Can Utilities Be Disconnected Before Demolition Under Urban Transformation Law? (2026 Updated Guide)

Can electricity, water and natural gas be disconnected before a risky building is demolished in Turkey? Learn when utilities can be terminated, owner and tenant rights, evacuation rules, demolition deadlines and legal remedies in 2026.

Yes. Under the urban transformation framework, electricity, water and natural gas services can be disconnected before the physical demolition of a risky building once the statutory conditions for doing so have been satisfied.

However, utility services should not be treated as something that can automatically be terminated merely because an owner, building manager or redevelopment contractor announces that the building will undergo urban transformation.

For an ordinary risky building, the procedural stage is crucial. Once the risky building determination has become final, the competent administration gives the owners a period not exceeding 90 days to evacuate and demolish the structure. If the owners do not demolish the risky building within that period, the administration may request that electricity, water and natural gas no longer be supplied and that existing services be terminated. The relevant utility institutions are required to comply with that administrative request.

This means utility disconnection can occur before the demolition itself, but it forms part of a regulated evacuation and demolition process.

For foreign property owners and tenants, Lawyer Fırat Fesih Kaya recommends immediately determining whether a utility interruption is an ordinary service issue, a contractor request or an official measure connected to a finalized risky-building procedure.

When Can Utilities Be Disconnected in a Risky Building?

The sequence of events matters.

First, the structure must go through the applicable risky-building process. Once the risky building determination becomes final, the administration initiates the evacuation and demolition procedure.

Under the current implementing framework, the administration gives owners a period not exceeding 90 days to evacuate and demolish the risky building.

If the owners fail to demolish it within the period granted, the administration can ask the relevant institutions not to provide electricity, water and natural gas to the building and to discontinue existing services.

Therefore, owners should not assume that utility termination can occur only after demolition machinery arrives.

It can be an enforcement measure used before physical demolition.

Does a Risky Building Report Automatically Mean Immediate Utility Disconnection?

No.

The existence of a risky-building report should not be confused with the later enforcement stage.

The risky-building determination first needs to proceed through the applicable administrative process. Owners have rights concerning notification and technical objection. After the determination becomes final, evacuation and demolition procedures follow.

The utility-disconnection mechanism described in the current implementing regulation applies where the risky building has not been demolished within the period granted by the administration.

Accordingly, the relevant dates should be checked before concluding that an electricity, water or natural gas disconnection is lawful.

How Much Time Is Given Before This Stage?

Under the current procedure for finalized risky buildings, owners are given a period not exceeding 90 days for evacuation and demolition.

The official notice informs them that if the building is not evacuated and demolished within the period granted, administrative evacuation and demolition can follow.

The actual period applicable to the particular building should be verified from the administrative file.

Owners should not automatically calculate 90 days from the date they personally learned about the transformation.

Can Utilities Be Disconnected While People Are Still Living in the Building?

The statutory framework anticipates utility termination as part of the enforcement process where owners have failed to demolish the building within the applicable period.

This can create a situation in which occupants have not voluntarily left even though the building has reached the compulsory evacuation stage.

Utility disconnection should therefore be understood together with the administration’s broader evacuation powers.

If owners or occupants continue to obstruct evacuation, the current regulation allows compulsory evacuation with administrative authorization and law-enforcement assistance.

Remaining inside the building should not be treated as a method of preserving utility services indefinitely.

Can the Electricity Company Refuse the Administration’s Request?

Under the current implementing regulation, where the relevant conditions have been satisfied, the administration requests that electricity, water and natural gas services be discontinued, and compliance by the relevant institutions and organizations is mandatory.

Therefore, an affected owner should focus on whether the underlying administrative process and the request itself are legally valid rather than assuming that the utility provider can simply ignore the administration.

Does the Owner Have to Consent to Utility Disconnection?

The statutory mechanism does not depend on the individual owner’s consent once its legal conditions have been satisfied.

An owner cannot necessarily prevent the measure simply by refusing to sign a document.

This distinction is particularly important in multi-owner apartment buildings.

One owner may oppose the entire transformation process while other owners support demolition. The relevant question is not whether every apartment owner has agreed to utility termination but whether the statutory stage allowing the administration to request termination has been reached.

Can a Tenant Refuse Utility Disconnection?

A tenant does not acquire a veto over a statutory utility-disconnection measure merely because the electricity, water or natural gas subscription is registered in the tenant’s name.

If the building is subject to a legally progressing evacuation and demolition process and the conditions for service termination have arisen, the existence of an ordinary utility subscription does not by itself prevent the administrative process.

