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Demands for Zoning an Informal Industrial Area Near Damascus

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Owners of unlicensed factories and workshops in the city of Darayya in rural Damascus countryside called for the zoning of their area at a meeting with members of the Damascus and Rural Damascus Chamber of Industry in early November 2023. This area, as reported by the state-run Al-Baath newspaper on November 5, encompasses 450 facilities spread over 147 hectares.

Hikmat Al-Azab, the head of the Development Committee in Darayya and a member of the Parliament for the city, explained to the newspaper that these factories are situated on agricultural land, which complicates obtaining administrative and industrial licences and deprives them of investment benefits.

A correspondent for The Syria Report explained that this cluster of factories is located behind the Town Center commercial complex on the Damascus-Daraa international road. These unlicensed factories are built on unzoned agricultural land where construction is prohibited. The boundaries of this industrial area are unclear due to its overlap with informal settlements intertwined with Darayya city and Al-Qadam neighbourhood of Damascus, which has become part of the second-zoned real estate area of Damascus, known as Basilia City and was established under Decree No. 66 of 2012.

Mazhar Al-Sharbaji, former mayor of Darayya and former head of the Engineers Division in the Rural Damascus governorate, told The Syria Report that the lands behind the Town Center area are private agricultural properties extending to Darayya city. Some owners possess various land ownership documents, including court rulings and deeds. Meanwhile, the rest of the land is still undivided common properties.

This area was not destroyed during the war, though regime forces plundered some parts of it. During the war, some people built unlicensed dwellings on their own lands. 

This contrasts with what happened in the neighbouring city of Darayya, which was besieged by regime forces from 2012 to 2016, leading to the forced displacement of its entire population after entire neighbourhoods were flattened due to aerial bombardment by regime forces. In August 2018, the Rural Damascus governorate announced that residents could return to Darayya, provided they submitted documents proving property ownership within the city and obtained prior security clearance. The partial return of residents began in mid-2019.

Mr Sharbaji told The Syria Report that the lands on which the industrial complex is located are unzoned, except in two areas. The first is the area surrounding the Damascus-Daraa international highway, known as the southern entrance to Damascus, which was zoned in 2003. Here, tourist, commercial and industrial projects such as the Town Center, International School of Choueifat, Al-Methalya Food LLC and Tuffaha Bakery were established. The second zoned area is Al-Nazal neighbourhood behind Town Center, which includes factories and craft workshops affiliated with the Darayya City Council. In the vicinity of these zoned areas, unlicensed industrial and craft factories and workshops built on unzoned agricultural land extended to the Al-Qadam neighbourhood of Damascus. Successive municipal authorities in Darayya and in the governorates of Damascus and Rural Damascus turned a blind eye to these violations, despite some being large factories like Ice Man, Khalil Plastics and industrial warehouses, according to Mr Sharbaji. Some of these facilities obtained exceptions for their construction. However, in reality, they remained unlicensed and were built on unzoned agricultural land.

Notably, the owners of factories behind the Town Center, during their meeting with the members of the Damascus and Rural Damascus Chamber of Industry, requested the implementation of Cabinet Circular No. 10/15/B issued on April 19, 2023, to resolve issues related to the administrative and industrial licensing of their factories and to facilitate their access to investment benefits. However, Circular No. 10 is problematic as it restricts the licensing of all types of industrial establishments, including those based on the processing of agricultural products, to cities and industrial areas only. 

This led to the suspension of dozens of facilities outside these designated industrial cities and areas, whose owners had previously obtained preliminary approvals before the circular was issued. Implementing Circular No. 10 effectively means that none of the workshops and factories in the area behind the Town Center will be licensed. Despite media coverage in pro-government outlets, Circular No. 10 has not been published in the Official Gazette or any official government website.

Demolition of an Illegally Built Mall in Damascus Halted

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On November 5, the semi-official newspaper Al-Watan published a post on its Facebook page stating that a legal solution to halt the demolition of the BigFive Mall, which was built on public property without a licence, in Damascus was reached. As a result, the mall will become the Damascus Governorate’s property. The newspaper indicated that the state will carry out demolition and removal work on the mall when the area’s zoning plan is implemented in five years.

On October 23, the Executive Office of the Damascus governorate unanimously passed Decision No. 990, which included revoking the legal settlement decisions related to unlicensed construction on Property No. 722 in the Midan district. The decision entailed instructing the Directorate of Services Departments in the Damascus governorate to issue immediate demolition orders for unlicensed construction on the property.

The Directorate of Services Departments deemed the previous settlement decisions made in 2018 to be void. These legal settlements were based on evidence from the mall’s investor, claiming the building’s construction violations occurred before 2012. They thus were not covered by the Building Violations Decree No. 40 of 2012. It was later revealed that the evidence provided by the mall’s investor was false and that the violations occurred after 2012, as confirmed by aerial photos of the site.

The investor was warned to leave the premises and remove its contents, facades and equipment within 15 days, after which the Central Demolition Workshop of the Service Department in the governorate would demolish the building.

Initially, the property covered an area of 60 square metres and had a two-story traditional “Arab-style” house. The Damascus governorate expropriated the land in 1964 to build a park, but the plan was never implemented. In 1998, the Ministry of Education took over the property, intending to turn it into a school. Then, in 2005, the Damascus governorate reclaimed the property and decided to convert it into a residential building. It is unclear how the governorate changed the property’s classification to residential while owning it or whether it was leased out to tenants. Throughout these various stages, the building changed and had new floors added and expanded, eventually reaching four stories.

It is unclear when the property’s classification was changed to commercial and when a fifth floor was added. However, this process seems to have taken place before 2012. In 2018, the Damascus governorate issued five demolition orders (No. 6-10) for unlicensed construction on property, but these were not implemented. Later that same year, the governorate issued nine decisions (No. 891-899) to settle building violations on the property.

According to Decree No. 40, to legally settle an instance of unlicensed construction, the construction must have occurred before 2012. It must not pose a structural risk to the building. The violating building or section of the building can be legalised, added to the relevant construction permit and recorded in the Land Registry after the responsible parties pay fines. 

The municipal services directorate is responsible for addressing the violation. The directorate’s duties include calculating fees and fines resulting from unlicensed construction that can be settled and preparing the necessary financial decisions. It sent a committee to inspect the illegal construction site and verify its illegality using aerial photographs of the area taken in 2012 before Decree No. 40 of 2012 was issued. In cooperation with the Ministry of Defence, these photographs were captured by the Ministry of Local Administration through an aerial survey of Damascus. Unlicensed construction within the building, not observable in aerial photos, is compared with the building’s plan attached to the building’s real estate records.

The BigFive Mall is located in the heart of Damascus’s densely populated and commercially active Midan district. The mall overlooks the Southern Ring Road and currently consists of a five-storey building, each floor housing a single restaurant, with juice and ice cream shops in its forecourt. The mall sees busy commercial activity daily and employs about 150 workers.

