Paint spray booths are local exhaust ventilation plant with a defined engineering purpose: air must move through the enclosure in a controlled direction, overspray and vapour must be carried towards the exhaust, contaminated air must not escape into adjoining work areas, and the booth must continue operating safely throughout spraying and the subsequent purge. Abu Dhabi and Dubai both publish numerical ventilation criteria for paint spray booths, but the figures use different units, conditions and classifications. They are therefore territorial requirements rather than interchangeable UAE-wide values. Related material belongs on the respirable crystalline silica site, the industrial hygiene site, including its page on ventilation and LEV assessment, the VOC and indoor chemicals site covering adhesives, sealants and solvents, and the construction dust site.
In the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the relevant source is Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre Code of Practice CoP 52.0 Local Exhaust Ventilation, Version 4.1, dated 27 February 2026. It is issued by the Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre under ADOSH-SF and is mandatory for employers in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Section 3.3 deals specifically with paint booths and spray-finishing booths and combines airflow criteria with operating controls, pressure indication, worker positioning and post-spraying purging.
In Dubai, the relevant document is Dubai Municipality DM-HSD-GU42-PSB2 Technical Guidelines for Paint Spray Booths V4.0, issued on 09 May 2024. These are Dubai Municipality technical guidelines rather than federal law. Section 1 records that "Dubai Local Order No. 61 of 1991 requires employers to take adequate precautions to ensure safe working conditions", while Section 2 applies the guidelines to "all establishments and undertakings involving paint spray booth activities in the Emirate of Dubai".
The Abu Dhabi and Dubai documents must be read separately. Abu Dhabi sets booth velocities in metres per second and changes the required value according to external draft conditions or whether electrostatic spraying occurs without an operator. Dubai expresses airflow criteria in linear metres per minute over the booth's open face and differentiates between dry-filter and water-curtain booths. Neither authority states that its figures are intended to be converted into or combined with the other authority's criteria.
ADPHC CoP 52.0 Section 3.3 requires the booth air supply to be continuous, uniform and evenly distributed, with "no pockets of still air in the booth". This is a distribution requirement rather than a single numerical test value. A point reading at one favourable position would not by itself demonstrate that air is evenly distributed throughout the booth or that stagnant regions are absent.
The supply air must be drawn from an uncontaminated area. Internal negative pressure must also be maintained while the booth is operating. Together, these provisions establish the intended direction of movement: clean replacement air enters, passes through the working zone and is removed through the booth exhaust without allowing contaminated booth air to migrate into adjacent areas.
Worker position is expressly controlled. Section 3.3 states that "Employees (e.g. spray painters) shall not be positioned between the spray gun and the ventilation exhaust duct". The arrangement of the workpiece, spray gun, operator and exhaust therefore forms part of the engineering design. A booth cannot be assessed solely from fan capacity while disregarding whether the normal spraying position places the employee directly in the path between the contaminant source and the exhaust.
The booth must also be equipped with a negative-pressure gauge and "a gauge or alarm to indicate if airflow drops below the minimum set air flow rate to capture contaminants". The Code does not state a universal numerical alarm setting. The set point therefore has to relate to the minimum airflow established for the particular booth and operating arrangement rather than an invented general value.
For downdraft and cross-draft booths where drafts from outside the booth are equal to or less than 0.2 metres per second, Section 3.3(g)(i) specifies a minimum air velocity of 0.5 metres per second. The external-draft condition is part of the criterion and must remain attached to the value. The Code gives no time-averaging period, instrument, measurement grid or traverse method for that velocity.
For downdraft and cross-draft booths where drafts from outside the booth are more than 0.2 metres per second, Section 3.3(g)(ii) specifies a minimum air velocity of 0.8 metres per second. The higher booth value is expressly conditional on the stated external draft being more than 0.2 metres per second. The Code does not state an averaging period, instrument, measurement grid or traverse method for either the external draft or the booth velocity.
For electrostatic spray painting and spray finishing without an operator, Section 3.3(g)(iii) specifies a minimum air velocity of 0.4 metres per second. The stated condition is that the process is electrostatic spray painting or spray finishing without an operator. The Code provides no averaging period, instrument or measurement location for this value.
Ventilation must remain on for five minutes after spraying operations have been completed to purge the chamber. Five minutes is a purge time, not a measured airflow quantity, and therefore carries no averaging period or sampling basis. Section 3.3(h) then states: "Refer to ADOSH-SF - 48.0 - Spray Finishing for further requirements."
Dubai Municipality Section 4-2-4 addresses dry-type booths fitted with dry filters or filter rolls. It states: "The air velocity of not less than 30 to 75 linear m/min over the open face of the booth shall be maintained to collect the overspray in spraying operations". The condition stated by the guideline is measurement over the open face of the booth during spraying operations, and the modal verb is "shall". No averaging time, instrument, number of measurement points or method for selecting a value within the printed range is stated.
Section 4-2-5 addresses water-curtain booths. It states: "The average draft velocity over the open face of the booth shall be not less than 30 m/min". The value is expressly an average over the open face of the booth, and the modal verb is "shall". The guideline does not state a time-averaging period, instrument or traverse arrangement for calculating that open-face average.
