This is the English version of a Turkish article. The original, with further detail and linked petition templates, is at Kaçak Yapı, Yapı Tatil Tutanağı ve Yıkım Kararı.
Where a building has no permit or does not comply with one, the process begins when a stop-work notice is drawn up and posted on the building; if the breach is not cured within one month of that date, the municipal executive committee orders demolition and a fine (Articles 32 and 42 of the Development Act). That decision may be challenged by an action for annulment in the administrative court within sixty days of service — and the claim must also ask for a stay of execution.
An enclosed area added in the garden, a floor added to the roof, unauthorised alterations. Once the municipality identifies it, the process moves quickly and the deadlines are short.
This article explains how the process works under Articles 32 and 42, what can be done at each stage, and the deadlines for proceedings.
How Does the Process Start?
Where a building is found to have been built without a permit or contrary to one, the administration first seals the site and stops the work immediately.
The stoppage is treated as served on the owner by posting the stop-work notice at the site, and a copy is left with the neighbourhood headman.
This point matters enormously: no envelope arrives in the post. The date the notice was posted is the date from which the periods run, so establishing that date is the first thing to do.
The One-Month Window
Within one month of the notice being posted, the owner may do one of two things:
- Obtain a permit, where the building is capable of being authorised
- Cure the breach, by removing the non-compliant part so that the building conforms to the permit
If either is done, the seal is lifted and work resumes.
If neither is done, the permit is revoked, a demolition order is made for the unauthorised or non-compliant building, and it is demolished by the municipality or the governor's office. The cost is recovered from the owner.
This one-month window is the most important stage of the whole process. Where the building can be authorised, acting within it is more effective than anything that comes afterwards.
How Is the Planning Fine Calculated?
Article 42 provides for an administrative fine in addition, for a building without a permit or contrary to one.
The amount is not fixed: it is calculated by reference to the class of the building, its area, its location and the nature of the breach. The aggravating circumstances the Act lists — an unauthorised additional storey, a location in a conservation area, interference with the load-bearing structure — increase it.
Because the calculation is complex, errors in it are common. A challenge should attack not only the substance but the method of calculation.
Because the planning fine is imposed together with an administrative act such as a demolition order, the challenge is heard in the administrative court.
Within How Many Days Must Proceedings Be Brought?
A stop-work notice, a demolition order and a planning fine are all administrative acts and can be challenged by an action for annulment in the administrative court.
The period is sixty days, running from service of the act — and for a stop-work notice, from the date it was posted.
For acts such as a demolition order, whose execution causes irreversible consequences, the claim must always ask for a stay of execution. Otherwise the building may be demolished before the case is decided and the claim becomes pointless.
It is also possible to apply to the administration first, asking it to withdraw the act (Article 11 of the Administrative Procedure Act); that application suspends the period. But the handling of the deadline is delicate, so use that route carefully.
| Stage | What happens | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Stop-work notice | The site is sealed; the notice is posted on the building | The posting date starts every period |
| Curing the breach | Obtaining a permit or removing the non-compliant part | 1 month |
| Committee decision | Demolition order and planning fine | After the month expires |
| Action for annulment | Against the notice, the order and the fine | 60 days from service |
| Stay of execution | Requested in the claim | Otherwise demolition may proceed |
| Demolition | Carried out by the administration | The cost is recovered from the owner |
A stop-work notice is served by being posted at the site; no separate notification is sent, so the posting date must be established at once.
Grounds That Can Be Raised
- Defects in the notice. The breach not described concretely, the date of posting not recorded, no copy left with the headman.
- The building is capable of being authorised. Where a permit could be granted, an immediate demolition order is disproportionate.
- Errors in the fine. Wrong class or area used, an aggravating circumstance applied that does not exist.
- Proportionality. Ordering demolition of the whole building for a breach affecting only part of it.
- Wrong addressee. The decision directed at someone who is not the owner or the builder.
A stop-work notice is served by being posted at the site, not by post. Everything — the one-month window to cure the breach and the sixty days to bring proceedings — runs from that date. And always ask for a stay of execution in the claim, or the building may be demolished while the case runs.