One of the mall’s notable investors is the Damascene businessman Bilal Al-Naal, a Syrian People’s Assembly member whose role in trade and investment has become prominent in recent years. Mr Naal was previously the general manager of the now-dissolved Desert Falcons security company, which is accused of involvement in war crimes and manipulating humanitarian aid delivered on behalf of various United Nations agencies. He has been on the U.S. sanctions list since 2020. Mr Naal was also a former investor in the Qasioun Mall before it was taken over by his business rival, Wassim Qattan, who currently resides outside of Syria following accusations related to building violations that caused the collapse of a building facade in Damascus’s Al-Malki district.

AbdulGhani Osman, a member of the Executive Office in Damascus Governorate in charge of municipal services and utilities, told the semi-official Al-Watan newspaper that aerial images of the property showed that the unlicensed construction there occurred after 2012, necessitating the implementation of Building Violation Decree No. 40 of 2012. In other words, the unlicensed construction on the site cannot be settled. Mr Osman concluded that the settlements granted to Property No. 722 in 2018 were void, as there is no new building licence on the site, which is still considered a four-storey residential building with a single electricity meter (there is a complaint in this regard from the Damascus Electricity Company, No. 845, issued on October 16, 2023). Consequently, the building was expanded, and an additional storey was added without a permit, along with excessive restoration work.

Mr Osman added that the property could not be expropriated because it is privately owned, contradicting previous statements that it was expropriated for the benefit of the Damascus governorate. This adds to the conflicting official statements about the property. However, it aligns with a declaration by Reema Jourieh, the director of municipal services, stating that Property No. 722 is divided into three parts, according to the zoning plan: one part will be a park, one part will extend a public street, and the last part shares a roof with neighbouring properties. This indicates that the property is partially expropriated but still partly privately owned. However, there is no information about the owners of this section.

Mr Naal or the investors of the restaurants in the mall did not issue statements.

The Damascus governorate’s decision sets a precedent by revoking a building violation settlement file. Obtaining a settlement for a violation, paying its fines, and registering it in the property ledger is a highly complex process, requiring significant influence and years of follow-up with the governorate, the Directorate of Cadastral Affairs, the Directorate of Finance, the police departments and security branches. This usually occurs only after paying substantial bribes, which depend on the value of the property, its location and the extent of the unlicensed construction.

Property Prices and Construction Material Costs Soar

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The prices of construction materials continue to rise in both the official and black markets in areas controlled by the Damascus government, leading to a steady increase in property market prices. However, the decrease in demand is pushing the market towards stagnation.

The rising prices are primarily linked to the depreciation of the Syrian pound and increased energy costs. Construction material prices are subject to official government pricing policies, mainly since a significant portion of production is carried out by public sector institutions and companies, which also control marketing and distribution.

In a phenomenon parallel to market stagnation, the prices of some residential units have become lower than the current construction costs, at least in Damascus, according to The Syria Report’s sources. The construction cost per square metre on a basic level ranges from SYP 700,000 to 1 million, varying by location. Meanwhile, the finishing costs per square metre have risen to a minimum of SYP 500,000.

On October 4, the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Protection issued Decision No. 3219, raising the price per tonne of cement produced by the General Organisation for Cement and Building Materials from SYP 700,000 to 1.76 million, at factory costs (equivalent to USD 150 at the official exchange rate and USD 129 at the black market rate). The ministry’s decision was based on a recommendation made by an economic committee affiliated with the Council of Ministers during its 50th session held on October 2. The ministry clarified that the increase in cement prices was due to the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources’ recent increase in fuel prices and other energy resources, constituting about 70 percent of the input for cement production.

Over the past years, the Ministry of Domestic Trade has raised the price per tonne of cement several times: from SYP 125,000 as per Decision No. 2603 in 2020 to SYP 175,000 as per Decision No. 1115 in 2021 to SYP 400,000 as per Decision No. 1260 in 2022, and to SYP 700,000 under Decision No. 1677 in June 2023.

A correspondent for The Syria Report in Damascus pointed out that the black market price for cement rose to SYP 4 million per tonne following the Ministry’s Decision No. 3219. Notably, prices in the black market are higher than in the official market. Other sources put the price in the black market a bit lower, around 2.8 million, but still much higher than its official price.

The OMRAN – General Establishment for Domestic Trade of Metals and Building Materials, also known as “Omran” and affiliated with the Ministry of Domestic Trade, is responsible for marketing construction materials produced by the public sector in the official local market, including cement, iron, timber, paints and ceramics. Omran was established by Decree No. 163 in 1970 and has virtually monopolised the cement market since its inception, despite the entry of private sector producers into the market after 2000. Omran compels private cement producers to sell their production to it exclusively during certain seasons, deducting a commission of up to 10 percent on the value of sales. In other seasons, Omran refrains from purchasing from the private sector, leading to an accumulation of their products amidst difficulties in local marketing.

Omran primarily focuses on securing cement for projects undertaken by public sector companies. However, it also provides contractors and citizens with specific quantities of building materials in accordance with the quantity tables included in the official construction permits they hold. The company refrains from selling cement outside these conditions, subject to confiscation and legal accountability. No bag of cement can be sold without an official document to those with an original building permit, a renewal of the permit, or a restoration licence, in addition to craftsmen with monthly vouchers issued by the Craftsmen’s Association.

The recent increase in cement prices has directly reflected in the prices of other building materials. The price of breeze blocks has reached SYP 4,300 per block, whereas last year, it was around SYP 1,000. The increase in cement prices also affects the overall costs of construction work such as plastering, tiling, ceramics and stone cladding.

Omran also dominates the distribution of construction iron produced by public sector companies. However, the presence of private companies producing iron, owned by prominent businessmen such as Ayman Jaber, Mohamed Hamsho, and Samer Foz, who are close to high-ranking officials in the security and military leadership of the regime, reduces the monopoly of the institution on the market and allows for some competition between producers. The price of construction iron has risen from SYP 4 million per tonne in 2022 to SYP 12 million currently.

Sand and gravel are also essential materials in the construction process. They have seen significant price increases, even though a significant portion comes from quarries and rubble dumps managed by prominent businessmen connected to the Fourth Armoured Division of Maher Al-Assad. The cubic metre price of sand has risen from SYP 45,000 in 2022 to SYP 225,000 currently, while the price per cubic metre of gravel has increased from SYP 55,000 to SYP 200,000 currently.

Hotel Construction Resumes in Damascus Despite Legal Disputes

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After a 13-year hiatus, a private company resumed construction work in October 2023 on a hotel project in the Kafr Sousseh district near the Council of Ministers building in Damascus. The work continued despite existing court rulings in favour of the local residents against the construction company for infringing on their easement rights.

