What Does Geomembrane Cost per Square Foot?

Published 2026-04-08 · Technical guide · United Arab Emirates

The headline numbers

Most of the world's geosynthetics trade prices per square metre. Square foot pricing comes up mainly because buyers arrive from Google searching in imperial units. The conversion is straightforward: one square metre is about 10.76 square feet, so divide any per-square-metre rate by roughly 10.8.

Indicative UAE supply-only ranges for standard smooth black sheet in 2026:

• 0.75 mm — about AED 1.9 to 2.8 per ft² (AED 20–30 per m²)
• 1.00 mm — about AED 2.4 to 3.5 per ft² (AED 26–38 per m²)
• 1.50 mm — about AED 3.5 to 5.1 per ft² (AED 38–55 per m²)
• 2.00 mm — about AED 4.6 to 6.7 per ft² (AED 50–72 per m²)

The full table by thickness, including 0.5 mm and 3 mm, is on the price guide. Textured sheet carries a premium; white-surfaced sheet carries more.

What installation adds

Supply-only means rolls at your gate. Installed means a finished, welded, tested liner. The gap is typically AED 11 to AED 24 per square metre — roughly AED 1 to AED 2.20 per square foot — broken down approximately as:

• Deployment and welding: AED 8–16 per m²
• Seam testing (air pressure, vacuum, trial and destructive welds): AED 2–5 per m²
• QA documentation package: AED 1–3 per m²
• Mobilisation: a lump sum, not a rate

Geotextile cushion, where the subgrade needs it, adds roughly AED 6–12 per m² supplied and laid.

A worked example

Take a 60 m × 40 m reservoir, 3 m deep, with 1V:2.5H side slopes.

• Plan area: 2,400 m². But that is not what you buy.
• Each slope face is about 8.1 m long, so the four sloped faces add roughly 1,700 m².
• Anchor trench allowance at 1.2 m all round adds roughly 250 m².
• Seam overlaps and trimming waste add a few per cent.
• Developed area: approximately 4,500 m² — nearly double the plan area.

At 1.00 mm supply-only, that is roughly AED 117,000 to 171,000 of material. Installed with testing and documentation, add roughly AED 50,000 to 108,000 depending on scope and geometry.

The point of the example is not the numbers — it is the 4,500 against 2,400. Any quote priced against plan area is going to grow. Our take-off method sets out how to do this calculation yourself before you go to market.

The six variables

1. Thickness. Material cost scales close to linearly, so 1.5 mm is roughly double 0.75 mm.

2. Area. Larger orders improve both the material rate and the amortisation of fixed installation costs. The steepest gain is between a few hundred and a few thousand square metres.

3. Surface finish. Textured costs more than smooth; white-over-black more again.

4. Geometry. Corners, sumps and pipe penetrations consume welding hours that never appear in the square metre count.

5. Testing and documentation scope. Full air pressure testing plus a CQA file is real cost and real value. It is also the first thing a cheap quote removes.

6. Access and season. Remote sites and summer heat both cut productive hours per day.

Why the cheapest quote is often the dearest

When a quote comes in well below the range, one of these is usually true: the sheet is thinner than specified; the material is off-spec or partly recycled with no certificates; the area is priced against plan rather than developed area; seam testing and documentation have been excluded; or penetration details and geotextile are omitted and will return as variations.

None of that makes a supplier dishonest — it makes the quote incomparable. Ask every bidder to confirm the seven checklist items on the price guide, and the field usually rearranges itself. When you are ready for a real number, describe the structure to a supplier who quotes UAE lining work every week and ask for it in writing.