Why Warranty Terms Deserve as Much Attention as Price
Iranian investors and developers evaluating construction contracts in Türkiye often concentrate negotiating effort on unit price, payment schedule, and delivery date. Warranty and defects liability provisions receive far less scrutiny, yet they determine who bears the cost when a roof leaks in year two, a foundation settles unevenly, or mechanical systems underperform after handover. For a buyer managing risk from outside the country, understanding how Turkish law and standard contract forms treat post-completion defects is essential before signing.
The Statutory Framework
Türkiye's Code of Obligations and the Turkish Commercial Code establish a baseline warranty period for construction works, commonly referred to in practice as the "ayıp sorumluluğu" (defects liability) regime. Contractors are generally held responsible for structural and load-bearing defects for extended periods, often cited at up to fifteen years for major structural failures tied to earthquake resistance and load-bearing integrity, reflecting the seriousness with which Turkish courts and regulators treat structural safety after the 1999 and 2023 earthquakes. Non-structural defects such as finishes, plumbing, and electrical work typically carry shorter statutory or contractual warranty windows, frequently in the one to five year range depending on the element involved.
Important : statutory minimums are a floor, not a ceiling. Well-drafted contracts specify defects liability periods, notice procedures, and remedy mechanisms in far more detail than the code provides, and sophisticated buyers should insist on this level of specificity rather than relying on default law alone.
FIDIC-Style Clauses in Practice
For larger developments, particularly those involving foreign capital or institutional buyers, contracts increasingly borrow structure from FIDIC forms even when not formally adopting them. A defects notification period, typically twelve months from provisional acceptance, gives the buyer a window to identify and report defects, with the contractor obligated to remedy them at its own cost. Retention money or a performance bond is often held back precisely to secure this obligation. Iranian investors accustomed to different regional contracting conventions should confirm that any Turkish construction agreement includes a clearly defined defects notification period, a retention or bond mechanism sized appropriately to project value, and an unambiguous process for issuing defect notices and tracking remedial work to completion.
Where Disputes Typically Arise
In practice, disagreements over defects liability tend to cluster around three issues. First, the boundary between a design defect and a workmanship defect, since responsibility and applicable warranty periods can differ depending on which party controlled the design. Second, the condition of the property at handover, which is why a detailed, jointly signed handover inspection report with photographic documentation is worth the administrative effort it requires. Third, whether a defect was caused by the contractor's work or by the owner's subsequent alterations or lack of maintenance, an area where clear record-keeping protects the buyer's position.
Recommendation : engage independent technical inspection, separate from the contractor and ideally separate from the developer's own team, at handover and again shortly before the defects notification period expires. This two-point inspection approach catches issues that only manifest after a full seasonal cycle, such as water infiltration during heavy rain or foundation movement after ground freeze-thaw.
Practical Steps Before Signing
Iranian buyers negotiating a construction or purchase contract in Türkiye should request the warranty and defects liability clauses in writing well before final signature, have them reviewed by counsel familiar with Turkish construction law, and confirm how disputes over defect classification will be resolved, whether through arbitration, expert determination, or local courts. Confirming the contractor's financial capacity to honor warranty obligations matters as much as the clause language itself. A generous warranty period is only as valuable as the contractor's ability, and willingness, to act on it years after the final payment has been made.
How Eurasia Experts Supports This Process
Eurasia Experts advises Iranian clients on contract structuring, technical due diligence, and independent inspection coordination throughout the construction and handover process in Türkiye. Our role is to make sure warranty terms are enforceable in practice, not just favorable on paper, so that defects liability protection holds up long after the building is delivered.