Kitchens Built Around How You Actually Cook
Benstead designs, supplies and installs replacement kitchens across Dubai — from a straightforward swap through to knocking through, relocating services and building a new island.
A kitchen is the most technically demanding room in a house. It carries water, waste, gas or induction load, extract, lighting circuits and a dozen appliance tolerances, all hidden behind joinery that has to line up to the millimetre. Most of what separates a good kitchen from a disappointing one happens before anything is visible.
We measure the room properly, survey the existing services, and produce a set of setting-out drawings that the joiner, the electrician and the stone mason all work from. That is why our kitchens go in without the two-week scramble at the end that most people have come to expect.
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Why Kitchen Quotes Vary by a Factor of Three
Ask four Dubai contractors to price the same kitchen and you will get figures that differ by three times over. That is not four different assessments of the same job. It is four different jobs, and only one of them is the one you asked for.
The cheap number almost always covers cabinetry and worktop, and stops there. The expensive one covers the services behind the cabinetry, the extraction that actually extracts, the wall that has to come out and the beam that replaces it, the floor build-up that has to be levelled, and the permit for the structural work. The kitchen you end up living with is the second one, whichever you sign.
The only way to compare them honestly is to have the scope written down and measured. That is what a bill of quantities does, and it is why we produce one before quoting rather than after.
What a Kitchen Renovation Includes
One contract covering every trade, from strip-out to the final silicone bead.
Design & Setting Out
Measured survey, layout options, appliance schedule and full setting-out drawings. You see elevations and a 3D view before anything is ordered.
Strip-Out & Builders Work
Removal and disposal of the existing kitchen, wall removal with structural support where needed, making good, and forming new openings.
Services
New water supply and drainage runs, dedicated circuits, appliance isolation, extract ducting to an external wall, and under-cabinet and feature lighting.
Joinery
Bespoke units built to your dimensions or supply and installation of an imported European kitchen. Soft-close hardware, internal storage systems and full-height tall units.
Stone & Splashbacks
Templated worktops in quartz, porcelain, sintered stone or natural marble. Waterfall ends, undermount sink cut-outs, drainer grooves and matching upstands.
Appliances & Finishing
Supply and integration of appliances, flooring, decorating, and a full clean and demonstration at handover.
Kitchen Renovation Costs in Dubai
Indicative all-in figures including joinery, stone, services and installation.
| Specification | Typically Includes | AED |
|---|---|---|
| Replacement | Quality local joinery, quartz worktop, like-for-like services, standard appliances. | 45k – 90k |
| Bespoke | Made-to-measure joinery, island unit, upgraded stone, integrated appliances, new lighting. | 90k – 180k |
| Imported / premium | European cabinetry, book-matched stone, specialist appliances, full services relocation. | 180k – 400k+ |
| Knock-through | Wall removal with structural steel, permit, making good, and re-planned open kitchen. | +35k – 90k |
| Kitchen extension | New floor area — foundations, structure, envelope, glazing and internal finishes. Priced per project once the footprint is fixed. | On application |
Where kitchen budgets actually go
Clients consistently expect the cabinetry to be the biggest number. In practice, on a mid-range Dubai kitchen the split is roughly 40% joinery, 20% stone, 20% appliances and 20% builders work and services. On a premium kitchen the stone and appliances climb sharply while the builders work stays broadly flat.
The item most often left out of competing quotations is the extract. If your hob is moving to an island, the ducting has to get from that island to an external wall, and in a villa with a concrete slab that is neither cheap nor trivial. Ask any contractor quoting you to point at the extract route on the drawing.
Recent Kitchens
What We Typically Find
The things worth knowing before you set a budget.
Services behind the units
Pipework, isolation and electrical capacity sized for the kitchen that was there in 2010, not for an induction hob, a wine fridge and a boiling tap. The consumer unit is usually the limiting factor and nobody looks at it until second fix.
A wall that is carrying something
The knock-through into the living room is the most-requested item in Dubai and the most frequently under-priced. If the wall is structural it needs an engineer, a drawing, a permit and a steel or concrete beam, and that is weeks as well as money.
Extraction that recirculates
A charcoal filter venting back into the room is not extraction. Ducting to an external wall or a riser is a design decision that has to be made before the ceiling is closed, not after the hood arrives.
Water pressure and the appliance list
Boiling taps, filtered water and plumbed fridges all assume a pressure and a supply that many Dubai apartments do not have. Worth establishing before the appliance schedule is signed off.
Floor levels between rooms
Opening a kitchen into a living space usually exposes a step or a build-up difference. Levelling it is a screed job across both rooms, not a threshold strip.
Worktop lead times
Imported stone is six to ten weeks and is templated only after the cabinetry is installed. It is the single most common reason a kitchen programme slips, and it is entirely plannable.
Approvals and Programme
What has to be in place before work starts, and how long it realistically takes.
The permit, if the wall comes out
Removing a wall between the kitchen and a living space crosses into structural work, and that means a Dubai Municipality building modification permit on top of your community or building NOC. Consultant drawings and an engineer's assessment come first. Whether your wall is load-bearing is not something to settle by tapping it on site.
