Property Emergency Contact Plan A property emergency plan should list property-specific contacts: building manager/security, insurer/DASK policy channels, utility fault channels, keyholder and trusted local contact, with authority and availability clearly stated. Keep critical property data with the plan—address, independent-unit number, meter/utility identifiers, main shut-off locations, alarm/fire equipment location and where essential documents/keys are kept.
Update after tenant, manager, insurer, phone or access changes and test the chain periodically. An emergency list that reaches an old manager or unavailable overseas owner can delay damage control.
Real-world access and physical inspection
Turn the review topic into provable facts: identity, date, amount, registry status, document or technical condition. In Istanbul, access should be measured through the actual route and service pattern: Metro İstanbul distinguishes operating networks from lines under construction, and İETT provides route and stop information, so a future metro project should not be priced as if it already operates. Inside the property, examine sunlight orientation, ventilation, noise, moisture, cracks, floors, doors and windows, water, electricity and service areas, then relate observations to building age, maintenance and alterations. Around the site, test slope, pedestrian safety, access in rain or darkness, parking and real walking time. For each fact use a source capable of proving it and link the result to its effect on purchase, ownership or cost. Read this evidence together with the “Permit, occupancy and fire safety” review before relying on the conclusion.
The review becomes useful when the finding is tied to a defined effect on rights, price, cost or executability and backed by evidence that can be rechecked later. Geographic closeness is not the same as usable accessibility, and an attractive finish does not cancel a structural or legal defect that requires specialist review. A physical viewing is not limited to interior finishes. For each fact use a source capable of proving it and link the result to its effect on purchase, ownership or cost.
Permit, occupancy and fire safety
Turn the review topic into provable facts: identity, date, amount, registry status, document or technical condition. Review escape routes, alarm and suppression systems, test and maintenance logs, open deficiencies and the evidence that each deficiency was closed. Building compliance cannot be reduced to construction age. Check the building permit, occupancy/use permit where applicable, approved project, later alterations, actual use and maintenance history.
Ministry of Environment guidance makes clear that the competent municipality or administration handles permitting and occupancy according to location, and project/legal compliance is separate from finish quality. On 22 May 2026 a new periodic fire-safety control system was announced, with controls by the local fire service or authorised fire-safety experts when applicable and duties on owners and managers to arrange them. An old fire certificate is therefore insufficient after a change of use, systems replacement or major renovation. The review becomes useful when the finding is tied to a defined effect on rights, price, cost or executability and backed by evidence that can be rechecked later. For each fact use a source capable of proving it and link the result to its effect on purchase, ownership or cost.
Insurance is separate from structural safety
It describes site hazard, not the structural performance of a particular building. Property review must therefore separate insurance status from engineering assessment of the building, materials, alterations and local ground conditions. For each fact use a source capable of proving it and link the result to its effect on purchase, ownership or cost. A DASK policy proves compulsory earthquake-insurance cover within its scope; it does not prove structural safety and its insured amount is not the property’s market value.
The review becomes useful when the finding is tied to a defined effect on rights, price, cost or executability and backed by evidence that can be rechecked later. DASK states that the policy term is one year and must be renewed annually, and that coverage responsibility ends at the policy expiry date if renewal does not occur. Match the insured/right holder, address and address code, construction type, construction year, area and policy dates through a current policy query. AFAD’s updated Türkiye Earthquake Hazard Map entered into force on 1 January 2019 and uses point-based hazard values rather than the old numbered “earthquake zone” concept. Turn the review topic into provable facts: identity, date, amount, registry status, document or technical condition.