Kafr Sousseh is a residential area built on part of the Kafr Sousseh orchards south of Damascus city in the 1980s. The area is well-planned, its buildings are licensed, and it is inhabited by the upper echelons of the middle class, particularly businesspeople.

In 2007, Orient Engineering & Contracting, a part of the Toumeh International Group, obtained a licence from the Damascus Governorate to establish a hotel and commercial mall in Kafr Sousseh under a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) system in collaboration with the Mövenpick International Group for restaurants and hotels. The BOT system is a method for implementing large projects, particularly those related to infrastructure, through a concession granted by the public sector to a private entity to finance, design, build and operate a facility for a specified period.

Toumeh Group acquired the right to operate the tourist facility for 25 years, agreeing to pay 11 percent of its annual revenues to the Damascus governorate. The implementation period was set at 1,000 days from the date of signing the contract, with a total value of SYP 500 million at that time (approximately USD 10 million).

According to the certified zoning plan for Kafr Sousseh in 2007, the project site was designated for residential construction, comprising four plots prepared for construction with a total area of 10,000 square metres. Construction was allowed on 12 percent of this area, with a height limit of seven storeys (meaning the area occupied by the building is only 1,200 square metres). The rest of the space (8,800 square metres) was allocated for gardens and amenities owned by the Damascus governorate.

However, before signing the contract with Orient, the Damascus governorate changed the zoning of its plots at the project site from residential to commercial and tourism, based on Urban Planning Law No. 5 of 1982, citing public interest requirements. As a result, the governorate was able to merge the four plots into one to establish a single construction block with a floor area of 8,500 square metres and vary heights ranging from four to 13 storeys, in addition to basements for services and car parking. This area includes malls, swimming pools and recreational spaces.

Orient started the construction in 2008. According to a correspondent for The Syria Report, the company committed multiple “construction violations,” including building without a licence on a heritage Endowments Ministry site from the Ayyubid period, which includes a dome and a mausoleum registered as historical buildings in Damascus city. Building regulations require a 30-metre clearance around heritage sites. Nevertheless, Orient isolated the heritage site with concrete walls and a roof, restricted access to it, and continued construction around it, despite official objections submitted by the Directorate of Tourism and the Directorate of Religious Endowments in the Damascus governorate.

Additionally, the residents who own housing units in the regulated area surrounding the project site have objected to changing the regulatory status of the site and, consequently, to the implementation of the project. Some justified this to The Syria Report’s correspondent, saying that when they bought their flats, they considered the area residential, overlooking gardens. However, the area has been transformed into a commercial-touristic zone, meaning that it will lose its residential character, becoming a source of noise and congestion, and the taller buildings will block their view.

Those residents believe that these changes will cause a decrease in the value of their properties, which, when announced in 2007, exceeded one million dollars per flat (approximately 45 million Syrian pounds). By the end of 2021, the price of an average-sized flat, between 120-170 square metres, in the Kafr Sousseh zoned area was around 2-3 billion Syrian pounds (USD 500-750,000).

The bigger problem was the encroachments made by Orient on the common obligations with the adjacent residential buildings, infringing upon the residents’ rights to easement, all considered violations of the building code in Damascus. According to civil law, the right of easement is an obligation imposed on a specific property for the benefit of another specific property owned by another person. The rights of easement include the right to pass through someone else’s land, to place pillars and towers in shared spaces, to extend electrical and aerial cables, and also the right to access lighting and ventilation. The building code imposes an obligation that prevents construction within five metres on the side of public properties and 10 metres between residential blocks. Orient did not adhere to these obligations and built on the entire plot.

Some of the residential unit owners behind the Mövenpick building filed lawsuits against Orient. In 2010, they obtained judicial rulings confirming the occurrence of violations and infringement of their easement rights, demanding compensation. The financial compensation for those affected by easement rights violations is calculated as a percentage of the value of the property they own.

However, the objectors have not received compensation, and the Damascus governorate did not remove the unlicensed construction. Instead, Orient completed the implementation and construction works, thereby converting the unlicensed construction into a fait accompli, a practice many private entities exploit, leveraging their relationships with influential individuals in the regime. In similar cases, the implementing entities resort to later reconciliation according to the prevailing building violations law after paying bribes to government officials to reduce fines.

At the beginning of 2010, after completing the main building block, Orient stopped its work, closed the project site, and abandoned it. It appears that this decision came after the emergence of engineering and financial disputes with Mövenpick International Group, which withdrew its brand from the project.

In October 2023, Toumeh International Hotels and Tourism Investment, part of Toumeh International Group, began working on the project site from where Orient left off. It is still unclear whether Toumeh International Group has reached a solution with Mövenpick International Group, what happened to Orient, or whether the hotel will eventually bear the Mövenpick name.

In any case, Toumeh International Group belongs to businessman Nabil Toumeh, a member of the Syrian People’s Assembly, involved in tourism investments, contracting, information technology and television production. It is a financier for several local media outlets such as Azmena, Al-Bahithoun, Al-Muaarad, and Al-Aswaq Al-Duwaliya. Mr Toumeh has been on the US sanctions list since 2020 for his activities supporting the regime.

Collapse of Wassim Al-Qattan’s Building in Damascus Becomes Security Issue

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The repercussions of the collapse last month of several balconies on a building in Damascus’ central Al-Malki district appear to still be unfolding as the matter shifts from merely an issue of unlicensed construction to a security concern. This shift is due to the sensitivity of the area in which the building is located, next to a security complex that houses the residences and offices of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, his family and his personal security team. 

Sources in the Damascus governorate told The Syria Report that the balconies on the Yassine Al-Tabbaa building overlooking Adnan Al-Malki Square collapsed on September 11. This partial collapse of the building was a result of unauthorised digging and excavation beneath it to expand the basements. The basements should have been reinforced, but were not, leading to the vertical collapse of two concrete columns that were sharing the load of the balconies.

The ground floor of the building is owned by Syrian businessman Wassim Al-Qattan, and the basement expansion was done for his benefit. Mr Qattan, a member of the Rural Damascus Chamber of Commerce, has been on the U.S. and European sanctions lists since 2020 for his role in supporting the Syrian regime. Due to his connections and influence, he obtained a renovation permit for the ground floor of the building, which he exploited illegally to bring in large quantities of construction materials, remove debris from the site, and carry out basement expansion works, converting them into residential apartments. 

According to the Building Violations Law No. 40 of 2012, any work in excess of that listed in the granted permit is considered a “building violation.” The expansion works were carried out without proper engineering planning and without obtaining a prior reinforcement permit.

