Running a thermal hotel in Türkiye: the extra permits and the daily water routine
A thermal hotel in Türkiye needs a facility permit and an operating permit from the governorate, plus named medical staff. This guide explains the water testing calendar and daily routines.
Contents
Key takeaways
- A spa facility needs a facility permit first and an operating permit second, both from the governorate (Kaplıcalar Yönetmeliği, Articles 17, 21 and 22).
- The facility permit is valid for three years, and the governorate may extend it by at most two (Article 21).
- Microbiological samples from the points of use are taken every three months, chemical analyses at the points of use every year, and source analyses every three years (Article 32).
- A failed result means a warning and a new sample within a week; a second failure suspends the facility for 15 days (Article 33).
- Thermal facilities are certified as konaklamalı or konaklamasız, and one with accommodation is named by the type and class of the accommodation facility it belongs to (Regulation 1134, Article 27).
A thermal hotel in Türkiye needs two permissions a seaside hotel does not: a facility permit and then an operating permit from the governorate under the Kaplıcalar Yönetmeliği (the spa regulation), on top of the tourism certificate. It also runs a fixed water routine: quarterly microbiological samples, annual chemical analyses and named medical staff.
A seaside hotel answers to one rulebook. A thermal hotel answers to two: the tourism certificate on one side, and the spa regulation with its own permits, named medical staff and water tests on the other. The second rulebook is where first-time operators lose a season. After reading this you will know which document comes from which authority, which staff must be on paper before the inspection, and how to build the water calendar so no interval quietly stretches.
Why does a thermal hotel answer to a second rulebook?
Because the tourism rules certify what the facility is, while the spa regulation governs how natural water is used for health, and that second set of duties belongs to the health side of the state, not the tourism side.
Article 27 of the Regulation on the Qualifications of Tourism Facilities defines thermal facilities as those containing kaplıca (spa), içmece (drinking cure) or thalassotherapy units where natural healing factors are used for health. That definition is what pulls the health rulebook in behind the tourism certificate. The two rulebooks ask different questions. The tourism side asks what kind of facility you run and what class it carries. The health side asks whether the source, the treatment sections, the staff and the water are safe.
The permits do not replace each other. Article 17 of the Kaplıcalar Yönetmeliği states that the spa permit does not remove the duty to obtain permits from other bodies. The practical consequence is two files, two inspection calendars and two sets of records, kept by the same small team. Both texts are published on mevzuat.gov.tr; read the consolidated version there before you build a plan on any date you saw elsewhere.
NoteRead the text that is in force
The Kaplıcalar Yönetmeliği was published in the Resmî Gazete on 24 July 2001, No. 24472. The regulation has been amended since, so check the consolidated text on mevzuat.gov.tr and confirm that the version you are reading is the one in force before you build a permit file around it.
Facility permit, operating permit and the tourism certificate: which is which?
The tourism certificate says what kind of facility you run; the facility permit and the operating permit say the spa itself may be built and then opened.
The facility permit (tesis izni) comes first. The governorate approves it after a favourable medical evaluation board report, on a file that includes the inspection and determination board report (EK-1), the analysis report of the natural healing factor (EK-2), the medical evaluation board report (EK-5), a hydrogeological report, maps, 1/50 projects of the treatment sections, proof of the right to use the source and zoning approval (Article 21). The facility permit is valid for three years, and the governorate may extend it by at most two.
The operating permit (işletme izni) comes when the building is finished. The inspection board visits the site, and the file carries an analysis report from the treatment-use points (EK-3), the conformity notification form (EK-6), a written statement of the responsible manager's name, surname and T.C. identity number with the contract date, the contracts and approved diplomas of the mandatory health staff, and proof of how drinking and utility water is supplied and wastewater disposed of (Article 22). For a facility that is already built and operating, the two processes run together (Article 17).
