Obtain zoning plan (Imar Durumu)
Agency: Zoning and Planning Department
BuildCo applies to the District Municipality – Planning Department for a 1:1000 scaled zoning plan which is already prepared and approved by the greater municipality. The plan shows the construction conditions of land such as the gross floor area ratio, footprint area ratio, and the function (e.g. commercial, residential, office, etc.)
The fee is provided in the fee schedule of Arnavutköy Municipality
Time and cost: 4 days, TRY 250
Obtain cadastral plan (Aplikasyon Krokisi)
Agency: Authorized offices (“LİKHAB”)
BuildCo submits an application to the Cadastral Plan Branch of the relevant municipality, along with the lot plan, and obtains the Cadastral Plan Document. The cadastral plan states the corner coordinations of the plot, the status of adjacent plots, and the surface area of the plot.
Time and cost: 3 days, TRY 478
Obtain approval of architectural drawings from the municipality
Agency: District Municipality
The company must submit the documents listed below along with the architectural drawings to the project branch of the municipality:
- The authorization document of the architect
- The plan for the application
- The cadastral plan document
- The road datum document
- The title deed registration document
- The plot share distribution table, if there is more than one independent section on the land (for instance, an apartment building)
- Built-up area breakdown table in square meters
- Ratified geological study
- Three sets of the elevator preliminary report (not applicable in the warehouse case)
The municipality must approve the project’s proposed designs. The fire safety project should also be submitted to the municipality for approval and can be included in this procedure.
If the municipality asks for changes to be made to the architectural designs during the approval process, these changes should be reflected in the engineering and landscaping projects as well. For final approval, these project plans are submitted to the municipal project branch, for static, sanitation facility, heating and heat insulation, and landscaping project plans to the Turkish Electricity Distribution Corporation (TEDAS), for the electricity project plans; and to the telephone company, for the telecommunication project plans. Fire-electricity and fire-mechanical project plans must be approved by the Fire Department.
The fee of TRY 1/sq. meters is provided in the fee schedule of Arnavutköy Municipality.
Time and cost: 30 days, TRY 1,301
Obtain proof of payment and clearance of water and sewerage infrastructure
Agency: Water and Sewerage Department (Istanbul Municipality)
BuildCo will contact the Istanbul Water Supply and Sewerage General Directorate (ISKI) to obtain permission to discharge sewage and rainwater. At the same time, BuildCo must pay all outstanding debts to ISKI arising from the existing utility subscriptions and obtain a clearance letter stating that all existing connections/subscriptions are terminated.
There is also a participation share in the cost the cost of the water and sewerage infrastructure. A clearance document is obtained, that shows that complete payment was made.
Once this clearance is obtained, then BuildCo can move forward in laying out all pipes and excavation for sewage. All this work is done directly by the plumber of BuildCo; therefore there is no need for ISKI to be involved a second time. However, ISKI will inspect the work after it has been completed.
Time and cost: 7 days, TRY 5,973
Obtain construction direction plan (Insaat Istikamet Rolevesi) and elevation of cross section (Kot Kesit Belgesi)
Agency: The planning and zoning department of district municipality
BuildCo must apply for a construction direction plan and elevation of cross section at the planning and zoning department of district municipality which is in charge to provide the construction direction plan, as well as the elevation of cross section plans. The documents obtained in the previous procedures must be submitted at this time. The technicians set all the necessary levels – road, entrance, plot, building corners, etc. To be the basis for the design process of the works that will follow, and issue a construction direction plan and elevation of cross section. The construction direction plan includes stated directions on the land, distances from neighboring plots, and the building corners. The elevation of cross section identifies stated elevations of the corners of the plot, the necessary levels and elevations of the current land and elevations of the road.
Time and cost: 5 days, TRY 1,020
Hire an independent building inspector
Agency: Private Building Inspection Agency
The company must select an independent building inspector and sign a service contract with this inspector. The inspector must check and approve all the project’s plans before they are submitted to the municipality. The list of project plans is extensive and includes the architectural design of the building done by design consultants; the reinforced concrete and insulation project plans prepared by a civil engineer; the fire safety project plans prepared jointly by an architect and the mechanical engineer for utilities; the project plans and documents for hot water, and those of central heating facilities prepared by a mechanical engineer; the electrical wiring project plans prepared by an electrical engineer; the telecommunications system project plans prepared by an electrical engineer; and the landscape project plans prepared by a landscape engineer.
Selecting an independent building consultant takes only a day. However, practitioners agree that it takes at least 3 days for the building inspector to review and approve all the documents before they are submitted to the municipality. Hence, for the case considered here, it is assumed that 4 days are needed to complete this procedure.
The building inspector charges a fee representing a percentage of the total cost of construction, according to the amendment of Article 5 of the Law on Building Inspection No. 4708 of August 17, 2011. This fee is paid in six installments.