Sources told The Syria Report that Mr Qattan left Syria immediately after the incident for fear of arrest, and he is trying to communicate with senior officers from the security services to resolve the issue. However, these officers consider the incident a security breach, not a licensing violation. Dozens of members of the Syrian president’s security team have been arrested. Prosecution of those responsible for the collapse continues, with arrests and investigations of employees and officials in the Damascus governorate, as well as engineers related to the matter. The security follow-up is being handled by the Arbaeen Police Department, which is, in turn, affiliated with the Political Security Branch in the Ministry of Interior, responsible for protecting the security complex.

According to The Syria Report‘s correspondent in Damascus, the deputy head of the executive office of the Damascus governorate and other senior officials have been released after the governor’s intervention. However, the detention of the director of service departments in the Damascus governorate is expected to be prolonged, with the executive office in the governorate assigning a replacement. The head of the Muhajireen municipality, where the building is located, continues to be detained. The Damascus governorate is divided into 16 areas, each with its own municipal status, including the Old City. Each municipality is managed by a mayor appointed by a decision of the governor.

The engineer supervising the renovation permits, as well as members of the Engineers’ Syndicate who approved the permit, and the so-called “area engineer” have also been detained. Notably, the area’s engineer remains in detention despite claims that he was prohibited from entering the project site and inspecting the engineering works as his job requires. Each mayor in Damascus is assisted by two engineers, one head of the service department and the other called the area engineer, both appointed by the governor. The engineers are rotated among the different municipalities, ensuring that no engineer remains in their position for more than three months. These engineers are employees of the Damascus governorate.

The Directorate of Planning and Urbanisation in the Damascus governorate is the body responsible for issuing restoration permits, officially known as Reinforcement and Partial Reconstruction Permits. This permit process undergoes extensive scrutiny; the document must be approved by the designated services department in the governorate, the Directorate of Planning and Urbanisation, the local police department, the Engineers’ Syndicate and the supervising and implementing engineer. Meanwhile, the area engineer and the services engineer in the municipal sector to which the property belongs supervise the restoration process. The local police department also visits the site to monitor the restoration process. It has the authority to immediately halt work and apprehend the violators if a permit violation is discovered. 

Usually, these procedures – prey to administrative corruption ≠ are not followed strictly, but due to the area’s security sensitivity, the procedures should have been taken seriously.

Therefore, it is clear that the cause of the security unrest is a permit violation in a highly security-sensitive area, despite all the imposed security and engineering scrutiny. Sources told The Syria Report that the restoration permit was granted to Wassim Al-Qattan without a reinforcement permit. Due to his influence, Mr Qattan was allowed to bring in excess construction materials, inconsistent with the scope of work specified in the restoration permit.

According to The Syria Report’s local correspondent, tracing the hierarchy of responsibility in issuing the restoration permit will inevitably lead to the Governor of Damascus himself. It may result in his dismissal or possibly his arrest, along with other senior officials in the governorate.

Members of the Damascus Governorate Council unanimously agreed to revoke the membership of Malak Hamsho, a member of the Services Sector in the Executive Office of the Governorate Council, in a session held in mid-October. Eighty-two out of the 100 council members submitted written requests to cancel Hamsho’s membership following the balcony collapse. The 82 members are from the ruling Baath Party bloc and a few independent members. Malak Hamsho is the Deputy Director of Services Departments in Damascus Governorate, well-versed in laws and administrative and engineering procedures, and is known for her strict application of the law. The reason for this unanimous decision to cancel Hamsho’s membership and her direct connection to the balcony collapse case remains unclear.

Meanwhile, the governorate and affiliated services departments are witnessing tension and fear among employees, apprehensive of arbitrary arrest and detention outside the legal framework. Employees involved in security-sensitive issues are often detained for long periods without being presented to the judiciary. The detainees’ families are forced to pay large amounts of money and substantial bribes to security officials to improve their loved ones’ detention conditions, while they need much larger sums to conclude the investigation and present the case to the judiciary.

On the other hand, malicious rumours are reportedly spreading among senior officials in the Damascus governorate as part of settling scores between them. Many employees are trying to resign, fearing these rumours, especially since their salaries are already paltry and do not cover transportation costs. However, the Damascus governorate is refusing the employees’ resignations and seems to have referred some of them for administrative and security investigation due to their insistence on resigning.

SSG Modifies Building Code in Idlib, Raising Permit Fees

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The Ministry of Local Administration and Services in the Syrian Salvation Government (SSG) in Idlib is attempting to regulate the construction sector after the widespread destruction caused by the earthquake on February 6, 2023. The Ministry is working to subject new construction operations to the Syrian building code and its annex related to earthquakes, imposing strict administrative and technical oversight mechanisms and increasing fees and taxes on construction work.

The Ministry has transferred the powers of the Engineers Syndicate to the Directorate of Engineering Affairs in the Ministry, which has become responsible for reviewing the engineering studies for any new construction, as part of the permit process. The Directorate is responsible for rejecting engineering studies that do not comply with construction conditions, Ministry advisor and engineer Said Al-Ashqar told The Syria Report’s correspondent.

The Ministry has set five different criteria determining the final building permit fees, including location, surrounding streets, regulatory nature, type of establishment and general description of the building. However, the Ministry has not yet officially published the fee values. Meanwhile, our correspondent quoted local sources as saying that the new fees for residential building permits reach up to USD 3 per square metre of construction. 

The Ministry has prohibited permits for common-ownership lands and required land partitioning before permitting construction on such properties.

According to Mr Ashqar, the technical phases of building homes and public facilities begin with an architectural and structural engineering study, submitted by a supervising engineer to the competent municipality to obtain a permit. The Directorate of Engineering Affairs then audits and certifies the study, returning it to the municipality, which in turn grants the building permit. Afterwards, the municipality and the supervising engineer oversee all stages of implementation.

Throughout all these stages, adherence to this building code system is necessary. This system consists of administrative decisions issued by administrative units that determine the necessary conditions for building, repairing and demolishing structures within the limits of the administrative unit. Each administrative unit issues its own specific regulation, in line with the zoning plan and the nature of the area.

The Ministry has divided the building code system into two parts: regulation within the zoning plan and regulation outside it. In both cases, certain conditions must be observed, the most important of which are adherence to the minimum land area to be built on, the number of storeys, the area of the facades and compliance with the minimum storey height.

Building regulations outside the zoning plans are classified into three sections: first, a protection area for the detailed zoning plan from any informal urban expansion, where building is prohibited. 

Second are agricultural areas outside the zoning plan, where building is allowed on land smaller than 200 square metres. If the land area is less than 4,000 square metres, construction is allowed with a two-storey system, with the maximum area for one storey at 100 square metres. If the land area exceeds 4,000 square metres, the area of one floor should be 160 square metres. In all cases, a facade for the building must be left at a distance of 10 metres at the front, and five metres for the other sides.