On the tourism side, a thermal facility is certified as konaklamalı (with accommodation) or konaklamasız (without). With accommodation it is operated and certified together with an accommodation facility and named by that facility's type and class; without accommodation it needs a sales unit and at least one restaurant or cafeteria unit (Regulation 1134, Article 27). The two sides touch at two points: a tourism investment certificate application needs a permit letter or document from the relevant body (Article 6(1)(f)), and the move to an operation certificate needs the letter that forms the basis of the operating permit (Article 7(1)(d)). See also tourism certificate types in Türkiye.
| Document | Who issues it | What it covers | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Facility permit (tesis izni) | Governorate | Source, projects, treatment sections, medical board report | Three years, extendable by at most two |
| Operating permit (işletme izni) | Governorate, after on-site inspection | Finished facility, staff contracts and diplomas, water supply and wastewater, EK-3 analysis | Covers the running of the facility |
| Tourism certificate | The tourism authority | The type and class of the facility | Per the tourism regulation |
Which staff must the spa regulation see on paper?
A specialist physician and health staff with at least high-school-level health training, plus a named responsible manager if the operator cannot be present at all times.
Article 14 requires spa and thalassotherapy facilities to employ a specialist physician and health staff with at least high-school-level health training. Health staff work full time. The specialist may work at more than one facility, so one physician can cover a small property, but the health staff cannot be shared part-time.
Article 15 says the operator should in principle be present at all times. Where that is not possible, the work may be run through a responsible manager (mesul müdür), who must be a graduate of a higher-education school with health training. The manager's details are notified in writing to the provincial health directorate, and appointing one does not remove the operator's responsibility.
The operating permit file asks for the manager's name, surname and T.C. identity number with the contract date, and for the health staff contracts and approved diplomas (Article 22). A contract and a diploma are two different documents, and both are requested. Plan for absence: a named manager with no deputy is a single point of failure on the day an inspector arrives.
ChecklistBefore the operating permit inspection
- Signed specialist physician contract
- Health staff contracts
- Approved diploma for each named person
- Written notification of the mesul müdür to the provincial health directorate, with T.C. identity number and contract date
- A rota showing health staff working full time
- A named deputy for the manager's days off
- The same list checked again whenever a person leaves
How often is the water tested, and what happens when a result fails?
Microbiological samples from the points of use every three months, chemical analyses at the points of use every year, a full analysis of the source every three years; a failed result brings a warning, a retest within a week and, if that fails too, a 15-day suspension.
Article 32 sets the calendar: a health inspection once a year by a commission the Ministry sets up, microbiological checks on samples from the points of use every three months, EK-2 analyses of the source every three years, and EK-3 chemical analyses at the points of use every year. The facility owner has the samples analysed. The local health organisation also makes general checks at least every three months, so two calendars run in parallel.
Article 33 sets the failure sequence: the operator is warned and a new sample is taken within a week. If that also fails, the facility is suspended for 15 days and the necessary measures are taken. If the next sample conforms, operation may continue under weekly monitoring for a month, and after four conforming analyses normal monitoring resumes.
Build the calendar backwards from the annual inspection, not forwards from opening day, so no interval quietly stretches. Keep the record of each sample: who took it, from which point of use, which laboratory, the result, and what was done about it. The record is what an inspector reads first.
| Interval | What happens | Where the rule sits |
|---|---|---|
| Every three months | Microbiological sample from the points of use | Article 32 |
| At least every three months | General check by the local health organisation | Article 32 |
| Every year | Chemical analysis at the points of use (EK-3) | Article 32 |
| Every year | Health inspection by the Ministry's commission | Article 32 |
| Every three years | Analysis of the source (EK-2) | Article 32 |
| Within one week | Retest after a failed result | Article 33 |
| Weekly for one month | Monitoring after a recovered failure | Article 33 |
Pools and private baths: what does the daily routine look like?
The spa regulation sets the water testing; the pool in the basin is also a swimming pool, so the cleaning and closure routine comes from the general pool health rules plus a written procedure of your own.
Separate the two waters. The thermal source water and the water standing in the basin are sampled, treated and logged differently, and mixing the two logs makes both useless. Private baths and treatment cabins are cleaned and refilled between guests. Write the cycle down with the time, the person and a signature, because the question an inspector asks is when the last one was done and by whom.
Closing a pool is a decision with a record: who closed it, why, what was done, who reopened it and when. A closure with no record reads as a closure that never happened. Legionella is a separate risk from the thermal water itself: it grows in warm water systems, showers and pipework, and it needs its own temperature and flushing routine, which we cover in Legionella control in hotel water systems. For the basin itself, see the pool health regulation as a checklist.
Do not assume a rule for discharge. The national water pollution rules set general duties, and each water and sewerage authority has its own discharge regulation. Ask yours in writing before you drain a pool or backwash a filter.
