Residents of Dubai building furious over fee imposed on service staff – Khaleej Times

New fee grants access to external vendors, including maids and cleaners.

Residents of Damac Properties in Dubai are irked as the builder has imposed a new fee to allow access to external vendors, including maids and cleaners.

A resident at the properties, S.J., said the security guards at her building told that her cleaning staff would not be allowed to do her usual chores.

“My maid came, as usual, on Thursday and, to my shock, she was stopped by the security guards. I entered into an argument with them as I had no clue about the new rule,” S.J., who did not want to be identified, told Khaleej Times.

She said she has lodged a formal complain with the property builder.

S.M., another resident, said she is thoroughly unhappy with this additional fees. “It does not make sense. I have hired a help to come twice weekly. Why should I pay an extra fee for that as I am already paying a hefty service charge annually.”

Frustration pour on social media

Many irked residents of Damac Properties took to social media like Facebook and Twitter to vent out their frustration. 

The fee is imposed on external vendors and service providers belonging to cleaning and maintenance companies only. It does not, however, apply to service providers like courier delivery, food delivery, and other such delivery services, tutors, trainers, and other non-maintenance service providers. 

Outsourcing cleaning and other domestic household jobs has been a recent trend in Dubai, owing to the busy lifestyle of the working class residents. Most residents use company services for their daily or weekly cleaning. Emergence of firms , whose services can be availed of using the app have also extended the services to the working class in the emirate. 

However, this may not be easy for residents of Damac Properties as it will allow only companies which procure a work permit to access their properties.

Niall McLoughlin, senior vice-president, marketing and corporate communications, said: “With reference to communications issued on Thursday, July 25, 2019, to Damac residents, we’d like to clarify that the fee is chargeable to external vendors and service providers belonging to all cleaning and maintenance companies only.”

On payment of the fees, external service providers will be issued a work permit that allows them to access the entire property. Owners and residents do not have to pay any fee to avail cleaning and maintenance services from external vendors. The fee collected will be accounted for as income for the Owners’ Association of the property, in a bid to reduce service charges.

Work permit to ensure legality of service providers

This work permit has been implemented to ensure that only service providers who are licensed and registered with relevant authorities are allowed to enter and operate within a Damac/Loams managed property. 

It is to restrict any rogue service providers, without license and registration, from entering and operating within a Damac property and will ensure the quality of services rendered are in-line with government regulations and standards.

It will also ensure that the safety of residents and owners are upheld while undertaking cleaning and maintenance services.

sandhya@khaleejtimes.com

Sandhya D’Mello

Journalist. Period. My interests are Economics, Finance and Information Technology. Prior to joining Khaleej Times, I have worked with some leading publications in India, including the Economic Times.

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