Interior Fit-Out in Dubai: Where the Floors and Walls Fit In

An interior fit-out in Dubai turns an empty shell or a tired space into a working office, shop, restaurant or home — partitions, ceilings, electrics and air conditioning, joinery, then the floors and wall finishes — usually under one fit-out company that hires specialist trades for most of the work. The floors and feature walls are the part every visitor sees and touches, so choose them early, choose them room by room, and meet the people who will actually apply them. Most fit-out disappointments are not about the partitions or the lighting; they are about a floor that marks in month three or a feature wall that cracked along a cable chase.

A word on who is writing this. RBS is not a fit-out company. We are a surfaces contractor: we apply seamless floors and walls — microcement, Venetian plaster and other lime finishes, resin floor coatings, resin bound stone outside — either as the finishes trade inside someone else’s fit-out or directly for the owner. Our own trained crews apply the microcement, lime finishes and resin bound, and RBS is responsible for every job. So this guide is written from the part of the job that usually comes last, under the most time pressure.

What does a fit-out company in Dubai actually do?

A fit-out company takes responsibility for the whole interior: design (or working to your designer’s drawings), approvals, every trade on site, the programme and the handover. In a typical Dubai interior fit-out that means:

• Approvals — drawings submitted to the landlord or building management, and the permits and no-objection letters the community, free zone or civil defence requires before work starts.
• Partitions and ceilings — gypsum walls, glass partitions, false ceilings and bulkheads (our ceiling finishes guide covers the options).
• MEP — air-conditioning ducts and units, electrics, data, lighting, fire alarms and sprinklers, plumbing for kitchens and washrooms.
• Joinery — reception desks, kitchens, wardrobes, wall cladding and doors.
• Finishes — floors, wall paint and decorative wall finishes, tiling in wet areas.
• Handover — snagging, cleaning and the documents the landlord needs at the end.

You will also hear Cat A and Cat B in Dubai office fit-outs. Cat A is what the landlord delivers: a lettable shell with basic ceilings, lighting, air conditioning and raised floors or a bare slab. Cat B is the tenant’s own fit-out on top of it — the layout, the meeting rooms, the reception, the brand. The floors and walls you actually see are almost always Cat B decisions.

Fit-out company, design-and-build, or hire the trades yourself?

For a full office, shop or restaurant fit-out, one company answering for everything is usually right; for a home, or a job that is mostly floors and walls, hiring the specialists direct often gives a better finish for less. The three routes compared:

	Fit-out company	Design-and-build company	You hire the trades direct
Who designs	Your designer, or theirs	Them	Your designer, or you
Who manages the site	The fit-out company	The same company	You (or a project manager you hire)
Who applies floors and feature walls	Usually a subcontractor	Usually a subcontractor	The specialist you chose
Biggest strength	One contract, one party responsible	One team from concept to handover	You meet and choose every specialist
Biggest risk	You rarely meet the finishes crew	Design shaped by what they like to build	Coordination falls on you
Best for	Offices, shops, restaurants, clinics	Brands that want speed and one voice	Villas, apartments, floor-and-wall upgrades

Whichever route you pick, you can still name the finishes specialist. Many owners ask their fit-out company to use a particular floor or wall contractor — that is normal, and it is the easiest way to know who will be on your floor.

Where finishes go wrong in a fit-out

Floors and decorative walls fail in fit-outs for the same handful of reasons, and almost none of them are about the material.

• They are squeezed into the last week. Seamless finishes need curing and drying time between coats. When the programme slips, the finishes are the ones asked to make it up.
• Other trades walk on them. A finished floor laid before the ceiling, the joinery and the electricians are done will collect ladder marks, dropped screws and paint. Seamless floors should go down after the dusty trades, and be protected after.
• Cables are chased into walls after the plaster. A decorative lime wall or a microcement wall needs the chasing, the boxes and the patching done first, on a stable base. A chase cut through a finished wall leaves a repair you will see.
• The base is never checked. Old tiles with hollow spots, a cracked slab, a damp ground floor — the finish takes the blame for what is underneath. Ask who checks the base, and when.
• The wrong surface for the traffic. A finish chosen from a mood board for a home is not automatically right for a shop entrance or a restaurant kitchen.

