What is an Iskan? Why is the Iskan Necessary?

People who want to become the owner of a house or apartment in Turkey should pay attention to a few details before purchasing it. The apartment must have a document which gives a right to use a building, that is, an iskan issued by the municipality. In addition, obtaining an iskan is also necessary if a person wants to build a house on his own property after the completion of construction for legal processes.

So, what is iskan? Why is it so necessary for someone who wants to become the owner of the House?

What is an Iskan?

Iskan, also known as a technical passport or habitation certificate, is a permit for the use of a building issued by the municipal authorities and indicating that the construction has been completed in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

The building must be completed in accordance with the project in order to receive the habitation certificate without any problems.

Buildings that are not completed or differ from the design drawing are not allowed to move in. In addition, if the building does not comply with the construction project, an administrative fine may be imposed on the owner of the building or a decision may be made to demolish the building. In order to obtain a habitation certificate without problems, a building permit must be obtained immediately before construction of the building begins.

The main point here is that the construction of the building must begin within two years from the date of receipt of the building permit, and after five years the building must be completely finished.

Otherwise, problems may arise in obtaining Iskan for buildings whose construction takes more than five years. To avoid these problems, a building permit must be obtained before construction begins, and construction must be completed within the specified time.

How to get an Iskan?

To get an iskan, it is necessary to complete the construction of the building and complete the necessary legal procedures.

To obtain  Iskan, a construction company submits an application to the mayor’s office for issuing the habitation certificate

experts check the development and draw up an appropriate act with seals and signatures.

Within 30 days, construction and technical teams leave to inspect the building, the construction of which is completed. The team checks whether the design details have been followed, and check the status of the building permit. If during the inspection the commission found any shortcomings, or taxes and fees are not paid the developer does not receive iskan.

What documents are required to apply for Iskan?

Immediately after the completion of the construction of the building, it is required to carefully study the full list of documents and submit an application in order to receive an iskan.

The documents required to apply for iskan are as follows:

• Petition about the request for the İskan
• Cadastral information about the building
• “No Debt” document obtained from the tax office
• External channel certificate (İZSU)
• Telecom visa
• Project authors report
• The report received from the Building Inspection Agency
• Facade photos of the building (13 x 18 cm)
• “No Debt” document received from SGK

The necessary documents need  to   prepared by the owner of the building or the official responsible for the construction. The Iskan application is submitted to the municipality’s office, building permit department.

If there is an elevator in a completed building, several additional documents may be requested, in contrast to those listed above.

Additional documents are as follows:

• 4 Inspection Reports
• TSE documents to be obtained from the elevator company
• Inspection receipt
• Shelter report
• Fire installation report.
• Warranty certificate
• SMM documents of engineers
• Application projects

What is Iskan for? What problems can arise in the absence of Iskan?

People who want to own a house or apartment should pay attention to whether the house they will buy has an iskan, which confirms that all construction standards have been met, the house has been accepted by the state commission. If a building does not have an Iskan, it legally means that the building has not yet been completed and  there may be some disruptions in the legal procedures.

For this reason, it will be useful to know the problems that may arise in the future if you buy an apartment for which a building permit certificate will not be issued and  act accordingly.

What happens if you buy a property without Iskan? 

• It is possible to issue a mortgage loan in a Turkish bank only if Iskan is available.
• The property owner can re-register electricity and water meters for himself only if Iskan is available . The cost of these services without Iskan can be twice the usual costs.
• Acts with a construction easement cannot be converted into a multi-storey property without a certificate of ıskan
• There can be severe fines and also demolition or revision of building elements that are not completed in accordance with the approved construction Project
• Technically, municipalities have the right to impose fines or even demolish buildings that Iskan does not have within 5 years from the date of obtaining a building permit. 

What is «kat  İrtifakı» and  «Kat Mülkiyeti» ? 

Kat irtifakı is the «tapu» given to the people for the apartment  they bought on the project during the construction phase of the building.

Kat mülkiyeti  is the «tapu»  given to the people for the apartment  they bought showing that the apartment  in the completed building belongs to the person.

The transition from kat irtifakı to kat mülkiyeti  is made by the Land Registry and Cadastre Directorate based on iskan.

The most rational way to buy an apartment without any problems, without facing these serious risks is  to get everything legally correct and  It will be useful for you to check if the house you want to buy has  the technical passport – Iskan.