Statements from TMMOB Adana Branch President Hıdır Çak regarding the situation of buildings in Türkiye

TMMOB Chamber of Civil Engineers Adana Branch President Hıdır Çak made important statements about the situation of buildings in Türkiye.

Stating that the last comprehensive study on the age of buildings in Turkey was conducted by TÜİK by asking households in 2021, Çak noted that there are approximately 36 million houses across Turkey, including the new buildings built in the last 5 years. Stating that some of the residences are empty, second or third residences or in the sales phase, Çak stated that the number of actively used residences is approximately 26 million.

"AVERAGE BUILDING AGE IN TURKEY IS 25"

Hıdır Çak said, "The latest study on calculating the age of buildings in Turkey was conducted by TÜİK in 2021. When we, as the Chamber of Civil Engineers, add to this data our new buildings built in the last 5 years, we see that there are 36 million residences across Turkey and approximately 26 million residences are actively used."

'AGE ALONE DOES NOT SHOW THE SAFETY OF THE BUILDING'

Emphasizing that the age of the building alone does not reveal whether the building is safe or not, Çak underlined that especially multi-storey buildings built between 1980 and 2000 should be evaluated in terms of risk and said, "According to these criteria, it seems that approximately 6-7 million houses are in the risk pool. Therefore, we expect that around 6 million houses in the risk pool in Turkey will be examined, risk analyzes will be carried out, and if necessary, the risk status of the buildings will be determined along with earthquake performance analyses. In fact, age is a very important parameter that directly tells us whether a building is safe or not." "But if our building was built before the 1998 earthquake regulations, that is, according to the 1975 earthquake regulations, if it is multi-storey, if concrete was poured by hand, if our building has very heavy overhangs, this actually gives the impression that our building is somewhat risky," he said.

'EARTHQUAKE PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF BUILDINGS IN THE RISK POOL SHOULD BE DONE'

Stating that a preliminary examination should be carried out for the residences in the risk pool, Çak said, "Preliminary examinations should be carried out first for these residences in the risk pool. After some studies such as core drilling and profometer, a modeling should be created in the computer environment with the data obtained in the laboratory, and earthquake performance analyzes should be measured with this modeling. If the result is risky, the building should either be strengthened, or if the cost of reinforcement is too high, it should be demolished and rebuilt. However, if it is island-based or neighborhood-based, where there are too many risky buildings together, the region should be declared an urban transformation area and rebuilt." "We want it to be planned and rebuilt," he said.