Office fit-out in Dubai: floors and walls

For most office fit-outs, carpet tile or LVT on the working floor is the sensible default, a harder seamless floor makes sense in open-plan studios and lobbies, and the reception wall is where a decorative finish earns its money. We do not supply carpet tile or vinyl, and we will say when they are the right answer — they are quiet, quick and cheap to replace at the end of a lease.

Where a seamless floor fits an office, it is usually polished concrete or a resin floor in open-plan areas, or terrazzo in a lobby meant to last; our office flooring guide compares them honestly. On the walls, a reception or boardroom wall in Venetian plaster, marmorino or a microcement wall finish gives depth and texture that paint cannot.

One honest limit: microcement is not a floor for busy commercial spaces. It belongs on walls anywhere, and on floors in homes and normal-use rooms. A reception, a corridor or anywhere with heavy foot traffic or trolleys needs a harder floor.

Restaurant, café and retail fit-out

In a restaurant fit-out the kitchen floor and the dining room are two different jobs: the kitchen needs a slip-resistant, chemical-resistant resin system, the dining room can be about looks. Hot water, grease, cleaning chemicals and constant traffic rule out decorative finishes on a commercial kitchen floor; the commercial kitchen flooring guide explains what survives. In the dining room, the walls are where lime finishes shine — a Venetian plaster or tadelakt wall gives a café or restaurant warmth that tiles and paint do not. See our restaurant flooring guide for the floor choices front and back of house.

Shops and showrooms live and die by downtime. If the shop cannot close, ask about resin floors that cure overnight — a floor can genuinely be renewed in one night, at a price. Shop floors take heavy traffic, so microcement belongs on the walls, behind the counter and in the fitting rooms rather than on the sales floor. The showroom and retail floor guide goes through the options.

Villa and apartment fit-out

In a home, “fit-out” usually means a renovation, and the biggest decision is whether to rip out the old floors and walls or cover them. Microcement can go over sound, well-bonded tiles after they are checked and primed — no demolition, far less dust and noise, which matters in an apartment block with fixed working hours. Microcement suits floors, walls and bathrooms in homes; outdoors it works only in the outdoor-rated colours, on terraces and balconies with normal foot traffic.

For the full keep-cover-or-replace decision, see our guides to villa renovation and apartment renovation. For the driveway, paths and pool surround, resin bound stone is laid outside once the heavy works are finished.

Planning the finishes: sequence and timing

The finishes go in late, but they are decided early. A sensible order on site:

1. Strip-out and base repairs — remove what is coming out, repair the slab, check old tiles you plan to keep.
2. First-fix MEP — cables, pipes and ducts in walls and ceilings, chases cut and filled.
3. Partitions, ceilings and wet-area waterproofing.
4. Wall preparation, then decorative wall finishes — on a cured, stable base.
5. Joinery installation and second-fix MEP — sockets, lights, sanitaryware.
6. Seamless floors last, after the dusty trades, then protected until handover.

Ask your finishes contractor for the number of days each area is out of use, including drying and curing between coats, and put that into the main programme from the start. A finish that has to be rushed to meet the opening date is a finish that will be repaired.

What do floor and wall finishes cost in a fit-out?

The finishes price depends on the base, the area and the access, so it is set after a site visit. Our published starting prices:

• Microcement starts from AED 220/m² on walls, AED 250/m² on floors and AED 350/m² in bathrooms and other wet zones. See what microcement costs in the UAE.
• Resin bound stone outside starts from AED 170/m², plus a one-off AED 3,500 mobilization fee per project.
• Venetian plaster, marmorino and other lime finishes, resin floor coatings and polished concrete are priced per project after a site visit.

The fit-out company’s own figure for “flooring” or “wall finishes” is a line in a much bigger quote. When you compare quotes, check that the finishes line names the actual system, the preparation, and who applies it. Our guide to what actually affects a surface quote lists the drivers.

