You move into a new villa in Dubai Hills. The KNX system was specced and installed by an integrator your developer recommended. Eighteen months in, you want to add two scenes, change a few group addresses, and split a lighting circuit. You call the integrator. They've moved on, restructured, or simply stopped answering. You call someone else. They ask for the ETS project file. You don't have it. Nobody handed it over. The new integrator quotes you a re-commissioning job, survey every device on the bus, rebuild the topology from scratch, and re-document the entire system, because that's the only way to safely touch it.
This is the most common KNX horror story in Dubai. It is almost always preventable. The technology is not the problem, KNX devices run for decades, the standard is open, and ETS is the same software whether your integrator is in Jumeirah or Frankfurt. The problem is the integrator, and specifically what the integrator does, or doesn't do, at handover.
Understand what's at stake. A properly installed KNX system is a multi-decade asset. Devices on the bus routinely outlast the period most people own the house. When the property changes hands, a documented system transfers cleanly to the next owner, they can hire any KNX integrator in the world to take it over. That's a real contributor to resale value.
Compare this to a villa kitted out with consumer wireless gadgets. Those products tend to be end-of-life within a handful of years, the ecosystems they depend on are at the mercy of a single vendor's roadmap, and they typically add nothing to the resale story. The asset you're protecting with these five checks is durable and transferable. The only thing that destroys it is bad handover.
Below are five checks to run before you sign anything. They're ordered by stakes. The first two are the catastrophic ones. The last three are the ones that separate a competent integrator from a careless one.
Check 1: The exit plan
Ask, plainly: "When the project is finished, what do I receive?"
The answer should include, without prompting, the complete ETS project file, a device schedule with physical labels matching the panel, the network and topology diagram, all KNX Secure credentials and passwords, and any logic, scenes, or scripts in editable form.
If they hesitate, qualify, or say "we'll discuss that closer to handover", walk away. A serious integrator has a handover pack as a deliverable on day one, not a question to be negotiated at the end. The exit plan is the single most important thing you will check, because everything else fails gracefully if you have it. Without it, you are hostage to one company.
Check 2: ETS handover from a real project
Ask to see an ETS screenshot from a completed project, personal data redacted is fine. You're not auditing a stranger's villa. You're looking at three things: how the group addresses are structured, whether the topology is logical, and whether device labels would mean anything to a different engineer six months from now.
Group addresses should follow a clear convention, by floor, by room, by function, not a flat list of arbitrary numbers. Topology should reflect the building. Labels should read like English, not "Dev_03_GA_Out_5."
If the integrator can't produce this, the question is not whether they did the work. It's whether they documented it in a way that survives them. Undocumented ETS files are technically valid and practically worthless. The next integrator will have to rebuild the logic from scratch, and you'll pay for it.
Check 3: KNX Partner number, for the engineer, not the company
Ask for the KNX Partner number of the specific person who will run ETS on your project. Not the company's certification. The individual's.
Verify it on knx.org using the partner finder. You'll see the engineer's name, their training centre, and the year they certified. This takes about two minutes.
A confident answer sounds like: "Our lead engineer is partner number X, certified at training centre Y in 2018, and we're scheduling Tutor-level training next year." A weak answer redirects to "the company is KNX-certified", which, on its own, doesn't tell you who is actually programming your house. Companies don't operate ETS. People do.
For a villa project, Partner-level certification is sufficient. Tutor status is a credibility marker but not a requirement.
Check 4: Two live references in Dubai
Ask for two phone numbers of previous villa clients. Not website testimonials, not curated case studies, phone numbers. Call them.
Useful questions: Would you hire them again? How was commissioning, did things work first time, or did you spend three weekends on snagging? Did you receive a handover pack, and do you understand what's in it? When something needed attention after handover, how quickly did they respond?
A reliable integrator can produce two references without fuss. If yours can't, that's the answer. Move on.
Check 5: Warranty and post-warranty service
Two questions. First, when a device fails under warranty, who handles the claim? A KNX-certified Partner processes claims through the manufacturer directly. An uncertified installer hands the box back to you and tells you to email the supplier in Germany.
Second, what does post-warranty service look like? You want clear hourly or call-out rates, optional service contracts, and a named contact who actually picks up the phone. Vague answers about "we'll sort it out when something breaks" are a forecast, not a service model.
KNX systems run for twenty years. You will need somebody on the other end of the phone for that entire period. Make sure the integrator has thought about it before you have to.
How Haus Logic answers these
Fair to ask. Briefly:
We are KNX Partners since 2014, and the engineer running ETS on your project is named on the proposal, with their partner number, ready to verify on knx.org. We hand over the complete ETS project file, a labelled device schedule, the network diagram, and all KNX Secure credentials. Two reference clients in Dubai are available on request, both of them will pick up the phone. Warranty claims are processed by us through the manufacturer; you don't deal with the supplier. Post-warranty, we publish service rates and offer optional annual contracts. Details are on our annual maintenance contracts page.
We don't claim to be the only integrator in Dubai who does this. We do claim that asking these five questions to anyone you're considering is the cheapest insurance you'll buy on the project.
Frequently asked questions
How long does the verification take?
About two minutes for the partner number. Fifteen minutes per reference call. The ETS screenshot review takes longer if you want to read it carefully, fifteen to thirty minutes with someone technical, or send it to a second integrator for a sanity check.
What if the integrator refuses to provide references?
Move on. Competent integrators have happy clients who will take a five-minute phone call.
Is a KNX Partner number enough, or do I need a Tutor?
Partner is sufficient for a villa. Tutor is a higher tier and a useful signal of depth, but it's not a requirement for residential work.
Are there fake KNX Partner numbers?
Occasionally. The directory at knx.org is the source of truth, if the number doesn't resolve to a real person at a real training centre, it's not real.
Who pays for the ETS software licence?
The integrator. ETS is their tool. If you're being asked to fund their licence, you're being charged for something that should be embedded in their cost of doing business.
What happens to the system if I sell the villa?
If your integrator handed over properly, ETS file, documentation, credentials, the system transfers with the property. The new owner can hire any KNX integrator to take it over without re-commissioning. A well-documented KNX installation is part of what the buyer is paying for, and worth highlighting in the listing. If your integrator didn't hand over properly, the system is effectively a liability at sale: the buyer's first call is to a re-commissioning quote, and that becomes a price negotiation they win.
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If you'd like a second opinion on a shortlist of integrators, send us the proposals and we'll walk through them with you. No obligation, no sales pitch, projects@hauslogic.io.
