Occupancy permit

An occupancy permit, called iskan or yapı kullanma izni in Turkey, is the document confirming that a completed building was built in line with its permit and approved drawings. It is issued by the same authority that issued the building permit. Put simply, the building permit says “you may build”; the occupancy permit says “you may use what you built”.

How it is obtained

Once construction is complete, the owner or their representative applies to the authority. The building inspection firm reports that the work matches the drawings, and the authority checks the file and, where needed, the building itself. Depending on the building type, approvals from bodies such as the fire department are added. If parts of the building depart from the drawings, or have been added or enclosed later, the permit will not be granted until those differences are removed or the drawings are properly amended.

Why it matters

The occupancy permit is the precondition for converting a construction servitude (kat irtifakı) into full condominium ownership. Permanent water, electricity and gas connections usually depend on it as well. That is why buyers are wise to ask whether a flat has one: a building without it can run into trouble with title, mortgages and insurance. For the architect, it is the moment when the gap between drawing and building is tested for the last time, and even small changes made on site tend to surface here.