The third type of area outside of zoning plans are the rocky mountainous areas. Ministry of Local Administration Decision No. 370, issued on August 21, 2023, stipulates that the minimum area of the partition to be built upon in such zones is 200 square metres, and the width of the front of one partition is 12 square metres, with facades of three metres on all sides. The regulation added details about the building conditions in this case, such as the number of allowable storeys if the property overlooks a street according to its width, the total height of the storeys, and the facades. Commercial and industrial construction, various investment projects, and residential suburbs in rocky mountainous regions are exempted from this building regulation system to be considered separately.

The Ministry also issued Circular No. 14 on June 1, treating all properties under construction as existing buildings, meaning their owners must obtain a new construction permit. 

Authorities allowed legal settlement for law-violating buildings inside or outside of zoning plans, as well as the obtainment of official construction permits. The main settlement condition is that a committee consisting of three engineers must submit a structural safety report about the building to the Directorate of Technical Services in the Ministry.

Even earlier than that, on May 17, 2023, the Ministry issued Circular No. 8, specifying the required documents to complete the administrative transactions related to permits and settlements as follows: a real estate registration statement proving ownership, along with a copy of the identity of the land or building owner, a survey plan with a statement of neighbouring properties, a topographical statement, and a general site drawing. 

Circular No. 9, also issued on May 17, outlined the administrative procedures for permits and settlement, whereby the reception office in the municipality receives the request, ensures the accuracy and completeness of the documents, and forwards the request to the technical department in the central municipality for verification. This department also conducts a preliminary technical inspection and transfers it to the Directorate of Technical Services in the Ministry of Local Administration and Services.

New Amendments to the Damascus City Building Code

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On March 6, 2023, the executive office of the Damascus governorate council issued Decision No. 302, amending particular articles of the building code system in Damascus. The decision was published in the lobby of the Damascus Governorate in mid-June 2023, aiming to allow objections within one month. After studying the complaints, the Damascus governorate will approve the new building code system and submit it to the Ministry of Public Works and Housing for ratification and publication in the Official Gazette.

A building code consists of administrative decisions issued by an area’s administrative unit council and approved by the relevant governorate and the Ministry of Public Works and Housing. The regulations in a code stipulate the necessary conditions for constructing, repairing and demolishing buildings and facilities within the boundaries of the administrative unit. Each unit has its unique building code system, issued according to the standards of the area’s zoning plans and based on urban planning laws. Building codes determine the proper building proportion of a plot of land, the height of floors, distances between buildings and more. Building codes are considered one of the foundations of urban planning, including detailed and general zoning plans. 

Decision No. 302 included amendments to articles in the Damascus city building code issued under Decree No. 492 of 1997. Some of these amendments are substantial, and some are only surface-level. 

The most significant amendment was to Article 165, related to the current state of construction. It is now possible for the Directorate of Urban Planning and Zoning to consider licensing buildings constructed without licenses between 1948 and the date of issuing the new building code, according to the construction system in place at the time of the building’s completion. For this to occur, a surface cadastral survey, a real estate registry extract, and a photographic representation of the current architectural state of the entire building must be provided. The amendment allows the completion of the structure according to the urban method in the area, provided that a technical report is secured and authenticated by the Engineers’ Syndicate on the structural safety of the building.

Also, the other notable amendment related to housing, land and property rights is the following: 

  • Adding a definition of the so-called “technical floor” to the definitions section in the first chapter. This refers to the floor containing the building’s mechanical equipment, such as heating, water pumping, treatment equipment, etc. This floor is considered joint property for the building owners or the buildings sharing this equipment. Using this floor for any purposes other than its intended use is prohibited. This floor does not count in the calculation of floor surface area. However, it is subject to financial fees according to the Financial Law of Administrative Units No. 37 of 2021.
  • Amending Article 3 to grant a construction permit only after verifying the applicant’s ownership. Also, the permit may be amended in the name of the legal heirs after being ratified by a Sharia judge, and with the judge’s approval in case a minor is present. The Sharia judge is the judge in charge of examining personal status issues.
  • Amending Article 7, related to conducting unlicensed construction during the implementation of a building project. Under the new amendment, the person who violates the construction permit, whether the owner or the contractor, will be suspended from working in the domain of construction permits within the governorate for five years. However, the governorate has the right to ask the Engineers’ Syndicate to punish the engineer responsible for the unlicensed implementation, according to their speciality, in line with professional standards. The decision still exempts the offending engineer from punishment if they submit a written report about the violation within a week of its occurrence. A paragraph has also been added to Article 7, stating that the Licensing and Construction Department in Damascus governorate is the body that issues the order to start excavation and construction work after the building permit issuance, so long as the property is free of encroachments.
  • Amending Article 9 regarding the duration of a construction permit so that the time of the license is now three years for buildings consisting of six or fewer storeys. Four months are added for each additional storey, so long as the permit period does not exceed five years. An additional year is added for modifying the permit. Meanwhile, an amendment to Article 10 stipulates a halt to construction work when the permit period ends and not to continue work before extending or renewing the permit with the approval of the Damascus governorate council’s executive office. The permit holder must apply for its extension a month before its expiry, provided they prove that the non-completion of the construction is due to reasons beyond their control.
  • Amending Article 12 related to the renewal of the construction permit. Under this amendment, the license renewal goes according to the building code on which it was granted, or according to this new system if construction work has not started yet. However, the permit renewal only covers any storeys not yet built or the work not yet executed under the original permit. Many documents must be presented to renew the permit, including the real estate’s land record summary.
  • Amending Article 30, which is related to housing permits. Housing permits are now to be given in two stages, according to Building Plot Construction Law No. 82 of 2010, as follows: the first permit is given after inspecting the building to ensure its structural safety before starting the interior cladding work. The second permit is given after the building’s interior and exterior finishes and after ensuring no unlicensed construction has occurred.
  • Amending Article 83 related to residential units. According to the amendment, the smallest residential unit should be no less than 35 square meters (previously, the minimum was 29 square meters). It should contain one or two rooms with a net area of no less than 20 square meters. The smallest dimension, i.e. the length or width of the room, should not be less than three meters, and the area of each room should not be less than nine square meters. The kitchen area should not be less than six square meters, with its smallest dimension not less than 2.4 meters. The combined bathroom and toilet area should not be less than 3.6 square meters. While the amendment of Article 84 is also related to residential units, it requires that the net width of the internal corridor in the residential apartment should not be less than 1.1 meters.
  • Amending Article 93 related to the room allocated for a building’s caretaker. Its surface area on the ground floor should now be at least 12 square meters instead of the previous minimum of 10 square meters. 
  • Amending Article 102 related to the “last” or highest roof space of a building, where the staircase covering must be replaced by an opening that provides access to the last roof via a metal ladder. Joint water tanks must be placed on the roof, as well as the installation of a central television antenna and allowing the installation of solar panels on the roof. An amendment to Article 108 also mandated the existence of a car garage in the basement for all residential and non-residential divisions.

