Source Freshness Review — Occupancy Permit Status
The Turkish Yapı Kullanma İzin Belgesi, commonly called the occupancy or use permit, is a separate administrative document from the building permit. Under the Planned Areas Zoning Regulation, it is an approved document showing that the building was completed in accordance with the permit and its attached projects and permitting its use. A source-freshness review asks whether the occupancy-permit evidence in the transaction file still represents the current building, parcel and administrative status on the decision date.
Verify the exact document and its scope
Record the issuing administration, document number and date, parcel identifiers, building/block information and the scope covered by the permit. Do not assume a document for one block, one building on a multi-building parcel, or an earlier project phase automatically covers every unit marketed under the same project name. The current competent administrative record should be used to confirm the document and its scope. An old scan is useful history, but it does not independently prove that no later alteration, partial permit, cancellation, correction or new application changed the position.
The regulation expressly distinguishes the occupancy permit from the building permit: the building permit authorizes construction, while the occupancy permit concerns completion in conformity with the permit-attached projects and authorization of use. Electricity, water, gas, address registration, tax payment or physical occupation are not substitutes for the administrative document. A building can be occupied in practice without that fact proving the permit status the buyer needs.
Check for partial or building-specific coverage
On a parcel containing more than one building, the regulatory framework can allow occupancy permission for buildings without project non-compliance even when another building on the parcel has a problem. This means the reviewer must identify the exact building and not merely the parcel. If the project has multiple blocks, phases or independent buildings, confirm whether the document covers the buyer’s building or only another part of the development.
Freshness triggers
Revalidate the source after any post-permit alteration, change of use, major project amendment, new building-permit amendment, subdivision/merger affecting identity, municipal enforcement matter, or later application for a revised/partial occupancy permit. Also refresh the check if the seller, management, bank, valuation report or contract uses different dates or claims about iskan status. A document can remain historically authentic while no longer being the complete current answer.
Preserve the administrative timeline
The file should show: the building permit and relevant amendments; completion/inspection evidence leading to the occupancy permit; the issued occupancy permit or current application status; and any later event capable of changing use or project conformity. If the permit is pending rather than issued, do not convert the application into an issued-status statement. Record the application date, competent authority, missing conditions if officially known, and the next required step.
Do not overstate what the occupancy permit proves
An occupancy permit is important evidence of administrative completion and permitted use, but due diligence may still require separate review of later unauthorized alterations, condominium registration, structural condition, fire-safety records, energy documents, utilities and management issues. If a unit was materially altered after the occupancy permit, the historic permit does not automatically validate that later work. Source freshness therefore includes checking whether the physical/legal configuration relevant to the buyer is still the one represented by the issued document.
Current form and regulatory context
Official Ministry materials define the document and its process, and the Planned Areas Zoning Regulation has been amended repeatedly. Ministry updates have also revised information carried in building-permit and occupancy-permit forms, including newer technical-system fields. This is another reason not to rely on a copied template or an undated translated summary when the exact current document matters. The competent administration’s current record for the property is the controlling transaction evidence.
Transaction consequences of stale status
A stale or incorrectly scoped occupancy-permit claim can affect finance, valuation, delivery conditions, utility/management arrangements, resale expectations and the buyer’s assessment of whether the building was completed under the approved project. For a newly completed development, the difference between “application submitted,” “permit issued for another block” and “permit issued for this building” is material. For an older building, the focus is whether the historical permit still matches the relevant building after later alterations.
Closing standard
Close the freshness review only when the file identifies the exact building/unit relationship, issuing authority, document number/date, parcel, scope, retrieval/confirmation date and any later event reviewed. The conclusion should state “occupancy permit for building/block X confirmed as current evidence on [date]” or clearly say that it is pending, partial or unresolved. Do not publish a generic “iskan exists” conclusion without proving what it covers.
Official sources
- Planned Areas Zoning Regulation — definition and procedures for Yapı Kullanma İzin Belgesi.
- Ministry — official Building Permit / Occupancy Permit process material.
- Competent municipality/administration for property-specific occupancy-permit records and applications.
- e-Devlet municipal services where the relevant authority exposes the service officially.