Part VI — Practice, Ethics & the Exam

The RERA Exam — Strategy, Number Bank & Final Drill

Everything about exam day — format, fees and logistics, the domain-to-chapter map, the complete number bank from the whole course, and how to attack MCQs under time pressure.

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You have covered every law and every domain. This final chapter is the war room: the exam’s logistics, the full number bank consolidated from all fifteen chapters, and the tactics for multiple-choice under a clock.

The exam, verified

Fact	Value
Format	Computer-based multiple choice at a DLD test centre
Questions / time	~70 questions in 2 hours (~1 min 40 s per question)
Pass mark	Reported above 70% — aim for 80%+ in practice drills
Fee	AED 772.50 per attempt (verified from DLD’s own systems)
Official study resource	DLD Knowledge Bank — AED 315 alone, AED 1,087.50 bundled with the exam
Prerequisite	CTRB training via DREI (about 4 days)
Retakes	Unlimited — pay per attempt
Eligibility	21+, UAE residency + Emirates ID, employment with a licensed agency, good-conduct certificate; no degree needed

Worth knowing: the exam fee alone exceeds AED 772 — treat the Knowledge Bank bundle as cheap insurance; it is the official question source.

Domain → chapter map

The official scope lists eleven domains. You have covered all of them:

Official exam domain	Your chapters
Real estate concepts	1, 5
Laws & legislation	2–5, 9–13 (all core laws)
Property rights	4, 5
Brokerage & sales agreements	6, 7
Real estate mathematics	8
Property management	13
Jointly owned properties	13
Property valuation	14
Ethics	15
Best practices	6, 7, 15
Reference materials	this chapter’s number bank

The number bank — every figure in the course

Money & fees

• DLD transfer fee 4% (default split 2% + 2%) · mortgage registration 0.25% · sale+mortgage 4.25%
• Commission: sales ~2% + 5% VAT · rentals ~5% of annual rent
• Fee evasion → fine of double the fee · unlicensed development → jail and/or ≥ AED 100,000 (Law 8/2007, Art. 16)
• Exam AED 772.50 · Knowledge Bank AED 315 · bundle AED 1,087.50

Escrow & off-plan

• One escrow account per project, in the project’s name, immune from the developer’s creditors
• 5% retention after completion certificate, released 1 year after units register to buyers
• Buyer default: 30 days’ DLD notice, then developer may deduct up to 30% of payments
• Area shortfall → developer compensates; surplus → no extra charge

Ownership

• Foreign ownership only in designated areas: freehold no time limit, usufruct/leasehold ≤ 99 years
• Register & title deed: absolute evidentiary value, challengeable only for fraud or forgery; unregistered transfer = not valid

Tenancy

• Renewal amendments: 90 days’ notice · post-expiry eviction reasons: 12 months’ notice via Notary Public / registered post
• Non-payment eviction: 30 days after notice · commercial abandonment: 30 consecutive / 90 non-consecutive days
• Personal-use repossession: no re-letting for 2 years residential / 3 years commercial
• Rent-increase slabs: 0 / 5 / 10 / 15 / 20% at ≤10 / 11–20 / 21–30 / 31–40 / >40% below the RERA Index
• Unspecified payment terms → 4 equal advance instalments · first refusal after rebuild: 30 days
• RDC mediation target 15 days; settlement = writ of execution; half the fee refunded on amicable settlement

Jointly owned property

• OA exists from first unit sale registration · charges & votes by area share
• Service-charge lien: enforceable after 3 months’ notarised notice; follows the unit
• Developer liability: 10 years structural / 1 year mechanical & electrical
• Pre-emption: 1 month to respond; 15 days notice of intent + 10 working days to complete

MCQ tactics

1. Bank the number questions first. Roughly a third of the paper is retrievable in seconds from the bank above — collect those marks before reasoning through scenarios.
2. Read for the governing law. Scenario stems telegraph their statute: “off-plan” → Laws 8/2007 + 13/2008 · “tenant” → 26/2007 as amended · “service charges” → 27/2007 · “who regulates” → 7/2013 vs 16/2007.
3. Watch the amendment traps. The 2008 tenancy amendments moved post-expiry eviction notice from 90 days to 12 months — outdated answers are offered as distractors.
4. Extremes are usually wrong. “The developer keeps all payments” (cap is 30%), “foreigners may own anywhere” (designated areas only), “the register can always be challenged” (fraud/forgery only).
5. Budget the clock. ~100 seconds per question; flag and return rather than stall. You need ~49 of 70 — a flagged hard question is worth less than three easy ones rushed.