Noting that anyone over the age of 18 in Turkey can readily act as a contractor, Nazmi Şahin said: “There is no obstacle whatsoever preventing these people, once they reach the age of 18, from erecting a 10-storey building.”
Stating that a significant part of buildings’ health-related problems stems from contracting work, Şahin reported that an age criterion must definitely be introduced to the sector. Underlining that existing contractors should also undergo at least 3 months of training, Nazmi Şahin gave the following striking example:
“There are structural elements we call ‘çiroz’ that prevent the rebar from separating from the concrete in buildings. They greatly reduce damage to buildings in any risk such as an earthquake. Yet there are still contractors today who do not know what a çiroz is.”
Recalling that building inspection first came onto the agenda in Turkey after the 1999 earthquake, Nazmi Şahin said that the law was enacted in 2001, but that over the intervening 15 years the building inspection sector has come to be in its death throes. Şahin noted that, despite the difficulties for inspectors steadily increasing, there has been an improvement in the quality of building materials since 2001.
Stating that in the current system the party being inspected chooses its inspector and pays the fee, and that this is contrary to the logic of inspection, Şahin noted that they had instead proposed a model similar to a central system, but that it was not accepted.
Requesting that a numerical limit be introduced for building inspection firms, Şahin said: “The amount of inspection a firm can carry out is already defined. The construction areas in the provinces should be divided by this amount to determine a number on a provincial basis, and if necessary, up to 10 percent more firms than that should be permitted.”
Also proposing that the areas of duty of building inspection firms be limited to the provinces in which they are established, Nazmi Şahin said: “At present there is a broad limit such as 200 kilometres. Instead, a requirement to operate in the province where the firm is located should be introduced.”
Şahin asserted that the sector, which currently employs 120 thousand engineers and architects, will, if the necessary measures are not taken, go beyond its death throes and reach the point of collapsing altogether.
The service fee should be raised to 3 percent
Saying that building inspection firms receive a service fee of 1.5 percent and that this rate is not sufficient for the expenses incurred, Şahin requested that this rate also be raised to 3 percent.
“Professional liability insurance should be introduced”
Stating that, under the current legislation, in the event of a problem arising in an inspected construction, liability sometimes exceeding a million liras is imposed on the inspecting engineer who receives 4–5 thousand liras, and that this causes great difficulty, Nazmi Şahin proposed the implementation of professional liability insurance for the sector.
Emphasising that in difficulties arising regarding occupational health and safety at construction sites, inspectors are held responsible even though they are not directly responsible, Şahin said: “We inspect whether the construction is built soundly. Yet we are held responsible instead of the employer who fails to take occupational health and safety measures.”
Proposal of a user manual for homes
Noting that, although many products have one, there is no warranty document of any kind for homes, Nazmi Şahin reported that the building inspection report could be used for this purpose instead. Şahin said that the reports contain information such as the type of foundation, the class of concrete used and the contractor, and that this could be requested when purchasing by a method similar to a user manual.
Expressing that careful building inspection during urban transformation is essential, Şahin warned that otherwise, after a while, urban transformation might have to be carried out again because of low-quality buildings.
