Özet:

The renovations/regulations in the institutional structure of the Ottoman State that started with the Tanzimat Era required/brought out a novel organization. In the process, The Corps of Royal Architects, the active institution of the Ottoman architecture during the classical period and until the early 19th century, gave its place to the Ebniye Administration (Directorate of Buildings), handing over all kinds of building and construction works to the City Council (Istanbul Municipality). Henceforth, with new regulations at certain intervals, the Building Laws were introduced in an effort to inspect the construction activities. As the most eminent figures of the era, Ebniye master builders became responsible for all stages of construction production processes within the architectural activities. Despite the fact that educated architects began to emerge together with the introduction of the first architecture school, both local and non-Muslim contractors, architects and master builders from abroad remained as the dominant actors until the early 20th century due to the scarcity of schooled ones. This study reviews the qualitative issues of the ebniye master builders who carried out the construction processes of civil and state buildings, with samples from central and provincial cases based on a number of documents found in the Ottoman Archives. Quality and standard issues in the construction materials of the era together with the troublesome construction activities causing technical and financial problems between the master builders and employers were cited by certain contemporary master builders. As a result of the petitions of master builders stating their troubles and proposed solutions, and the efforts of the City Council (Istanbul Municipality), it was decided that a testimony (construction building testimonial) would be issued to ebniye master builders; however, the method was abandoned after its application for a while.

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