The same water-curtain section states: "Water circulation rate shall be not less than 150 liters/1000 m3 of exhaust air". The stated basis is litres of circulating water per 1,000 cubic metres of exhaust air. No averaging period, measurement instrument or assessment duration is provided.
Dubai Municipality Section 4-1-2 states: "Airflow into the booth must be adequate to maintain capture velocity and overcome opposing air currents". This is the located use of the term capture velocity in the Dubai guideline, but no numerical capture-velocity value is attached to it. A figure from Abu Dhabi, another territory or an external source must not be inserted as though it completed the Dubai provision.
For dry filters or filter rolls, Section 4-2-4 states: "A dial gauge or manometer should be fitted to indicate static pressure drop across the filters". The modal verb is "should", not "shall". The guideline does not publish a numerical pressure-drop limit, alarm point or filter-change threshold, so those values must come from the booth and filter design rather than being invented from the guideline.
For the exhaust stack, Section 4-2-6 states: "The exhaust gas velocity should not be less than 8m/sec". The modal verb is "should". The guideline states no measurement point or other measurement condition for this exhaust-gas velocity, and it gives no averaging period or instrument. The same section describes a vertical stack "having a minimum height of 1.5 meters or higher in sensitive locations above the maximum roof level of the process building, as per standard". The 1.5-metre figure is a physical height, not a measured airflow quantity.
Section 4-2-7 states: "Each spray booth shall be separated from other operations by not less than 3 meters". Three metres is a separation distance rather than a ventilation test value. Section 4-2-9 further states: "All spraying areas shall be provided with mechanical ventilation adequate to remove flammable vapor, mist, or powders" and "Mechanical ventilation shall always be kept in operation while spray operations are being conducted and for a sufficient time thereafter". Unlike the Abu Dhabi Code, the Dubai guideline does not define the sufficient post-operation period numerically.
Each spray booth must have an independent exhaust duct discharging outside the building, except that booths using identical spray material may share an exhaust. For powder coating, Section 4-4 states: "The exhaust ventilation shall be enough to maintain the atmosphere below the lower explosive limit for the materials being applied". No numerical lower-explosive-limit fraction, test interval, averaging period or monitoring method is stated in the quoted provision.
The Abu Dhabi values are 0.5 metres per second where external drafts are equal to or less than 0.2 metres per second, 0.8 metres per second where external drafts exceed 0.2 metres per second, and 0.4 metres per second for electrostatic spray painting and spray finishing without an operator. Each figure belongs to its stated condition under ADPHC CoP 52.0 and applies to employers in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
The Dubai values are expressed differently. Dry-filter booths use a printed range of 30 to 75 linear metres per minute over the open face, while water-curtain booths use an average draft velocity of not less than 30 metres per minute over the open face. Dubai also states that exhaust-gas velocity "should not be less than 8m/sec", but provides no measurement point or condition for that stack figure.
Unit conversion may assist engineering comparison, but it cannot turn different clauses into one common UAE rule. The authorities classify booths differently, attach different conditions and use different modal verbs. A specification, commissioning test or maintenance assessment must therefore identify the applicable territory and source before selecting any criterion.
ADPHC Codes of Practice are mandatory for employers in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Dubai Municipality DM-HSD-GU42-PSB2 is a Dubai Municipality technical guideline applying to paint spray booth activities in the Emirate of Dubai.
ADPHC CoP 52.0 Section 3.3 and 3.3(g)(i) to (iii); Dubai Municipality DM-HSD-GU42-PSB2 V4.0, issued 09 May 2024, Sections 4-1-2 and 4-2-4 to 4-2-7.
Answer: ADPHC Code of Practice CoP 52.0 Local Exhaust Ventilation, Version 4.1, dated 27 February 2026, is issued by the Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre under ADOSH-SF and is mandatory for employers in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. It specifies 0.5 metres per second for downdraft and cross-draft booths where external drafts are equal to or less than 0.2 metres per second, 0.8 metres per second where external drafts are more than 0.2 metres per second, and 0.4 metres per second for electrostatic spray painting and spray finishing without an operator. The Code states no averaging period, instrument, measurement grid or traverse method for those values.
Answer: Dubai Municipality DM-HSD-GU42-PSB2 Technical Guidelines for Paint Spray Booths V4.0, issued on 09 May 2024, are Dubai Municipality technical guidelines applying to paint spray booth activities in the Emirate of Dubai and are not federal law. For dry-filter booths, the guideline states that an air velocity of 30 to 75 linear metres per minute over the open face "shall" be maintained during spraying operations. For water-curtain booths, the guideline states that the average draft velocity over the open face "shall" be not less than 30 metres per minute, but it gives no time-averaging period, instrument or traverse method.
Answer: The Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre criteria under ADOSH-SF are mandatory for employers in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, while DM-HSD-GU42-PSB2 consists of Dubai Municipality technical guidelines for paint spray booth activities in the Emirate of Dubai. Abu Dhabi expresses booth velocity in metres per second and changes the value according to external drafts or operator absence, whereas Dubai expresses booth-face criteria in linear metres per minute and differentiates between dry-filter and water-curtain booths. The two sets of figures cannot be merged or converted into a single UAE requirement because their territorial scope, conditions, classifications and wording differ.
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