However, a tenant should distinguish an official administrative disconnection from a landlord improperly attempting to cut services in order to force the tenant out.

These are very different situations.

Can a Landlord Personally Order the Utilities to Be Cut Off to Evict a Tenant?

A landlord should not confuse the statutory urban transformation procedure with private pressure against a tenant.

The fact that a building may eventually undergo redevelopment does not give a landlord unlimited authority to use utility interruption as a private eviction method.

If the disconnection is said to result from urban transformation, the tenant should determine whether an official risky-building procedure exists and whether the administration has actually reached the stage at which termination of services may be requested.

A landlord saying “the building will be demolished, so I am cutting your utilities” is not the same as the competent administration issuing the statutory request.

What Should a Tenant Do If Utilities Are Suddenly Disconnected?

First determine who ordered the disconnection and why.

Contact the relevant service provider and obtain information concerning the legal or administrative basis of the termination.

Then determine whether the building has officially been declared risky, whether that determination became final and whether an evacuation and demolition procedure is underway.

If the service was terminated pursuant to the urban transformation framework, obtain the underlying administrative documents.

If there is no official administrative basis, the dispute may instead concern the lease relationship, utility subscription or another private-law issue.

What Should a Property Owner Do After Receiving a Utility-Disconnection Warning?

Do not treat the warning as an isolated electricity or water problem.

A utility-disconnection warning may indicate that the risky-building process has reached an advanced stage.

Immediately obtain the risky-building assessment, finalization records, evacuation and demolition notice, notification documents and the administrative request concerning utility services.

Then determine the actual demolition deadline.

If the owner believes the process is unlawful, any remaining administrative or judicial remedy should be evaluated promptly.

What If the Foreign Owner Never Received the Demolition Notice?

This should be investigated immediately.

Foreign owners sometimes discover the transformation process only after a tenant, neighbor or building manager reports that electricity or water is about to be disconnected.

The owner should not assume that the absence of a conventional paper notice means that the administrative process never became effective.

Current urban transformation procedures use specific statutory notification mechanisms for evacuation and demolition. The official administrative chronology must therefore be reconstructed from the relevant records.

The important question is whether the legally required notification process was completed, not merely when the foreign owner personally became aware of the problem.

Can a Foreign Owner Challenge Utility Disconnection?

Potentially, depending on the underlying administrative process and the specific measure involved.

Foreign ownership does not remove the owner’s ability to challenge an allegedly unlawful administrative action.

However, the correct legal target must first be identified.

The real dispute may concern the original risky-building determination, defective notification, the evacuation and demolition procedure, the utility-disconnection request or another administrative action.

These should not automatically be treated as the same dispute.

Can Filing a Lawsuit Restore Electricity, Water or Natural Gas?

Filing a lawsuit should not automatically be assumed to suspend the underlying administrative measure or immediately restore utilities.

Where implementation must be prevented while judicial review continues, the availability and requirements of interim judicial protection may need to be examined separately.

This is particularly important where utility termination is only one part of a rapidly progressing process that may soon lead to compulsory evacuation and demolition.

Owners should therefore avoid waiting until all services have been disconnected before seeking legal review.

Can a Court Stop Utility Disconnection?

Depending on the administrative action and circumstances, judicial protection may potentially affect implementation if the statutory requirements for the relevant interim remedy are satisfied.

However, obtaining such protection should never be assumed.

The owner needs to establish exactly which administrative action is being challenged, whether the applicable judicial period remains open and whether the conditions for interim protection are met.

A pending lawsuit alone should not automatically be interpreted as an order requiring utilities to remain connected.

Can Utilities Be Disconnected Even If One Owner Is Challenging the Building’s Risky Status?

The existence of a dispute does not necessarily suspend every subsequent administrative measure.

The decisive question is whether there is a legally effective decision preventing implementation.

If an owner has merely filed proceedings but no judicial measure suspends the relevant administrative action, the owner should not automatically assume that the entire transformation process has stopped.

This is why risky-building disputes should be addressed early, before the procedure reaches utility termination and compulsory evacuation.

What If the Original Risky Building Assessment Was Wrong?

Then the technical and legal validity of the assessment should be addressed through the appropriate procedures.

Owners should obtain the full official assessment report and, where necessary, have the technical findings reviewed.

A disagreement with the report does not itself require utility providers to continue supplying a building indefinitely.

The official risky-building status must be challenged through the legally recognized administrative or judicial mechanisms.