The inspector receives the following payments at the following stages:
- 20% when the building permit is obtained
- 40% when the foundation is completed
- 20% when the shell & core structure is initiated
- 15% when the installation is initiated
- 5% when the construction is completed
Time and cost: 4 days, TRY 34,318
Register with Social Security Institute before the commencement of construction works
Agency: Social Security Institution
The company must register the staff that will be working at the construction site with the Social Security Institution. Under Turkish law, the construction site is considered as a “separate and independent workplace” where construction workers are employed to perform the permanent and temporary works forming the project/building. Consequently, this “separate workplace” must be registered with SSI and a workplace opening and operating permit must be obtained from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.
Time and cost: 1 day, no charge
Obtain building permit
Agency: District Municipality, Licensing Branch
The company requests a building permit from the licensing branch of the municipality. The approved design, engineering drawings, and other necessary documents (described in the previous procedures) must be attached to this request. The company must pay the fees before receiving the building permit and starting foundation work.
Building permits are usually issued 1 – 2 months after submission of the application. Following the building permit issuance, the municipal building control authority will randomly conduct inspections during the construction on site, in addition to private inspection.
Time and cost: 30 days, TRY 22,631
Obtain excavation (Harfiyat) permit from the Department of Environment of the Municipality
Agency: Department of Environment of the Municipality
After applying for the construction permit, BuildCo must obtain an excavation permit and inform the Department of Environment about how it will dispose of the extra soil from the area of excavation for the foundation, water, electricity etc. and get an approval from the department. The fee is listed on the web page of the municipality.
Time and cost: 1 day, TRY 2,817
Obtain proof of “no outstanding taxes” clearance certificate from the Tax Authority
Agency: Tax Department
The company must pay all taxes owed, and obtain a tax clearance document from the appropriate tax departments. This document states that all taxes owed have been paid.
Time and cost: 1 day, no charge
Request and obtain a “no outstanding social security premium” clearance upon completion of construction works
Agency: Social Security Institute
As far as construction works are concerned, once they are completed, the site (i.e., the workplace) will be closed. Upon completion date, there must not be any outstanding social security premium debt arising from the employment of the construction workers on site. Therefore, the contractor must obtain a document from the Social Security Institute evidencing that there is no outstanding social security debt.
The local Municipality also requires this certificate before issuing the occupancy permit.
Time and cost: 1 day, no charge
Receive final inspection from the Fire Department
Agency: Fire Department, Istanbul Municipality
According to the 2014 Fire Service Fees Schedule, BuildCo’s warehouse would now fall into group 5 (factory buildings, hospitals, hotels, warehouses).
Time and cost: 1 day, TRY 4,162
Submit final inspection report and receive final inspection from the municipality
Agency: District Municipality
Upon completion of construction, the private inspector must submit his final inspection report to the municipality before the municipality conducts its final inspection. The municipality will come to inspect the building after 5 days on average.
Time and cost: 5 days, no charge
Obtain occupancy permit
Agency: District Municipality
Land Development Law No. 3194 requires an occupancy permit for all new constructions. The company applies for the occupancy permit by submitting the following documents:
- The invoice for the building
- The building permit
- The built-up area breakdown table in square meters
- The original copy of the plot title deed
- The real estate tax declaration
- The real estate tax receipt
An authorized commission from the municipality inspects the building and verifies that it complies with the project. This commission then issues the occupancy permit. The law specifies a statutory time limit of 30 days for the municipality to issue an occupancy permit. Practitioners observe that this statutory time limit is not frequently observed, and so, this process can take on average 2 months.
Time and cost: 15 days, TRY 2,294
Obtain operation permit from the Municipality
Agency: District Municipality
By law (Article 2 of the Operation Permit Regulation), BuildCo must obtain an operating permit from the Municipality before using this warehouse as a storage facility.
Time and cost: 15 days, TRY 3,887
Change the title deed from a land title deed to a building title deed
Agency: Title Deed Department
The company must submit the following documents to the title deed department in order to register the building:
- The title deed
- The plot share distribution table
- The occupancy permit
- The cadastral survey pages
Registering the warehouse takes some time due to backlogs and long waiting times at the Land Registry. However, with connections at the Land Registry, the process may take as little as 3 days.
Time and cost: 10 days, TRY 395
Receive inspection from the water and sewerage department
Agency: Istanbul Water Supply and Sewerage General Directorate (ISKI)
Upon request of permission from the water and sewage department to discharge sewage and rainwater, the technicians from this department perform their inspections at the site and grant permission for connection of wastewater and rainwater to the system. The technicians from the same department also check that the canal connections comply with the approved design, upon request for a water connection. The technicians then issue a letter of approval for connection.
Time and cost: 1 day, no charge
Obtain water and sewage connection
Agency: Istanbul Water Supply and Sewerage General Directorate (ISKI)
BuildCo. obtains the connection to water and sewage services.
The fee is provided on the website: www.iski.istanbul/web/tr-TR/musteri-hizmetleri/abonelik-islemleri
Time and cost: 8 days, TRY 250
