Dubai property, explained › Living here
The DEWA premise number
DEWA’s number for the home itself, not for you: where it is printed, the two other numbers on the bill it gets mixed up with, why every Ejari and every move-in asks for it first, and who has it when you do not.
Written September 2026 · 6 min read
The premise number is DEWA's name for the home itself. Every metered property in Dubai, each apartment, each villa, each shop, has one: a run of nine or ten digits that the authority assigned when the supply was connected and that stays with the property for as long as the property stands. Tenants come and go, accounts open and close, and the premise number does not move. That is why the two forms that mark a move into a Dubai home, the Ejari registration and the DEWA move-in, both ask for it before anything else: it is the one number that tells two different systems they are talking about the same flat.
What is the DEWA premise number?
DEWA, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, supplies both the power and the water to every home in the emirate, and it bills them together on one account. Under that account sit three numbers, and the premise number is the one that belongs to the property rather than to you. A premise, in DEWA's vocabulary, is a supply point: a place with a meter. The number identifies that point, so the authority knows which meter to switch on when you arrive and which to read when you leave. It does not identify the customer and it says nothing about who lives there; it is the same number on the day the building opened and on the day the tenth tenant moves in.
It is not the number on the meter's face. The meter carries a serial number stamped by its manufacturer, and DEWA replaces meters from time to time; the premise number belongs to the supply, not to the device. It is not the Makani number on the green plate by the building's entrance either, which names the door for couriers and ambulances and identifies no unit within. And it is not the plot number on the title deed, which is the land. Four numbers, four issuers, and the premise number is DEWA's.
Where do I find it?
- On any DEWA bill for the home, printed with the account details at the top of the page and labelled as the premise number. Whoever's name the bill is in, the premise number is the same, so the previous tenant's last bill will do
- On the Ejari certificate, which carries it as a field of its own, and on the tenancy contract if the box for it was filled in
- In the DEWA app or on its website, under any account already open on the home, beside the account and business partner numbers
- On or beside the meter in some buildings, on a DEWA label rather than the meter's own plate; the meter room on your floor is where to look, and the number to take is the authority's, not the manufacturer's serial
A home you are moving into has no bill in your name yet, which is why the number most often arrives from the landlord, the agent or the previous tenant, and a good agent sends it with the contract. If it has to be found, the bill is the surest place: it names the number and labels it, and every home that has ever had the lights on has produced one.
Premise number vs business partner number
The DEWA bill and the DEWA app carry three numbers, and the forms that ask for one of them rarely say which. They describe three different things.
| Number | What it identifies | Whose it is | Changes when you move? | Who asks for it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premise number | The property: the metered supply point | The home's | No, it stays with the property | Ejari, and DEWA at move-in |
| Business partner number | You: the customer, a person or a company | Yours, across every DEWA account you hold | No, you keep it from home to home | The DEWA app when you first register, DEWA customer care |
| Contract account number | The account: you, at this premise, for this tenancy | Yours, for this home only | Yes, a new one at each move-in | Paying the bill, a bank's bill-payment menu, the move-out |
The business partner number is the one people search for and cannot place. DEWA's billing system calls each customer a business partner, and the number is created the first time you open an account with the authority; a person or a company gets one and keeps it. Move to a new flat and the business partner number stays, the premise number changes to the new home's, and a new contract account number is opened to join the two. So the three answer three questions: where (the premise), who (the business partner) and this tenancy (the contract account). A bill prints all three, labelled, and the app shows them under the account. Registering for the app for the first time usually asks for the business partner number or a contract account number alongside your Emirates ID, so that the login can be matched to the customer the authority already knows.
Why Ejari and the move-in ask for it
The Ejari registration records which property a tenancy is on, and the premise number is how it names the property. A plot number is the land and a unit number is the building's own labelling; the premise number is unique to a single supply point across the whole emirate, and it is the one the registry keys on. That is why Ejari will not register a contract without it (it is on the list of what Ejari needs), why the certificate carries it, and why the renewal asks for a recent bill.
DEWA then asks for the same number, with the Ejari number beside it, when you move in: the premise tells the authority which meter to activate, and the Ejari tells it you are entitled to have it activated on that premise. The two systems check each other through the number they share, so a premise number that does not match the Ejari, a neighbour's read off a bill for the flat next door, stops the move-in, and it is the first thing to check when one stalls. An owner moving into their own home gives the title deed in place of the Ejari; the premise number is asked for all the same. What the move-in costs, the deposit and the activation fee, is on the move-in page, and the housing fee that rides on every bill afterwards has a page of its own.
Can't find it?
- Ask the landlord or the agent; the premise number is on every bill the property has ever produced, and whoever last held the account on the home has it on theirs
- Ask the previous tenant for their final bill, which prints it and, once paid, shows the old account is closed, which is the other thing your move-in needs
- Ask the building's management or the owners' association office, which knows where the meters are and usually which number belongs to which flat
- Ask DEWA: its customer care line (04 601 9999 on the day this page was written), the chat in its app, or a customer happiness centre can trace the premise from the building and the unit number, with the Ejari or the deed to show you are entitled to it
What will not work is guessing from a neighbour's bill or reading the serial off the meter's face. If a form rejects a number that came from a bill, check that the bill is for your unit and not another flat in the same building; the bills of one building look alike, and the premise number is the one line on them that differs.
Where this leads
The pages that pick up from here
DEWA and the move-in →
The form the number is typed into — what else the move-in needs, the deposit and the activation fee, and how the account is closed when you leave.
Ejari →
The registration that asks for the premise number first, and prints it on the certificate it produces.
Makani numbers →
The number on the green plate by the door, which is the one the premise number is most often mistaken for — and the four numbers of a Dubai home in one table.
Ejari renewal and cancellation →
The renewal that asks for a recent bill, and the cancellation the next tenant’s move-in waits on.
The tenancy contract →
The unified form with a box for the premise number in its property section, beside the plot and the Makani.
The housing fee →
The 5% of the rent that rides on the DEWA bill once the account is open — who pays it and what it comes to by area.
Property for rent →
What is on the market with McCone today; a tenant through us is sent the premise number with the contract.
The area guides →
Every Dubai community, with what it sells for and rents for from the registers.
Questions people ask
The DEWA premise number, answered
What is the DEWA premise number?
DEWA’s number for a metered property — an apartment, a villa or a shop — assigned when the supply was connected and kept for the life of the property. It identifies the supply point, not the customer, so it does not change when a tenant leaves; it is the number Ejari and the DEWA move-in both use to say which home a tenancy is on.
Where do I find my DEWA premise number?
On any DEWA bill for the home, with the account details at the top and labelled as the premise number — the previous tenant’s bill carries the same one. It is also on the Ejari certificate, in the DEWA app under an open account, and in some buildings on a DEWA label at the meter. It is not the serial number on the meter’s face and not the Makani number on the door.
What is the business partner number in DEWA?
Your customer number. DEWA’s billing system calls each customer a business partner, and the number is created the first time you open an account and kept across every home you ever hold with the authority. The premise number is the property’s and the contract account number is one tenancy at one premise; a bill prints all three.
Is the DEWA premise number the same as the Makani number?
No. The premise number is DEWA’s and identifies a metered unit; the Makani number is Dubai Municipality’s and identifies a building entrance to within a metre, for couriers, drivers and emergency services. Ejari and the DEWA move-in want the premise number; a delivery wants the Makani. Both are on a DEWA bill, labelled.
Regulation here is stated as regulation, and what the market merely does is marked as convention. Figures were checked in September 2026; the rest of the set is written the same way.