Some 144,000 buildings in Türkiye have been integrated into an identification system implemented by authorities to prevent column cutting and unauthorized floor additions, a senior official said Saturday.

Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, Mehmet Özhaseki, took to his social media account to share updates on the implementation of the Building Identification System (BKS) by the General Directorate of Construction Works in 2021.

"With the 'Building Identification System,' which we started implementing simultaneously in 81 provinces to ensure the control of buildings by our General Directorate of Construction Works and will periodically inspect, we will prevent situations such as column cutting and unauthorized floor additions," Özhaseki said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

As part of his statement, he mentioned citizens can obtain general information about a building by scanning QR codes from their phones and building residents can access more detailed information through the e-Government system.

He also shared a video explaining the system.

Doğan Yorulmaz, the head of the ministry's Building Inspection Department, whose evaluations about the application are included in the video, explained that in the buildings whose inspection activities have ended, the teams create the digital identity document and mount it on the building.

He also noted that it is aimed for structures built before 2021 to be similarly identified and included in the audit.

With BKS, which is designed to be integrated into Türkiye’s public database, both building owners and public officials will be able to access technical and general information about the buildings.

Besides helping authorities prevent illegal construction, the system is said to play an important role during natural disasters such as earthquakes and fires.