Can Utilities Be Disconnected Before a Demolition Permit Is Issued?

The statutory urban transformation framework links utility termination closely to the demolition process.

Current official guidance states that a demolition permit for a risky building can be issued upon application by one or more owners or their representatives where documents establish that the building has been evacuated and electricity, water and natural gas services have been closed, or where the administration itself determines and records that evacuation and actual service closure have occurred.

Accordingly, utility closure may occur before issuance of the demolition permit and before physical demolition begins.

This is an important practical point for owners and tenants.

Are Closed Utilities Relevant to the Demolition Permit?

Yes.

Under the current regulation, evidence that electricity, water and natural gas services have been closed is one of the matters relevant to issuing the demolition permit for a risky building.

Alternatively, the administration can itself determine and formally record that the building has been evacuated and the services have actually been terminated.

The purpose is closely connected to safe preparation of the building for demolition.

Can the Building Be Demolished While Utilities Are Still Active?

A planned demolition requires safety measures concerning building services and infrastructure.

The general demolition framework also requires documentation that services such as electricity, water and natural gas have been closed in the relevant permit process, subject to the specific rules governing particular demolition procedures.

Therefore, utility closure is not merely a pressure mechanism.

It also serves an important practical and safety function before demolition.

Does Utility Disconnection Mean Demolition Will Happen Immediately?

Not necessarily on the same day.

However, it should be treated as a strong indication that the building is at an advanced stage of the evacuation and demolition process.

Once services have been formally terminated and the building has been evacuated, the conditions necessary for obtaining and implementing the demolition permit may be substantially closer to completion.

Owners should therefore not wait for demolition machinery to arrive before protecting their legal and property rights.

Can Owners Reconnect the Utilities Themselves?

Owners and occupants should not attempt unauthorized reconnection of services after an official termination.

If the owner believes the termination was unlawful, the appropriate course is to challenge the underlying measure through the available administrative or judicial procedures.

Attempting to bypass an official disconnection does not resolve the risky-building status or evacuation requirement and may create additional problems.

What Happens If an Owner Refuses to Leave After Utilities Are Disconnected?

Utility termination does not represent the final enforcement mechanism.

Where a risky building remains occupied or has not been demolished after the applicable period, the administration can proceed with compulsory evacuation and demolition.

Current rules allow evacuation to be carried out with law-enforcement assistance. Where occupants prevent access by locking doors or refusing entry, the administration can obtain the prescribed written authorization and enter with law-enforcement assistance, including opening or arranging the opening of closed doors or areas where necessary.

Therefore, utility disconnection should be treated as a warning that the process may soon progress to more direct enforcement.

Can Owners Be Charged for Administrative Demolition?

Yes.

If owners do not demolish the risky building within the period granted and the administration carries out or arranges evacuation and demolition, the owners can be responsible for the resulting expenses according to their ownership shares.

Current official guidance states that demolition expenses can be pursued and collected from owners under the applicable public-receivables procedure.

Waiting for compulsory enforcement can therefore create additional financial consequences.

What About Commercial Properties?

Utility termination can be particularly disruptive for shops, offices, restaurants and other businesses.

A commercial occupant may lose the ability to operate before physical demolition begins.

Business owners should therefore not plan operations solely around the expected demolition date.

Once a finalized risky-building procedure is approaching its enforcement stage, businesses should consider relocation of equipment, records, inventory and other essential assets before utility termination makes continued operation impossible.

Commercial lease rights and any contractual claims should be reviewed separately.

What About Medical Equipment or Other Essential Equipment?

If an apartment or commercial unit contains equipment dependent on electricity, water or gas, the occupant should not wait until official disconnection occurs.

Arrange safe relocation in advance.

Medical devices, refrigerated goods, computer systems, security systems, business servers and other equipment can be damaged or become unusable following service termination.

Legal challenges concerning the building can proceed separately from practical measures necessary to protect people and property.

What Happens to Refrigerators, Security Systems and Elevators?

Utility termination may affect much more than lighting.

Refrigerators, electronic security systems, access systems, pumps, elevators and other common building installations can become unavailable.

Owners and tenants should therefore plan evacuation before disconnection rather than assuming that normal building operations will continue until the moment of demolition.

The building management should also consider the safe shutdown of common systems.

Can Common-Area Electricity Be Disconnected?

Where the statutory measure concerns termination of services to the risky building, the practical consequences can extend to building-wide services.

The exact scope of any disconnection should be verified with the relevant administration and service provider.

