10 Questions to Ask Any Labour Camp Operator Before You Sign

Build Well · 17 August 2026

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Staff accommodation is a decision most HR and procurement teams make rarely and then live with every day for a year or more. Most of the problems that surface in month three were visible in the first meeting, if anyone had asked the right question. Below are ten questions worth putting to any operator before you sign, grouped by when to ask them.

What should you ask before you visit?

These three can be answered over email or in a first call, and they will tell you whether a site visit is worth the drive.

1. Is the accommodation approved, and can you see the paperwork? Ask directly whether the camp holds MOHRE approval and whether it meets the relevant municipal accommodation standards for the emirate it sits in. A serious operator will offer the documentation without being pushed. Bear in mind that regulations are updated from time to time, so check that what you are shown is current rather than historic.

2. What exactly is included in the quoted rate, and what is not? This is the single question that causes the most friction later. Utilities — water and electricity — air conditioning, sewerage, housekeeping and security should all be named explicitly as included or excluded. Ask for the exclusion list in writing. A quote that looks competitive against another quote is only meaningful once both have been reduced to the same list of inclusions.

3. What is the contract term, the notice period, and what happens if your headcount changes? Projects finish early and mobilisations slip. Ask how the agreement handles an increase or reduction mid-term, whether there is a minimum commitment, and what notice each side must give. Get the answer into the contract rather than the conversation.

What should you check on the site visit?

Visit before you sign, and if you can, visit in the evening when the camp is occupied rather than at ten in the morning when it is empty and quiet.

4. How are rooms allocated? Ask whether allocation accounts for shift patterns. Putting day-shift and night-shift workers into the same room guarantees that neither group sleeps properly, and the cost of that lands on your site, not on the operator. Ask also how requests to move a worker are handled.

5. What is the washroom-to-resident ratio, and who cleans them? Washrooms are the fastest indicator of how a camp is actually run. Ask for the ratio, ask how often cleaning happens, and then look at the washrooms yourself. Ask the same about the frequency of general housekeeping in common areas.

6. How is separation between gents and ladies handled? There is a meaningful difference between separate floors or wings within one building and genuinely separate buildings with their own entrances and their own security. If you employ women, or expect to, this question is worth asking early rather than at mobilisation.

7. What are the kitchen and dining arrangements? Ask whether kitchens are equipped and whether gas is provided, and whether there is a proper dining area. Where there is no adequate kitchen, people cook in bedrooms — which is a fire risk, a hygiene problem and, in most inspection regimes, a finding against the camp.

What should you ask about day-to-day operations?

The first three questions cover compliance and the next four cover the building. These last three cover the thing you will actually be judged on internally: whether the arrangement runs quietly.

8. What are the laundry and drying arrangements? Ask whether washing machines are provided and how they are paid for, and whether there are dedicated drying areas. Clothes dried in bedrooms raise humidity, which affects sleep and creates damp problems in the building over time.

9. What does security actually cover? "Secure site" means very little on its own. Ask whether security is staffed twenty-four hours, whether CCTV covers common areas and entrances, how visitors are handled, and how access is controlled at night. Ask who holds the footage and how a request for it is made.

10. How are maintenance faults reported, and what is the response time? Ask for the reporting route — whether a worker can raise a fault directly or whether it has to come through your team — the target response time for something like a failed air conditioning unit, and the escalation path when that time is missed. Ask separately how waste is removed and how often, and ask for one named contact who is accountable for your account.

Which answers should make you pause?

Certain responses are worth treating as information in themselves. An operator who cannot produce approval documentation on request, or who offers to send it later and does not. A rate quoted without a written schedule of what is excluded. Reluctance to let you visit unannounced, or a strong preference for a particular time of day. Vagueness about the washroom ratio. No named contact, or a different name each time you call. And an unusually low price with no explanation of what has been left out of it — something has been, and you will find out which in due course.

It is also fair to ask what the operator does badly. Anyone running accommodation at scale has had a bad month, and one who describes it honestly, with what changed afterwards, is a safer bet than one claiming there has never been a problem.

The Build Well position

Build Well operates MOHRE-approved workforce accommodation in Jebel Ali and Dubai Investments Park 2, with separate buildings for gents and ladies, standard and supervisor rooms, and an all-inclusive rate covering DEWA, air conditioning, sewerage, housekeeping and twenty-four-hour security with CCTV. Buildings include dining areas, equipped kitchens with gas, dedicated drying areas, coin-operated washing machines and skip-based waste removal. The camps are managed by Build Well Facilities Management LLC, and we would rather answer all ten of these questions before you sign than after.

FAQ

What should I ask a labour camp operator before signing a contract?

Start with approval status and a written list of what the rate includes and excludes, then contract term and how headcount changes are handled. On the site visit, cover room allocation by shift, washroom ratios and cleaning frequency, gents and ladies separation, and kitchen and dining arrangements. Finish with laundry, security cover and the maintenance response and escalation route.

How do I compare two labour accommodation quotes fairly?

Reduce both quotes to the same list of inclusions before comparing anything. Utilities, air conditioning, sewerage, housekeeping, security, waste removal and laundry provision should each be marked included or excluded on both. A quote that is cheaper on paper is frequently a quote with a shorter inclusion list.

Can I inspect a labour camp before signing?

Yes, and you should. Ask to visit while the camp is occupied rather than mid-morning, and look at washrooms, kitchens, drying areas and common-area lighting yourself. An operator who is reluctant to arrange a visit at a time that suits you is telling you something useful.