What a missing iskan takes away from your purchase
Buy a flat in a building that has no yapı kullanma izni, and the practical losses start before the keys are cut. Under Article 31 of the Zoning Law No. 3194, electricity, water and sewerage cannot be connected to the building until the permit is issued. A flat whose own part of the building already holds an iskan is the exception: it keeps using these services. The bigger problem sits in the title. Under Article 3 of the Condominium Law No. 634, kat irtifakı converts to kat mülkiyeti only on the basis of an iskan covering the whole building. No whole-building iskan, no conversion — and the flat remains on a construction-phase title.
Then there is the bank. According to Akbank's mortgage page (checked in November 2026), a housing loan is available on a flat with kat mülkiyeti or kat irtifakı only if construction is finished and the iskan has been obtained; bank-accredited projects are the exception. Industry reviews add that some banks refuse a loan altogether without an iskan, or lend only on partner projects still under construction. A buyer facing this is caught twice: the flat cannot be connected to utilities, and mortgage money is unlikely to arrive until the building's paperwork is complete. The iskan therefore decides not only utilities but financing.
Check that the construction permit has not lapsed
The construction permit has a clock of its own. Under Article 29 of the Zoning Law No. 3194, construction must start within two years of the permit date and, once started, must be finished within five years. Miss either deadline and the permit loses force; a new one is required. An old permit that was never acted on within two years, or a project that was started but not finished within five years, leaves the building without a valid construction permit, and a new permit is required.
So before you look at the iskan, look at the dates on the construction permit and the site records: when the permit was issued, when work actually began, and when it was completed. A building finished after the window may be standing, but its paperwork is not in order, and the iskan process has to start from a new permit. The dates are a buyer's first filter: if the seller cannot show that the work stayed inside the two-year and five-year limits, the missing iskan is not a small formality.
Who applies, and what the municipality checks
The application is made by the owner (mal sahibi), whoever holds title at the time. Under Article 30 of the Zoning Law No. 3194, the owner applies to the authority that issued the construction permit — the municipality or the governorship. That authority checks two things: that the building matches the construction permit and its attachments, and that it is technically safe to use. A seller who has not applied cannot blame the municipality alone; the right to apply is the owner's to use.
The same article sets a deadline that works for the applicant: the municipality or governorship must decide the application within 30 days. If it stays silent, once the period ends the building or its finished part is treated as permitted by law. For a buyer, the practical point is to ask who has applied and what the authority has answered — a silent 30 days is not the same as a refusal. Whether that deemed permission is enough for utilities or other steps is a question to check with a lawyer.
When the contractor's tax or insurance debts block the permit
A finished building can still be refused an iskan because of the contractor's tax and insurance premium debts. This is one of the less visible ways a purchase stalls: the structure is complete, but the permit is held up by someone else's unpaid obligations. Under Article 28 of the Zoning Law No. 3194, when construction is finished and the permit cannot be issued for that reason, an owner who is not the contractor may apply.
The authority then establishes the circumstances and issues the permit. In practice, this means the obstacle is not always the building; it may be the contractor's debts, and the law gives the owner a route that does not depend on the contractor settling first. For a buyer, the relevant question is whether the seller is the contractor and whether such debts exist on the project. If the seller is an owner who bought from the contractor, that route may already be open.
If the contractor will not deliver the iskan
Two legal commentaries published in September and October 2026 note that, unless the purchase contract says otherwise, obtaining the iskan is part of the contractor's duty to deliver the finished property. This is the commentators' reading, not a sentence written in the statute: the contract can provide otherwise, so read it.
The same legal commentaries, current as of October 2026, note that the right to apply for the permit belongs to the owner (mal sahibi), and that after the flat is transferred this task passes to the buyer. So even when the contractor promised to get the document, under these commentaries the application becomes yours to file once the flat is transferred.
By the same commentaries, as of October 2026, if the contractor simply does not get it, the route is: first a notarial notice setting a deadline, then a lawsuit for a penalty and for performance. That is a claim against the contractor, not a shortcut to the permit; the permit application itself remains yours.
What stays your responsibility after the iskan is issued
Article 30 of the Zoning Law No. 3194 states that a granted use permit does not release the building owner from liability for breaches of the law, the construction permit or its attachments. It also does not release the owner from the obligation to pay taxes, fees and duties. The iskan confirms the building's technical compliance at that moment; it does not clear the owner's legal or fiscal history.
A separate safeguard sits in Law No. 4708 on construction supervision. If irreparable damage appears in the load-bearing system within 15 years after the iskan because of the construction supervision body, that body's licence is revoked. The provision targets the supervising organisation, not the buyer: it does not state a remedy for the owner or purchaser.