 

How One Man Lost His Land and House in Basilia City

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In early 2011, Ibrahim bought a small piece of land in the Bayader Nader informal settlement near Kafr Sousseh in Damascus. He built a small unlicensed house on the land, but was forced to flee the city because of his political activities against the regime. While he was gone, someone else seized his house and sold it. Then, the entire area became subject to rezoning as part of the second zoned real estate area in Damascus, established via Decree No. 66 of 2012. This area would come to be known as Basilia City. Ibrahim lost his house, and it is now difficult for him to claim his rights as laid out in Decree No. 66.

Ibrahim is originally from Deir-ez-Zor, and the 95-square-metre piece of land he bought in Bayader Nader was worth SYP 45,000 (about USD 1,000 in 2011). As with all informal settlements built on private agricultural land, construction is technically illegal — that meant Ibrahim had actually just purchased a share of the original agricultural property. This made Ibrahim merely one among dozens of shared owners of the property, most of whom were also from Deir-ez-Zor. Common ownership means there are two or more owners of one property — their individual shares are not subdivided, which makes them shared owners of a single piece of real estate. Agricultural lands like the one Ibrahim built his home on cannot be subdivided, nor the common property can be terminated. The only proof of ownership in such cases is through a notarised sales contract that specifies which share the buyer now owns. It may also include a statement specifying the location of the land, and a description of the property if there has been construction. In all cases, buildings constructed on lands that were sold in this manner, as well as sales of such buildings, are not formally recorded in the Land Registry. 

The original owner of Ibrahim’s land comes from a family that works in contracting, construction and real estate, and some of the family members have good relations with influential figures in the regime as well as Hezbollah officials. According to Ibrahim, the family utilised these relationships to solve some complex real estate issues. When the Syrian revolution began in 2011, Ibrahim decided to build on his piece of land without a construction permit. Ibrahim took advantage of the municipality’s relative laxity in halting unlicensed construction during that time and benefitted from services provided to him by the owner of the land, who is also a contractor. Within just a few months, the contractor built a one-storey house with three rooms and a salon, as well as a kitchen and bathroom. The construction costs totaled SYP 700,000, which Ibrahim paid to the contractor. He also obtained electricity and water meters for the house. 

Ibrahim’s story is not unique. During that same period, Ibrahim’s contractor built dozens of identical, unlicensed houses on small plots of land in Bayader Nader for dozens of people, most of whom were from Deir-ez-Zor like Ibrahim.

Ibrahim did not end up living in that house, as his opposition to the regime meant he had to leave Syria after he became wanted by the security services. In order to maintain the house while he was away, he leased it to someone he knew. Others from Deir-ez-Zor who had also built unlicensed houses in the area took similar measures. 

In 2012, the Decree No. 66, was issued, which stipulated establishing two zoned real estate areas within the general plans for Damascus city. One of those zones, Basilia City, had an area of 954 hectares that included the Bayader Nader informal settlement. However, implementation of that zoned real estate area did not begin immediately due to ongoing battles on the ground. 

Ibrahim’s contractor belonged at this time to the pro-regime National Defence militia and became a leader of its local group in Bayader Nader. Clashes approached the area in 2013-2014 as the opposition took control of the neighbouring Yarmouk camp and Al-Qadam areas. After making sure he was gone, the contractor evicted the tenant from Ibrahim’s house then leased it instead to one of his own acquaintances, taking advantage of the general chaos in the area. He did the same with other absentees for whom he had built previously unlicensed houses in Bayader Nader, by extorting its occupants and then leasing them to other people. 

Ibrahim, who could not return to Syria, nevertheless discovered by chance in 2015, that someone from Idlib governorate had bought his house. When one of Ibrahim’s relatives visited the house, the occupant showed that they had a sales contract from the contractor, who was also the original owner of the agricultural land. 

Because Ibrahim’s ownership is technically just a share on a commonly owned, non-subdivided property, it could be located anywhere on the original plot of land. This means that the extorter — in this case the contractor — can sell the same property over and over, so long as the sales contracts are not recorded in the Land Registry, and so long as owners like Ibrahim are unable to return and prove their ownership via the judiciary. 

With the return of relative stability to the area, and after regime forces retook control in 2018, the Damascus governorate began work on the Basilia City project. This included preparation of large parcels of land, including parts of Bayader Nader, whose residents were evicted. 

Under Decree No. 66 and the subsequent Law No. 10 of 2018 that amended it, real estate properties in Basilia City are distributed to rights holders after zoning via shares, according to the results of the work of the inventory and Description Committee. Those who owned agricultural land within the area and didn’t construct anything on it can receive financial compensation, to be set by the governorate, and this was the case of Ibrahim.

Ibrahim, was unable to find out what happened to his house, and whether it had been evacuated and removed, or it was still standing and being rented to strangers. His name was on a list for those entitled to receive only financial compensation — this is because he was a joint owner of a share of agricultural land before the zoning process. And because Ibrahim is wanted by the security services, he is afraid to return to Syria in order to claim his rights and prove via the judiciary that he owned an unlicensed house, a process that could allow him to obtain organisational shares in Basilia City. 

Under Decree No. 66 the occupants of their own properties in the area before the zoning process can obtain these shares as well as the right to apply for alternative housing, albeit at their own expense. However, those who only owned their real estate without living on it are only entitled to organisational shares. Those who were occupants but did not own the real estate can apply for alternative housing.

Explained: Construction Permits on Common-Ownership Lands

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Syria’s urban planning legal system imposes complicated conditions for granting construction permits on land commonly owned by multiple owners. 

The laws distinguish between three cases when considering whether to grant such permits: lands commonly owned within provincial city centres, those located in the zoning plans of local administrative units and those outside such zoning plans but located within local administrative boundaries. 

These procedures often are complex and take a long time. In addition, applicants face several unfair conditions, such as giving up their right to request services on the land and requiring the consent of all the owners, which can lead to blackmail. Other issues include the expropriation of shares from commonly owned lands and the complex procedures for terminating common ownership. 

Consequently, many property owners avoid applying for construction permits and sometimes build without permits, leaving their properties vulnerable to future legal problems. 

Properties within provincial city centres

Building permits on commonly owned properties in these areas are subject to the provisions of Building Plot Construction Law No. 82 of 2010, its Executive Instructions No. 105 of 2010 and amendments issued in Law No. 6 of 2020. Here, those who own at least half the shares on the commonly owned property must apply to their local city council for the construction permit, alongside a request to terminate the common ownership. 