Owners should not assume that common areas, elevators or shared systems will remain functional merely because an individual apartment subscription is separate.

This is another reason to complete relocation before enforcement reaches this stage.

Can Tenants Claim Against the Landlord Because Utilities Were Disconnected?

That depends heavily on why and how the disconnection occurred.

If utilities were lawfully terminated as part of a statutory urban transformation process, the analysis is different from a landlord personally interfering with utility services in an attempt to remove the tenant.

The tenant’s lease, move-out date, deposit and any financial claims should be reviewed together with the official transformation documents.

Do not assume that every urban transformation utility interruption creates the same private claim against the landlord.

Does Utility Disconnection Terminate the Tenant’s Lease Automatically?

The effect on the lease should be assessed according to the circumstances and the stage of the transformation procedure.

Utility disconnection can make continued occupation impossible and may occur immediately before compulsory evacuation and demolition, but lease-related financial consequences still need to be addressed separately.

The landlord and tenant should document the date possession ends, return of keys, deposit, rent position, utility accounts and condition of the premises.

A demolition process should not leave these matters undocumented.

Should Tenants Cancel Their Utility Subscriptions Before Moving?

Where the tenant is the subscriber, the tenant should manage the closing of personal accounts carefully and retain evidence of final meter readings and account closure.

This is different from an administrative termination imposed under the transformation framework.

Keeping records can help prevent later disputes concerning unpaid bills or the date the tenant stopped occupying the property.

Should Owners Document the Property Before Utilities Are Cut?

Yes.

Do not wait until the apartment is dark, inaccessible or subject to compulsory evacuation.

Take comprehensive photographs and videos while the property remains safely accessible.

Record the internal layout, floor, orientation, balconies, view, parking, storage and significant fixtures.

For commercial property, document frontage, access, signage, visibility and other commercially relevant characteristics.

Preserve architectural plans and property records where available.

Check the Title Before Demolition

Utility termination is also a reminder that physical demolition may be approaching.

Obtain a current title record.

Verify the registered owner and land share.

Check mortgages, attachments, usufruct rights and other restrictions.

After demolition, the physical apartment disappears but the owner’s underlying land-related rights remain extremely important.

Do not focus exclusively on restoring electricity while ignoring the future legal position of the property.

Does Utility Disconnection Mean the Owner Loses the Property?

No.

Termination of electricity, water or natural gas does not itself transfer ownership.

Nor does evacuation automatically transfer the property to the contractor or government.

The owner continues to have important rights concerning the underlying parcel and redevelopment process.

However, once demolition occurs, the registered land share and redevelopment documentation become central to protecting the owner’s economic position.

Can the Contractor Request Utility Disconnection?

A private redevelopment contractor should not be confused with the competent public authority.

A contractor may need utilities closed as part of preparing an empty building for lawful demolition, but the statutory enforcement power to require termination under the risky-building framework belongs within the administrative procedure.

If a contractor tells an owner or tenant:

“We have ordered the electricity company to disconnect everyone tomorrow,”

the legal basis should be verified.

Ask whether the request comes from the competent administration and obtain the relevant documentation.

Do Not Sign a Redevelopment Contract Just to Keep Utilities Connected

An owner may be told that services will be cut unless a contractor agreement is signed.

This should be approached carefully.

The statutory utility-disconnection process and the private redevelopment contract are separate legal matters.

If the building has reached the stage at which services can lawfully be terminated, signing an unfavorable contractor agreement may not create a legal right to continue occupying the building.

The redevelopment agreement should therefore be evaluated on its own terms.

Can Strengthening Prevent Utility Disconnection and Demolition?

Potentially, where strengthening is technically possible and the statutory requirements are completed within the relevant period.

Current rules require owners seeking strengthening instead of demolition to establish technical feasibility, obtain the necessary ownership decision, prepare the strengthening project and obtain the required permit within the period granted for demolition.

Merely announcing an intention to strengthen the building does not automatically suspend utility termination.

The required legal and technical steps must actually be completed.

What Should a Foreign Owner Do if Utilities Are About to Be Disconnected?

First, obtain the official administrative file.

Second, determine when the risky-building determination became final.

Third, obtain the evacuation and demolition notification and establish the legally relevant dates.

Fourth, confirm whether the period granted for demolition has expired.

Fifth, determine whether the administration has formally requested utility termination.

Sixth, check whether any pending lawsuit or court order actually affects implementation.

Seventh, protect personal belongings and document the property.

Finally, protect the title, land share and redevelopment position rather than focusing only on the utility account.