Gas, if you have it
Moving or adding a gas connection is treated separately by most developers and needs its own NOC — DAMAC, for example, lists gas connection as its own work type. If you are switching from gas to induction the connection still has to be capped off properly and signed off.
Your community or building NOC
Whoever manages the property approves the works, sets the deposit and controls access and working hours. The route differs by developer: Emaar, Nakheel, DAMAC and Dubai Properties each run their own.
These sit with us. You are not the one chasing an approvals desk — we prepare the drawings, make the submissions and carry the correspondence. There is a plain explanation of when a permit is actually needed and of what happens if work goes ahead without one.
| Stage | Duration |
|---|---|
| Survey, design, appliance schedule and measured bill of quantities | 2 – 3 weeks |
| Community NOC, and permit where the wall is structural | 2 – 6 weeks |
| Strip-out, structure, first fix services | 2 – 3 weeks |
| Cabinetry install, then worktop template and fit | 4 – 8 weeks |
| Appliances, second fix, snagging and handover | 1 – 2 weeks |
How We Price a Kitchen Renovation
Benstead is run by a quantity surveyor. We do not price a room by looking at it and naming a figure. We measure it.
After the survey you receive a bill of quantities — every element of the work listed, quantified and rated, so you can see what each part costs and what it is you are agreeing to. That document is what the fixed price is built on, and it is what we get measured against later.
It matters for two practical reasons. You can compare our price against another contractor’s line by line instead of guessing why one number is bigger. And when something changes mid-project there is an agreed rate for it already, rather than a negotiation while the room is in pieces.
Before you sign anything, our guides on why renovation quotes vary so much, red flags in a renovation quote and what a bill of quantities actually is are worth ten minutes. For an indicative range in about a minute, use the Dubai renovation cost calculator.
Kitchen Renovation FAQs
How much does a kitchen renovation cost in Dubai?
A replacement kitchen using quality local joinery typically costs AED 45,000 – 90,000 supplied and fitted. A larger bespoke kitchen with stone worktops and integrated appliances usually falls between AED 90,000 – 180,000.
Imported European kitchens with premium stone and specialist appliances commonly run from AED 180,000 – 400,000 and above. Relocating services, removing walls or extending the room adds to these figures.
How long does a kitchen renovation take?
A straightforward like-for-like replacement takes three to five weeks on site. A kitchen involving wall removal, services relocation or a new island typically takes six to nine weeks.
The critical path is almost always joinery and stone lead time — six to twelve weeks for imported units. The order has to be placed well before site work starts, which is why we finalise the design first and demolish second.
Can you move the kitchen to a different room?
Yes, but it changes the job significantly. Moving a kitchen means new water supply and drainage runs, a new extract route to an external wall, and usually a new dedicated electrical circuit.
In a villa this is very achievable. In an apartment, drainage fall and the extract route are the two constraints that decide whether it is possible at all — and both need checking before you commit to a layout.
Do I need approval for a kitchen renovation in Dubai?
A like-for-like replacement generally does not require a building permit, though your building or community will normally still require an NOC and a registered contractor before allowing works to start.
If you are removing walls, altering drainage or changing the layout, a modification permit from Dubai Municipality or the relevant authority is required. We prepare and submit these on your behalf.
What worktop material is best for Dubai?
Engineered quartz is the most practical choice for most Dubai kitchens — non-porous, consistent in pattern, no sealing required.
Natural marble is the most beautiful but stains and etches; in a busy family kitchen it will patinate. Porcelain and sintered stone suit large islands because they come in bigger slabs with fewer joints and handle heat well.
We bring samples to your villa and look at them in your own light before you decide. Stone looks completely different under a showroom spotlight.
Why is one kitchen quote half the price of another?
Because they are almost certainly not pricing the same scope. The lower figure usually covers cabinetry and worktop only, leaving out the electrical capacity, the plumbing alterations, the extraction ducting, any structural work and the permit. Those items do not disappear — they arrive later as variations, at a point where you have no leverage. Ask both contractors for a measured breakdown and the gap usually explains itself.
Can I remove the wall between my kitchen and living room?
Often, but whether it is load-bearing is a structural question that needs an engineer, not an opinion on site. If it is, you need a drawing, a Dubai Municipality permit and a steel or concrete beam, which adds both cost and several weeks. We establish the structural position before any layout is drawn, because designing around a wall that cannot move is cheaper than redesigning afterwards.
How long does a kitchen renovation take?
Around eight to twelve weeks on site for a full replacement, plus two to six weeks beforehand for approvals if structural work is involved. The critical path is almost always the worktop: imported stone runs six to ten weeks and can only be templated once the cabinetry is physically installed, so it cannot be ordered in advance.
Is an imported kitchen worth it over a local one?
It depends on what you are buying. Imported European cabinetry generally brings better carcass construction, hinges and drawer runners, which is what you notice in year five rather than year one. Good local joinery can match the finish and beats imported on lead time and on fitting to an awkward space. What matters more than origin is the specification, and our guide to imported against local joinery sets out where the real differences sit.