Next, the local council head forms a committee tasked with terminating common ownership of the property. This committee is led by a judge appointed by the Minister of Justice. It includes a representative from the administrative authority and a first-degree representative from the Directorate of Cadastral Affairs appointed by the Minister of Local Administration. The committee informs the real estate department to which the property belongs to place a sale notice for the property in a public auction. This committee then requests the owners to agree on their application for the construction permit within five days. It prepares a report documenting the agreed-upon terms among the partners. If they agree, the committee requests them to complete the permit documents. If they disagree, the committee decides to sell the property in a public auction according to the applicable legal procedures. The committee’s decision regarding the sale is published in local and Damascus newspapers two weeks before the auction.

All decisions by the committee are subject to appeal before the Court of Appeal in the relevant governorate, according to the deadlines for appealing urgent matters, which are set at five days. The Court of Appeal issues its decision in the deliberation chamber without summoning the parties, which is final. The winning bidder in the auction must pay the price of the property and other specified fees within ten days, under penalty of the property being auctioned again. Additionally, within six months, the winning bidder must submit a construction permit request for the property, accompanied by the required legal documents and technical plans.

Properties within local administrative unit zoning plans

Construction permits in these areas are subject to the executive instructions issued by the Ministry of Local Administration Resolution No. 3921 of 2011 regarding the repealed Law No. 59 of 2008 on unlicensed buildings. However, the current Law No. 40 of 2012 on unlicensed buildings and its executive instructions do not address this particular licensing situation. Therefore, the executive instructions of Law No. 59 remain applicable in this case.

According to the executive instructions of Law No. 59, several conditions must be fulfilled. The applicant for the permit must provide the administrative unit with a document proving ownership of the portion of the communally owned property that requires licensing. This proof can be a real estate registration statement, a notarized agency agreement or a court decision. Additionally, they must submit a detailed site plan from an engineering office, authenticated by the local council or technical services office, showing the location of the land to be licensed, its surrounding properties, building boundaries, roads and other facilities. A certificate indicating the area to be licensed, issued by the mukhtars Authority and notarised, must also be provided. Finally, the applicant must also submit a document signed by the adjacent landowners and notarized, attesting to the applicant’s right to the land requiring the permit. The permit applicant must promise not to claim any compensation in case the administrative authority decides to cancel or suspend the permit in the event of a legal dispute.

 

The land must meet certain conditions, such as partially facing a public road and having a specified length. In addition, a designated portion of the land should be allocated for public facilities. In this case, the executive instructions do not require the submission of a request to terminate communal ownership of the property along with the permit application.

Properties outside zoning plans but located within local administrative boundaries 

Construction permits in these areas are granted according to the executive instructions issued by the Ministry of Local Administration on February 28, 2012. These instructions are similar to the licensing process for commonly owned lands within zoning plans, albeit with the addition of some conditions. 

For example, a permit applicant for land outside a zoning plan must submit a notarized written promise to the notary public, stating that they will not demand the administrative unit to provide public services such as roads, water, electricity and sewage. This means that the administrative entity disclaims its responsibilities for implementing the rights accrued to the permit holder. In addition, the land area must meet a specific limit as specified in that governorate’s building codes. Finally, access to the land must be ensured without any objection from the owners of the remaining shares separating it from the public road.

After these conditions are met and before granting the permit, the local administrative unit must publish the permit request in one of the governorate’s local newspapers and on its bulletin board for 30 days. This is so that people can send in objections. If there are no objections, then the permit is granted. 

Explained: The Directorate of Planning and Urbanisation in Damascus Governorate

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The Directorate of Planning and Urbanisation is part of the municipal services at the Damasus governorate. It is tasked mainly with preparing and following up on the city’s general zoning draft plan. The directorate also puts in place the city’s planning and expropriation draft plans and follows up on procedures for approval. 

The directorate is in charge of planning, implementation and supervision, tasks that give it wide-reaching powers that often affect housing, land and property rights. For example, 40 years ago the directorate made an expropriation plan for properties in the RuknEddin informal settlement, located at the foot of Mount Qasioun, in order to widen certain streets and build a school. Though the area underwent expropriation, this project has not yet been implemented. Instead, these properties have fallen into disrepair and heirs have been barred from restoring them. A similar problem happened in the Midan neighbourhood of Damascus, when some properties were expropriated in order to widen local streets. 

The directorate is also responsible for classifying districts within the capital as residential, commercial or agricultural. This task includes keeping some areas, such as Basateen Al-Razi and Basateen Kiwan in the Mazzeh area classified as agricultural land despite being located in the heart of Damascus, under the pretext of maintaining green spaces in the capital. Property owners in these areas have therefore been unable to obtain construction permits. As a result, informal settlements were established in these formerly green areas that grew without regulation. In the early 2000s, however, the directorate reneged and decided to change the classification of Basateen Kiwan from an agricultural area into a real estate investment area, and offered real estate there for investment without any justification. Later, Legislative Decree No. 66 of 2012, which created two zoned real estate areas within the general zoning plan for Damascus, allowed for the governorate to transform Basateen Al-Razi and its surroundings into Marota City. 

In addition, the directorate is responsible for securing alternative housing (which is not provided for free) to eligible residents, as well as following up on the procedures for distributing the homes. That said, the handover of alternative housing units usually faces years-long delays and in many cases the homes are located outside the administrative boundaries of Damascus. The 1990s saw the Four Seasons Hotel built on land expropriated by the Damascus governorate in the downtown Zuqaq Al-Sakhr neighbourhood — but owners of those expropriated properties were given alternative housing in the Qudsaya suburb. And residents entitled to alternative housing in the Marota and Basilia City projects are still waiting, seven years after eviction, for homes that will be constructed at their own expense. 

The Directorate of Planning and Urbanisation also prepares and follows up on studies related to health and the environment, though it does not appear to be fulfilling this duty to the greatest extent possible. For example, construction on the Yazid River water treatment plant in Damascus’ RuknEddin neighbourhood, as well as the sewage treatment plant in Dummar, located west of Damascus, was completed in the early 2000s. However, they remain out of service to this day, allowing untreated sewage water to be pumped directly into the Barada River. 

The Licensing and Construction Department affiliated with the Directorate of Planning and Urbanisation, is in charge of issuing permits for a multitude of construction and demolition projects. This department receives and records applications for construction permits and follows up on issuing them. It also issues orders to start construction. As well as permits for demolition, constructing fortifications (such as walls around or above a building), modifying stairwells, constructing sheds on existing buildings and installing fuel tanks.

The directorate also works to set construction permit fees and improvement fees, and has the authority to halt construction projects due to failure to complete the permit process or pay the necessary fees. 

Finally, the directorate is responsible for setting and implementing the system of building codes for Damascus city, which was issued in 1997. This system is a set of administrative decisions issued by local administrative units and approved by the governorates and the Ministry of Public Works and Housing. It determines the conditions that must be met for construction, repair and demolition of buildings and other facilities within those administrative units. 

