar, Nakheel, DAMAC and Nshama communities and sometimes between phases of the same community. We check the current rule for your plot before the pool is drawn, because a pool positioned outside the setback is the most common cause of a refused NOC.
For a permanent villa pool in Dubai we build reinforced concrete. It is formed to any shape and size, takes tile, stone or plaster finishes, allows a sunken seating area or spillway to be cast as part of the shell, and is what the authorities expect to see structural drawings for. Fibreglass shells are quicker to install but limited in shape and size and still need excavation, a base and a permit.
The concrete shell is treated with a waterproofing system on the inside, pipework and light niches are sealed, and the whole pool is filled and tested for loss before any tile goes on. Finding a leak after tiling means stripping the finish, so we do not skip the test to save programme.
Yes. A chiller or a heat pump that runs both ways can be added to the plant, sized to the pool volume. It adds equipment, electrical load and running cost, so we ask how you actually intend to use the pool before specifying it. Shade over part of the water and a lighter finish also keep temperatures down without plant.
Close enough to the pool for the pipe runs to be efficient, far enough from bedrooms and the majlis not to be heard, with ventilation for the equipment and door access large enough to replace a pump. In tight plots it is often built under a deck or inside a garden store. Placing it badly is the mistake that makes a pool expensive to maintain for years.
Yes, with the understanding that the garden around the excavation will be rebuilt. Access for an excavator and for removing spoil is the first question; where there is no side access the work goes through the house or over it by crane. We plan the surrounds, drainage and lighting to be reinstated as part of the same contract rather than leaving you to reinstate them separately.
Yes, and that is the point. The pool is delivered within our landscape scope: the surrounds, decking, balustrades, lighting, shade structures and planting are set out against the pool excavation and built on the same programme, so the falls, levels and services are resolved once.
Yes. We deliver across the UAE, including Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, with the approval route adjusted for each emirate and master developer.
