Dubai property paperwork asks for an unusual number of numbers. Plot number, Makani number, unit number, premises number, title deed number, land number, sub number. They appear on different documents, they look similar, and putting the wrong one in the wrong box is one of the most common reasons an Ejari submission comes back rejected. Here is what each one is and where it lives.
The five numbers you will actually be asked for
- Plot number: identifies the parcel of land. Found on the title deed. Sometimes shown as land number with a sub number.
- Unit number: identifies the individual apartment or villa within that plot, for example Unit 1502.
- Makani number: a 10-digit code identifying a specific building entrance, used mainly for navigation and emergency services.
- DEWA premises number: 9 to 10 digits identifying the property's electricity and water connection.
- Title deed number: identifies the ownership certificate itself, not the property.
Plot number
The plot number identifies the piece of land a building sits on, assigned by the Dubai Land Department. Every property in Dubai sits on a numbered plot, and in a tower every apartment shares the same plot number while having its own unit number. You will find it printed on the title deed, usually near the top with the community name, in a format combining a community code with a plot reference, such as 345-1234.
To look it up without the deed, open the Dubai REST app and use the property or title deed verification service. Landlords have it on the title deed, so asking for a copy of the deed at signing solves this and several other fields at once.
Unit number
The unit number is the flat or villa identifier within the plot: 1502, or Villa 23, or Office 704. It is on the title deed, on your DEWA bill, on the building directory and usually on your front door. Some buildings number units differently from the floor-based numbering residents use informally. The number on the title deed is the one the forms want.
Makani number
Makani is Dubai's geographic addressing system. Every building entrance has a unique 10-digit Makani number, which pinpoints that specific door rather than the building as a whole, so a tower with several entrances has several Makani numbers. It was designed so that ambulances, police, delivery drivers and taxis can find an exact entrance in a city where street addresses are often unhelpful.
Find it on the blue Makani plate fixed near the building entrance, in the free Makani app, or at makani.ae by searching the building name or dropping a pin on the map. Tenancy contracts and Ejari do not usually require it, but utility installations, deliveries and some government services do.
DEWA premises number
This identifies the utility connection rather than the property record, and Ejari specifically validates it. It is 9 to 10 digits and printed at the top of any DEWA bill. It belongs to the property permanently, unlike your DEWA account number which changes with each new customer.
We cover this one in detail in the DEWA premises number guide, including all six ways to find it.
Title deed number
The title deed number identifies the ownership certificate, not the property itself. Two different documents about the same flat, issued at different times, carry different title deed numbers. It appears at the top of the deed, often labelled as certificate number or document number. Purchase and mortgage paperwork asks for it. Tenancy contracts generally do not.
Which form wants which number
- DLD Unified Tenancy Contract: plot number, unit or property number, DEWA premises number
- Ejari registration: the same three, validated against the title deed and DEWA bill
- DEWA new connection: premises number if one exists, otherwise the title deed and address
- Building move-in permit: unit number, and often the Makani number
- Emergency services and deliveries: Makani number
- Property purchase or mortgage: plot number and title deed number
Where each number lives
- Title deed: plot number, unit number, title deed number, owner name
- DEWA bill: premises number, account number, meter number, unit and building
- Makani plate at the entrance, or makani.ae: Makani number
- Dubai REST app: title deed verification, plot and property lookup
- Building management: unit numbering, Makani, and often the premises number
Common mix-ups
- Premises number entered where the DEWA account number was meant, or the reverse. Both are on the same bill, centimetres apart.
- Makani number given as the plot number. Makani is 10 digits and identifies an entrance; the plot identifies land.
- Title deed number given as the plot number. The deed number identifies the certificate, not the property.
- Informal unit numbering used instead of the title deed's. Ejari matches the official record.
- Plot number entered without its sub number where the community uses land and sub numbering.
If you cannot find a number at all
Ask the landlord for a copy of the title deed and a recent DEWA bill. Between those two documents you have the plot number, unit number, premises number and title deed number, which covers everything a tenancy contract and Ejari registration will ask for. Collect them at signing rather than later - chasing a landlord for documents after the contract is signed is the most common reason a registration drifts past the thirty-day deadline.
Once you have the numbers, see the Ejari registration guide for the registration itself.