The floor plan goes in with your licence application, and inspectors check the finished clinic. Here is what a small clinic looks like at true scale, and the rules that shape it.
DHA requires the floor plan to be designed and approved by a prequalified health facility design consultant, with room counts that follow its Health Facility Guidelines. Sheryan's FAQ describes it as a schematic drawing in AutoCAD format, with each room labelled by service and area in square metres.
The guidelines allow for departures. A different approach can be proposed in a Non-Compliance Report for DHA to consider. Treat that as an exception to agree early, not a fix for a unit that is too small.
HealthcareSetup UAE manages premises and layout approval as part of its clinic builds, and Pharmareg UAE supports DHA facility licensing.
These are the rooms in DHA's sample schedule for an outpatient unit with three consult rooms. DHA says room sizes should be viewed as a minimum, and that the actual facility size comes from your service plan.
| Room or space | Number | m² each | Total m² |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry and reception | |||
| Reception and clerical | 1 | 10 | 10 |
| Waiting, divided into male and female areas | 1 | 10 | 10 |
| File store, optional with electronic records | 1 | 8 | 8 |
| Accessible toilet | 1 | 6 | 6 |
| Consult area | |||
| Consult room, combined with examination | 3 | 13 | 39 |
| Handwashing bay | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Linen bay | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Resuscitation trolley bay | 1 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Blood collection bay, optional | 1 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Dirty utility | 1 | 8 | 8 |
| General store | 1 | 9 | 9 |
| Patient toilet | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Treatment area, optional | |||
| Treatment room | 1 | 14 | 14 |
| Linen bay | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Resuscitation trolley bay | 1 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Staff station and clean utility | 1 | 9 | 9 |
| Accessible patient toilet | 1 | 6 | 6 |
| Rooms | 132.5 | ||
| Circulation at 32% | 42.4 | ||
| Total | 174.9 | ||
In this column, DHA marks the staff room, staff toilets, office, cleaners' room and disposal room as shared, because the unit is assumed to sit beside others. A stand-alone clinic has nothing to share with, so add those spaces to the area. The sample has no line for a sterilisation room either, and DHA's outpatient standard has its own rules for one.
Other sizes in the same schedule: an ENT or ophthalmology consult room is 14 m² and a procedure room is 20 m². Ask your consultant to confirm the current figures, as DHA updates its documents.
DHA's guidelines set several rules for how the clinic works around patients:
A combined room holds a desk and a screened couch, and saves space. Separate consult and examination rooms let one patient change or be examined while another is in consultation. Examination rooms should have only one door, and door positions should avoid exposing patients.
DHA's outpatient standard sets out which services need their own space:
Outpatient facilities are also not permitted to operate 24 hours a day, so plan the model around that. HealthcareSetup UAE can work through the licence requirements for your mix of services.
Every examination, treatment and procedure room needs a hand-washing station with a hands-free tap and liquid or foam dispenser, wall-mounted non-refillable soap and tissue dispensers, and a non-refillable sanitiser dispenser on top. Sinks need deep basins made of porcelain, stainless steel or a solid surface.
Those same rooms need medical waste, general waste and foot-operated medical waste bins. Bins are colour coded, yellow for medical waste and black for general waste. You also need a contract with a specialised company to collect, transport and destroy medical waste under Dubai Municipality's conditions.
DHA's standard says the sterilisation room should be physically separate from all other areas, with restricted access. It should contain high-vacuum steam sterilisers and equipment for heat-sensitive items, along with handwashing stations in the clean room and a deep sink.
It also requires a working routine:
Dental clinics need at least 2 m² dedicated to cleaning and sterilising instruments, and this cannot happen inside the dental room. If your clinic plans to use only single-use instruments, ask your consultant or DHA how that changes your requirement before removing the room from your drawings.
DHA issues facility licences subject to the Dubai Universal Design Code as well as its own guidelines, and requires easy access for people of determination. Its documents call for:
Check these against the unit before you sign. Access problems are often built into the property and can be hard to fix with a fit-out. HealthcareSetup UAE looks at this as part of its premises work.
DHA's guidelines do not dictate one facility size. Its sample schedule for three consult rooms totals 174.9 m² with an optional treatment area and before stand-alone staff rooms. The actual size comes from your service plan, checked by your design consultant.
DHA's sample schedule uses 13 m² for a combined consult and examination room, and says room sizes should be viewed as a minimum. ENT and ophthalmology consult rooms are shown at 14 m².
Not in examination and treatment rooms. If used in waiting areas and corridors, it must be glued or stretched tight and free of loose edges and wrinkles.
DHA's Health Facility Guidelines say separate waiting areas are required for males and females, with at least 2 seats per consult room.
HealthcareSetup UAE manages premises, layout approval and fit-out as part of a clinic build, and Pharmareg UAE handles DHA facility licensing. They are brands of the same company and publish this guide.
Company formation, DHA licensing, premises and layout approval, the clinical team and systems, run as one project and handed over ready for the first patient.
healthcaresetup.ae ↗Regulatory affairs in the UAE: DHA facility and professional licensing, NABIDH, inspection readiness, and pharmaceutical and medical device registration.
pharmareguae.com ↗