2026 Practical Legal Strategy

The first priority is identify why the utility is being disconnected. Determine whether the measure comes from the competent administration under the urban transformation framework or from a private dispute involving the landlord, contractor or subscriber.

The second priority is verify that the risky-building determination is final and obtain the evacuation and demolition documents.

The third priority is check the demolition period. Under the current framework, owners of finalized risky buildings are given a period not exceeding 90 days for evacuation and demolition.

The fourth priority is determine whether the statutory stage for utility termination has actually been reached. Where the building has not been demolished within the period granted, the administration may request termination of electricity, water and natural gas, and the relevant institutions must comply.

The fifth priority is do not confuse utility termination with private eviction tactics. A landlord or contractor cannot simply transform a private dispute into an official administrative disconnection by using the phrase “urban transformation.”

The sixth priority is evaluate legal remedies promptly if the owner believes the underlying administrative process is unlawful.

The seventh priority is do not assume a lawsuit automatically keeps the utilities connected. Any need for interim judicial protection must be examined separately.

The eighth priority is prepare practically for evacuation. Protect personal belongings, equipment, documents and business assets before services are terminated.

The ninth priority is document the existing property before demolition.

The tenth priority is protect the post-demolition property position by reviewing the title, land share, redevelopment decisions and contractor agreement.

The central principle is:

Yes, electricity, water and natural gas can be disconnected before physical demolition under the urban transformation framework. For an ordinary finalized risky building, this enforcement mechanism becomes relevant when the building has not been demolished within the period granted by the administration. Utility disconnection should therefore be treated as an advanced stage of the evacuation and demolition process, not merely as an ordinary service interruption.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can electricity be cut before a risky building is demolished?

Yes. If a finalized risky building is not demolished within the period granted, the administration may request termination of electricity service before physical demolition.

2. Can water and natural gas also be disconnected?

Yes. The current implementing regulation expressly covers electricity, water and natural gas services.

3. Can utilities be cut immediately after a risky-building report?

Not simply because a report exists. The procedural stage must be checked. For an ordinary risky building, the current enforcement mechanism applies after finalization and after the building has not been demolished within the period granted by the administration.

4. How long can owners be given before demolition?

The administration gives a period not exceeding 90 days for evacuation and demolition of the finalized risky building.

5. Does the owner’s consent have to be obtained before the administration requests utility termination?

The statutory enforcement mechanism does not depend on every owner’s consent once its legal requirements have been satisfied.

6. Can a tenant stop an official disconnection because the subscription is in the tenant’s name?

A private subscription does not itself override a legally valid administrative request under the risky-building procedure.

7. Can a landlord personally cut utilities to force a tenant to leave?

A landlord’s private conduct should be distinguished from an official utility termination requested by the competent administration. If no official statutory basis exists, the matter may instead involve landlord-tenant and utility-law issues.

8. Are disconnected utilities required before a demolition permit?

Under the current risky-building procedure, evidence that the building has been evacuated and electricity, water and natural gas services have been closed, or an administrative determination that this has occurred, is relevant to issuance of the demolition permit.

9. What happens if occupants still refuse to leave?

Where the statutory conditions are satisfied, compulsory evacuation can follow with administrative authorization and law-enforcement assistance.

10. What should a foreign owner do after receiving a utility-disconnection warning?

Obtain the official risky-building and evacuation file immediately, verify the demolition deadline and administrative request, determine whether any legal remedy remains available, protect personal belongings and document the property, and review the title, land share and future redevelopment arrangements.

Legal Assistance When Utilities Are Disconnected Before Demolition

A utility-disconnection warning should not be treated merely as an electricity, water or natural gas problem. In a risky-building case, it can indicate that the statutory process has progressed significantly toward compulsory evacuation and demolition.

Foreign owners and tenants may be particularly vulnerable because they may discover the procedure only after services are scheduled for termination.

Fırat Fesih Kaya Law Office provides legal assistance to foreign property owners and occupants affected by risky-building evacuation, utility disconnection and urban transformation proceedings.

Lawyer Fırat Fesih Kaya assists foreign property owners with reviewing risky-building and demolition files, examining the legal basis of utility-disconnection measures, verifying notification and deadlines, evaluating administrative litigation and urgent interim judicial remedies, protecting title and land-share rights, and reviewing redevelopment agreements and replacement-property arrangements.

Phone: +90 312 434 22 22
WhatsApp: +90 532 769 22 22
Email: info@firatfesihkaya.av.tr