Just got the keys to a Dubai villa — what do I sort with DEWA and check in the first week?

Two jobs in your first week: get DEWA into your own name, and snag the villa while the landlord is still on the hook. Do the DEWA move-in first — you can't test much without power and water — then walk the place methodically with your phone camera.

DEWA (utilities) — connect it in your name: - Log a move-in request with DEWA (their website or app) using your Ejari/tenancy contract and Emirates ID. There's a refundable security deposit — the figure differs for a villa versus an apartment, so check DEWA's current amount rather than assuming — plus a small activation charge. - Get supply activated in your name from day one. Living on the previous tenant's or the landlord's account is exactly how you end up arguing over a bill three months later.

First-week checks (while snags are still the landlord's problem): - AC: run every unit. It should cool properly and not drip or smell. A musty smell or a weak unit is a cheap fix now, not a July emergency. - Water heater: switch it on, check hot water reaches the taps, and look for any weep around the tank and valves. - Every socket + the DB: plug something into each socket, then open the distribution board — it should be labelled and every breaker or RCBO should hold. Knowing where the main isolator is matters the day something trips. - Under every sink + around the heater: look for damp, drips or a weeping gate valve. Water damage is the expensive failure — you want to catch it while it's a drip. - Pressure + drains: run taps and showers, flush the toilets, check nothing backs up or trickles.

Landlord vs you: pre-existing faults — a leaking valve, a dead circuit, AC that doesn't cool — are the landlord's, which is why you document them in week one with photos in a written snag list. The small stuff that's yours — a loose socket faceplate, hanging shelves, a stuck valve — a handyman in Dubai can clear in a single visit instead of you booking five separate trades.