Watch outDischarge rules are local
No national text in this article's fact base states where drained pool water or filter backwash water may go. The rule depends on your local water and sewerage authority and your discharge permit. Get the answer in writing before the season, not on the day the pool needs emptying.
Who needs a hygiene certificate, and who is responsible for it?
Everyone working in the covered workplaces, including an owner who works there, and the owner or operator is the person responsible for making sure each of them holds one.
The Hijyen Eğitimi Yönetmeliği (Resmî Gazete 5 July 2013, No. 28698) rests on Article 127 of Public Health Law No. 1593. Its scope includes spas, hamams, saunas and similar workplaces, and hotels, motels, pensions and guesthouses, per the consolidated text on mevzuat.gov.tr (opens in a new tab). In the workplaces it covers, people without the certificate from the General Directorate of Lifelong Learning of the Ministry of National Education may not be employed.
Owners and operators are primarily responsible for their staff being trained and certified, and owners and operators who work there themselves must also take the training. Illness rules apply alongside the certificate: no work until a physician's or specialist's report shows recovery or that the person is no longer infectious for a listed set of conditions, including diarrhoea, open or infected wounds, and skin infections on visible parts of the body. Staff must tell the employer.
Enforcement sits with the ministry or local authority that licenses each line of work, and each non-compliant employee counts as a separate violation. The regulation does not cover the food hygiene training required under Law No. 5996 for workplaces within that law, so a hotel with a kitchen carries both duties. See also hygiene training certificates for hotel staff.
What may you say about the water's health benefits?
Describe what the facility is and what it offers; do not say the water treats, cures or heals a condition.
The regulation's own language is that natural healing factors are used for health, with medical staff and supervision attached. That is a description of the category, not a marketing claim you can extend. A guest who comes for health reasons is often unwell. A sentence saying the water treats a disease is a promise you cannot keep and a statement you may have to defend.
Keep the wording to what is verifiable: the source is registered, the analyses are current, the facility is certified, a specialist physician is on the staff list. Train the front desk and the reservations team, not only the website. The same sentence gets said on the phone, and that is where it is hardest to correct. Have your lawyer read the health wording once, before the season, and keep the approved version where the team can copy it. For anything about a guest's condition, refer them to their own doctor.
Key pointDescribe the facility, not the outcome
Say: a certified thermal facility with a specialist physician on staff and current water analyses. Do not say, for example: good for rheumatism, cures skin conditions, doctor-approved treatment. The first sentence describes the facility; the others promise an outcome.
What to do next
Open one calendar that carries both inspection dates, the tourism one and the water one, and put the responsible manager's name at the top of it. The two rulebooks only work together when one person can see both at once: the permits define what you may run, and the water routine is what keeps it running.
Frequently asked questions
Does a thermal hotel in Türkiye need its own doctor?
Yes, a specialist physician is required for spa and thalassotherapy facilities, but the specialist may work at more than one facility. The health staff with at least high-school-level health training must work full time. Both contracts and approved diplomas go into the operating permit file.
How long is a thermal facility permit valid?
Three years, and the governorate may extend it by at most two. The facility permit comes before the operating permit, and for a facility already built and operating the two processes run together. Confirm the current text on mevzuat.gov.tr.
Can you open a thermal facility without rooms?
Yes. The tourism regulation certifies thermal facilities as konaklamalı or konaklamasız. A facility without accommodation needs a sales unit and at least one restaurant or cafeteria unit. One with accommodation is certified together with an accommodation facility and named by that facility's type and class.
Does the owner need a hygiene certificate too?
If the owner works in the workplace, yes. The Hijyen Eğitimi Yönetmeliği makes owners and operators primarily responsible for staff certification and requires owners and operators who work there themselves to take the training. Spas, hamams and saunas are within its scope.
What happens if a water analysis comes back out of limits?
The operator is warned and a new sample is taken within a week. If that fails too, the facility is suspended for 15 days and measures are taken. If the next sample conforms, operation continues under weekly monitoring for a month, and normal monitoring resumes after four conforming analyses.
Sources
- Hijyen Eğitimi Yönetmeliği (consolidated text), Articles 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 11 (opens in a new tab)T.C. Cumhurbaşkanlığı Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi (mevzuat.gov.tr)mevzuat.gov.tr