Explained: Earthquake-resistant Building Design Basics

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In the Syrian Arab Code for the Design and Implementation of Reinforced Concrete Structures, there is an appendix on the basic principles for earthquake-resistant building design. It specifies the construction methods to prevent total or partial collapse during earthquakes. In theory, if the code is followed during the design and implementation process, a building will remain intact even if an earthquake’s magnitude on the Richter scale reaches the upper expected limit for that area. 

The code lays out four steps that must be followed to construct earthquake-resistant buildings: 

  1. A building site’s seismicity (or maximum expected earthquake magnitude) must first be determined. The most significant factors in a site’s seismicity are its proximity to active seismic sources, the seismic history and the frequency of earthquakes in the past 50 years. To help determine seismicity, the earthquake appendix includes a seismic map of Syria created in cooperation with the General Establishment for Geology and Mineral Resources and the Atomic Energy Commission of Syria.The map divides Syria into seismic regions according to the magnitude of expected earthquakes, which are weakest in the east and more severe as the map moves further west. Zone 0 is not considered at risk of significant earthquakes and has a maximum expected magnitude of less than 4.8 on the Richter scale. Zone 1, with a maximum expected magnitude of 5.4, is not at risk of deadly quakes. Zone 2 is at risk of moderate earthquakes of up to 6.1 on the Richter scale. Zone 3 can expect high-intensity earthquakes up to 6.5 on the Richter scale. Finally, Zone 4 is at the highest risk. It can expects devastating earthquakes of over 6.5 degrees of magnitude.

    The seismic map of Syria. Source: The earthquakes appendix to the Syrian Arab Code for the Design and Implementation of Reinforced Concrete Structures.

  2. The geological features and soil type of the building site must undergo study. The study includes the soil mechanics that determine a site’s cohesion and hardness (if it is rocky, clay-like or sandy). Each type has the potential to be compressed or fragmented and collapsed. The depth and dimensions for digging a building’s foundation are determined based on these soil types. This study is required in building design and obtaining a permit to begin construction work.
  3. The design stage of the building, according to the shape requirements, determines the structural sequence of construction, meaning the distribution of the building foundations, retaining walls, and the building height. For example, buildings in areas subject to over-6.1-magnitude earthquakes on the Richter scale may not be taller than 20 metres if using traditional construction methods or 49 metres for those with shear walls. Buildings with steel frames can be up to 73 metres tall.
  4. The design for the building’s earthquake resistance undergoes study using static methods (the impact of an earthquake on the base of a building only) and dynamic methods (the impact on the entire structure). For example, if the building is less than 73 metres tall, it must be designed according to static study methods. Those taller than 73 metres must also undergo dynamic study methods. 

Only buildings designed according to the above four steps are considered to comply with the earthquake-resistance appendix standards. Engineers and building contractors must apply the building code in their design studies when applying for a construction permit. The Engineers’ Syndicate and local administrative units oversee adherence to the code during the different stages of construction. 

Jandares in Rural Afrin: The Most Severe Earthquake Damage in Opposition Territory

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Jandares, located in the rural Afrin area in the northwestern Aleppo governorate countryside and controlled by the opposition-run Syrian Interim Government (SIG), was almost destroyed in the February 06 earthquake, which rendered the town an uninhabitable disaster zone. The sheer number of people who died beneath hundreds of partially and fully destroyed homes indicates serious construction issues and a lack of even minimal earthquake safety standards. 

Around 800 people were killed in the town, with operations still underway to search for and remove bodies trapped beneath the rubble. Statistics released by the opposition-run Jandares Local Council indicate that 257 buildings fully collapsed, while 1,100 others have partially collapsed or now feature cracks. After operations to search for remaining survivors ended a few days after the earthquake, committees from the Civil Defense and Free Engineers Syndicate, which are active in opposition-held areas, began to study the conditions of all remaining buildings in the town. They identified which buildings were at risk of collapse and which would pose a critical danger to residents returning home. 

Temporary shelters were also set up for survivors from Jandares, within the town and the city of Afrin. However, most survivors sought refuge in the camps along the Syrian-Turkish border.

According to Syria’s 2004 census, about 14,000 people lived in Jandares, most of whom, like residents of Afrin, were Kurdish. In 2012, the majority-Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) took over Jandares and most of the Afrin area. Later, in 2018, Turkish-backed National Army rebel factions took over the town in Operation Olive Branch, displacing many of the original Kurdish residents. Meanwhile, many IDPs were forcibly displaced to Jandares from other parts of Syria that had formerly been under opposition control, especially from rural Damascus, Homs, and Hama. By 2022, the town’s population reached 115,000 people, according to local council estimates. 

Most buildings in Jandares were unlicensed. Historically, the town is remote and has received little government or municipal attention. Jandares’ zoning plans are old and not adhered to by any local municipality, just as structural safety standards for construction were not followed during any period of control over the town, given its remote location.

Jandares could be divided into three main parts, according to a local correspondent for The Syria Report: the part built before 2011, the part built during YPG control in 2012-2018 and, finally, the part built during the current period of opposition control. Meanwhile, the first and second parts consist of mostly informal housing surrounding the old town centre. The third part is the largest and the most damaged by the earthquake. 

The informal settlements built in Jandares after 2012 were primarily constructed on private agricultural lands owned by the area’s original residents. After 2018, people newly displaced to the area bought some of those lands and built near-identical, unlicensed, multi-storey housing. Some other displaced people also seized some of the lands owned by those absent from the area and built on them similarly. In both cases, construction is done with the help of building contractors known locally as “building experts” or “concrete carpenters”. Such workers are people with construction experience but lack formal educational qualifications.  

Though the earthquake’s destruction centred on informal homes built after 2018, the damage hit all parts of Jandares. A structural engineer in the area told The Syria Report that, during the various periods of control over the town, no local municipality or independent engineering committee conducted soil tests or studied soil mechanics. Such studies help evaluate and analyse the physical and engineering characteristics of the soil in the given area and its ability to bear the weight of buildings. These studies could also determine the appropriate type of building foundation to avoid the risks of collapse while considering certain factors for earthquake protection. 

The engineer added that most of the building foundations in the town did not reach the rocky layer beneath the soil and that appropriate engineering methods were not followed. Multi-storey buildings, especially during the opposition control, did not take into account the additional load on the soil and did not feature appropriate foundations. Finally, the engineer added that, during no period of control of Jandares, no local authorities enforced mandatory construction permits that would take into account The Syrian Arab Code for the Design and Implementation of Reinforced Concrete Structures, which implement earthquake-resistant concrete reinforcements. Such reinforcements would have protected many buildings from collapse and limited the loss of life and property. 

The Free Engineers Syndicate branch in Aleppo governorate has tried since 2021 to impose a technical entity that would monitor licensing and construction in SIG-controlled areas. However, their attempt was unsuccessful amid an uncontrolled scramble to build homes amid pressure and high demand for housing in the area. 

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