Which Buildings Require Sprinklers in Turkey? A Decision Tree

Whether sprinklers are required is answered with clear numbers in Article 96(2) of the Turkish regulation BYKHY. The article has six sub-paragraphs (a, b, c, ç, d, e); if a building falls under any one of them, an automatic sprinkler system is mandatory. The decision runs on occupancy, structure height and total area or capacity; insurer, investor and project-specific requirements come on top of that as an additional layer.

The decision tree: Article 96(2)

1. Is there an enclosed car park? If its total area exceeds 600 m² or more than 10 cars are taken in by lift, the car park must be sprinklered (96(2)(c)). For enclosed car parks with a total area above 600 m², Article 60(1) also requires a fire hose cabinet system and fire brigade outlets alongside the sprinkler system.
2. Is the building residential? If so, sprinklers are mandatory once the structure height exceeds 51.50 m (96(2)(b)). If not, they are mandatory in all buildings with a structure height above 30.50 m (96(2)(a)). Article 96(2) has no separate area threshold for occupancies such as offices.
3. Is it accommodation or a facility with beds? Sprinklers are mandatory in hotels, dormitories, guest houses and hostels in a multi-storey building with more than 100 sleeping rooms or more than 200 beds, and in all facilities with beds whose structure height exceeds 21.50 m (96(2)(ç)).
4. Is it a multi-storey store, or a shopping, commercial or entertainment venue? If its total area is above 2000 m², sprinklers are mandatory (96(2)(d)).
5. Are readily ignitable and flammable materials produced or kept? If the total area is above 1000 m², sprinklers are mandatory (96(2)(e)).
6. None of the above? There is no requirement under Article 96(2); the decision is taken on risk, insurance and investor grounds (see the next section). With flammable liquids, plastics storage, high-bay warehousing or a special process, that decision usually goes towards sprinklers.

Sub-paragraph	Scope	Threshold
96(2)(a)	All buildings other than residential	Structure height > 30.50 m
96(2)(b)	Residential buildings	Structure height > 51.50 m
96(2)(c)	Enclosed car parks	Total area > 600 m² or > 10 cars by lift
96(2)(ç)	Hotels, dormitories, guest houses, hostels (multi-storey building); all facilities with beds	> 100 rooms or > 200 beds; facilities with beds: structure height > 21.50 m
96(2)(d)	Multi-storey stores, shopping, commercial and entertainment venues	Total area > 2000 m²
96(2)(e)	Buildings where readily ignitable and flammable materials are produced or kept	Total area > 1000 m²

Design standard and exemptions

Where sprinklers are required, the design standard is also fixed by the regulation: Article 96(5) states that sprinkler system design shall be carried out to TS EN 12845. Under the same paragraph, one standard sprinkler may protect at most 21 m² in Low Hazard and Ordinary Hazard Group 1 areas, and system components must comply with TS EN 12259 (Article 96(1)). Where an insurer or investor requires NFPA 13 or its own corporate standard, it is applied as an additional layer provided the minimum requirements of the regulation are met.

Sprinklers need not be installed in wet rooms containing no combustible material and not used to store combustible material, in fire stair shafts containing no combustible material and separated by fire-resisting elements, in lift shafts, and in spaces protected by gas, dry powder, water spray or similar automatic extinguishing systems (Article 96(3)). Sprinklers are not installed in spaces containing materials that expand with water or react with it in a way that can make the fire grow (Article 96(4)).

Beyond the requirement: why fit sprinklers anyway?

A significant share of projects are designed with sprinklers where they are not mandatory. The reasons are:

• Insurance premium and cover. The cover offered for an unsprinklered warehouse is very different from the same warehouse sprinklered; some risks are not insured at all without sprinklers.
• Business continuity. The difference between a fire brought under control and total loss of the facility is measured in days of lost production.
• Architectural flexibility. A sprinklered design can, in some cases, open the way to performance-based solutions on compartmentation and travel distance — subject to the authority's approval.
• Corporate standards. Multinational investors require sprinklers regardless of facility type.

What is required where sprinklers are not?

Without sprinklers the protection burden falls on the other layers: fire compartmentation, detection and alarm, smoke control, escape route design, hose reels and hydrants, portable extinguishers. Whether these layers are mandatory depends on their own provisions; for example, automatic fire detection is mandatory in buildings whose structure height or total enclosed area exceeds the values in Annex 7 (Article 75(3); according to the Ministry's BYKHY Guide, the Annex 7 rows for institutional, commercial, industrial and assembly buildings were annulled by the Council of State (10th Chamber) decision of 28/12/2021), and fire hose cabinets are mandatory in high-rise buildings and in manufacturing, workshop, warehouse, accommodation, healthcare, assembly and education buildings with a total enclosed floor area above 1000 m² (Article 94(1)(b)(1)). None of these is a full substitute for automatic suppression, but together they can establish an acceptable level of risk.

Can protection be partial?

Article 96(2) defines the requirement per building or occupancy, and the spaces that need not be sprinklered are listed separately in Article 96(3). In a building that falls under a sub-paragraph, any unsprinklered part should therefore rest on Article 96(3). Partial protection arises where the requirement stems from one part only (for example the enclosed car park under 96(2)(c) of a residential building whose structure height does not exceed 51.50 m) or where sprinklers are fitted voluntarily. The critical point is that the division between sprinklered and unsprinklered sections must be a real fire compartment; otherwise the sprinklered section's design has to account for fire arriving from the adjacent one.

How to justify it in the design report

1. Occupancy class and occupant profile.
2. Structure height (Article 4/bbb), building height (Article 4/h) and high-rise status.
3. Floor areas and the compartmentation arrangement.
4. Description of the activity, the goods stored and the storage height.
5. The Article 96(2) sub-paragraph the sprinkler requirement rests on; where not mandatory, the reason for fitting them voluntarily. Design standard: TS EN 12845 (Article 96(5)).
6. How the unsprinklered sections are protected.

Frequently Asked Questions

At what floor area do sprinklers become mandatory?

The area threshold depends on the occupancy and is set out clearly in Article 96(2): 600 m² total area for enclosed car parks (or more than 10 cars taken in by lift), 2000 m² total area for multi-storey stores, shopping, commercial and entertainment venues, and 1000 m² total area for buildings where readily ignitable and flammable materials are produced or kept; above these values sprinklers are mandatory. For accommodation the threshold is 100 rooms or 200 beds in a multi-storey building. The height thresholds are given as structure height: 30.50 m for non-residential buildings, 51.50 m for residential buildings and 21.50 m for facilities with beds.

Which standard is the sprinkler design based on?

Under Article 96(5), sprinkler system design shall be carried out to TS EN 12845, and system components must comply with TS EN 12259 (Article 96(1)). Where an insurer or investor requires another standard such as NFPA 13, it is applied as an additional layer provided the minimum requirements of the regulation are met.

Why fit sprinklers where they are not mandatory?

For insurance cover and premium, business continuity, the room they create for performance-based architectural solutions, and corporate investor standards.

Can protection be partial?

Article 96(2) defines the requirement per building or occupancy, and the spaces that need not be sprinklered are listed separately in Article 96(3). Partial protection arises where the requirement stems from one part only (for example the enclosed car park under 96(2)(c) of a residential building whose structure height does not exceed 51.50 m) or where sprinklers are fitted voluntarily. The division between sprinklered and unsprinklered sections must then be a real fire compartment; otherwise the sprinklered section must account for fire arriving from next door.

Which layers matter most without sprinklers?

Fire compartmentation, detection and alarm, smoke control, escape route design, hose reels and hydrants, and portable extinguishers.

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