Finishes by space at a glance

Space	Floor that usually works	Wall finish that usually works	Avoid
Office working floor	Carpet tile or LVT (not ours); polished concrete or resin in studios	Paint; a decorative finish on the feature wall	Microcement on busy circulation floors
Office reception and boardroom	Terrazzo, polished concrete or a resin floor	Venetian plaster, marmorino, microcement wall	Feature finishes cut by late cable chases
Restaurant kitchen	Slip-resistant resin system	Hygienic washable wall cladding or tiles	Decorative floors of any kind
Restaurant and café dining room	Hard, easy-clean floor suited to the traffic	Venetian plaster, tadelakt, limewash	Finishes that cannot be wiped
Shop and showroom	Resin floor (overnight if needed), terrazzo, polished concrete	Microcement wall, lime finishes	Microcement on the sales floor
Villa and apartment	Microcement (often over old tiles), tiles, wood	Microcement walls, lime finishes, paint	Ripping out sound tiles you could cover
Garden, driveway, pool surround	Resin bound stone	—	Microcement on driveways

Which one should you choose?

• Full office, shop or restaurant fit-out → hire a fit-out company for one point of responsibility, and ask them to name — or let you name — the floor and wall specialist.
• Mostly floors and walls, in a home → hire the specialists direct and save the management layer; a seamless finish over existing tiles can avoid demolition altogether.
• A shop that cannot close → plan the floor around an overnight-curing resin system and accept that speed costs more.
• A reception or dining room that has to impress → spend on the one feature wall people actually look at, in Venetian plaster, marmorino or microcement, rather than spreading the budget thin.
• Not sure which finish suits which room → send the drawings or photos and ask a finishes specialist before the fit-out quote is signed, not after.

Planning a fit-out and want a straight answer on the floors and walls? Send us the drawings or a few photos on WhatsApp — we will tell you what we would apply, what we would not, and when another trade is the better choice.

Related guides

• Office Flooring Options in the UAE — An Honest Guide
• Which Floor Sells? Showroom & Retail Floors in the UAE
• Restaurant Flooring in the UAE: Dining Room vs Kitchen
• Flooring Companies in Dubai: How to Choose the Right One
• One Partner for Every Surface in Your Villa

FAQ

What is included in an interior fit-out in Dubai?

Usually the approvals, partitions, false ceilings, air conditioning, electrics and plumbing, joinery, and the floor and wall finishes, followed by snagging and handover. The exact scope depends on whether the space starts as a bare shell or an existing interior, and on what the landlord already provides.

What is the difference between Cat A and Cat B fit-out?

Cat A is the landlord’s base build: a usable shell with basic ceilings, lighting, air conditioning and floors. Cat B is the tenant’s own fit-out on top of it — the layout, meeting rooms, reception, finishes and furniture that make the space theirs.

Should I use a fit-out company or hire the trades myself?

For a full office, shop or restaurant, a fit-out company is usually worth it: one contract, one party responsible, and they handle approvals. For a home, or a job that is mostly floors and walls, hiring the specialists direct is often cheaper and lets you choose the people who apply your finishes.

Can I choose my own flooring contractor inside a fit-out?

Yes. Owners and designers often name the specialist for floors or feature walls, and fit-out companies are used to working with a nominated trade. Agree early who coordinates the programme and who protects the finished floor until handover.

Is microcement a good floor for an office or a shop?

On walls, yes — reception walls, boardrooms, fitting rooms. On floors, only in homes and normal-use rooms. Microcement is not a floor for busy commercial spaces, corridors, shop floors or anywhere with trolleys or heavy traffic; a resin floor, polished concrete or terrazzo is the better choice there.

Is RBS a fit-out company?

No. RBS is a surfaces contractor: we apply microcement, Venetian plaster and other lime finishes, resin floor coatings and resin bound stone, either inside another company’s fit-out or directly for the owner. Our own crews apply the microcement, lime finishes and resin bound, and RBS is responsible for every job. We do not build partitions, ceilings or MEP, and we do not supply tiles, wood, vinyl or carpet.