Home improvement and DIY in North Cyprus: shops, trades and a fit-out checklist

Fitting out a newly handed-over home: questions to ask

These are questions, not facts, and this page does not interpret contracts. Before buying anything: which items were handed over with the home, such as kitchen units, wardrobes, bathroom fittings, water heater or air conditioners? Is that list written in your sale documents? Who gives any warranty on them? For title-deed and handover paperwork, start from the government offices page.

For each room: who measures windows for curtains and blinds, the supplier or you? What is the floor underneath, and has anyone checked it before parquet, laminate or tile goes down? Are tiles and paint ordered in one batch? Does the shop deliver to your address, to which floor, and is delivery or fitting stated in writing, since the two retailer pages above state neither?

For services and appliances: which electricity, water and internet connections exist and in whose name? See the utilities page. Does an appliance, air conditioner, solar system or pool pump match the supply at the property? Who services it, and who is the contact if the installer is not the seller? Ask every contractor for a written scope and the name of the registration or membership they rely on.

Finding tradespeople: the KTEZO trades catalogue

According to its own site, the Kıbrıs Türk Esnaf ve Zanaatkarlar Odası (KTEZO) is the chamber of craftsmen and tradespeople, and its Meslek Kataloğu is a catalogue of professional groups and workplaces. The catalogue page presents its listings as active KTEZO members who consented to be shown and notes that other active members in the same sectors may not appear.

This is a membership list, not an endorsement or a quality check. The categories below are those the page prints; curtain makers do not appear as categories in the catalogue, and KTEZO's about page lists a plumbers' union separately.

Contractors: what the KTİMB pages state

The Kıbrıs Türk İnşaat Müteahhitleri Birliği (KTİMB, Cyprus Turkish Building Contractors Association) publishes a members page that can be filtered by region (Lefkoşa, Girne, Mağusa, İskele, Güzelyurt, Lefke) and by letter. Each entry shows a company name, address and contact details. This is a membership list, not an endorsement. The page states that eligibility is for TRNC citizens or companies owned and managed by them.

On its membership-procedures page KTİMB states that contracting activity by persons or bodies without a membership certificate is an offence ('suç teşkil etmektedir') and that a member must register with the İnşaat Encümeni and obtain a valid annual class certificate. Informational, not legal advice: ask the contractor to show the documents.

Renovation permits: what official pages state

The Gazimağusa municipality online-services page lists 16 services, none of them a building permit, and no municipal page used here states renovation (tadilat) permit rules. The Town Planning Department page says planning approval is required for any development, then a KTMMOB visa, then an application to the authorised authority (district municipalities, or district governors elsewhere). Whether a given repair needs approval is therefore a question for the municipality and the Şehir Planlama Dairesi.

Electricity and plumbing sign-off bodies are not described here. No official page on this topic was used here; check with the office directly. Informational, not legal advice. For the connections themselves, see the utilities page.