The base project number (QUOTA) practice is carried out by distribution companies for certified firms pursuant to Articles 11 and 12 of the Natural Gas Market Certificate Regulation.

Article 11 of the Regulation provides that:

“Natural or legal persons holding an internal installation and service lines certificate are obliged to submit to the distribution company, for periods not exceeding 90 days, the monthly social security status of personnel required to work under this Regulation for the works and transactions they perform within the current activity subjects of their certificate, and to comply with the planning of the base project number to be determined by distribution companies in this manner.”

Article 12 of the Regulation provides that:

“Based on the number of employees currently employed within the certified firm whose documents have been submitted to the distribution company, and on the insured working days of those employees, the distribution company determines the maximum number of projects it will accept from certified firms in the next period.”

Accordingly, the QUOTA practice has been introduced to ensure that firms carry out projects in proportion to their employment capacity.

1. Purpose and Scope

Base Project Number (QUOTA) means the maximum number of projects the distribution company will accept from a certified firm in the next period (on a monthly basis), based on the number of employees currently employed within the certified firm whose documents have been submitted to the distribution company, and on the insured working days of those employees.

The practice applies to firms authorised for project, internal installation construction and maintenance-repair activities that hold an Internal Installation and Service Lines Certificate.

The monthly project submission limit is determined by the distribution company, taking into account installation market conditions and regional planning.

2. Implementation Principles

Certified firms submit Social Security Registration and Service Record documents for their employees to the distribution company at the beginning of each month.

QUOTA values are updated monthly based on headcount and insured days. The practice is applied on a column and unit (consumption point) basis.

3. Personnel Types and Quota Values

Quotas are assigned to certified firms according to the number of VOC-certified personnel they employ:

For each person holding a Natural Gas Steel Pipe Welder (Level 3) certificate, 180 quota units are assigned within the scope of welded installations.

For each person holding a Heating and Natural Gas Internal Installation Construction Personnel (Level 3) certificate, 180 quota units are assigned within the scope of threaded installations.

For personnel holding both certificates, the total quota value (welded + threaded) is distributed in line with the firm’s request so as not to exceed 180 units.

4. Quota Changes in Case of Personnel Entry and Exit

Where additional personnel are employed, quota is assigned taking into account the ratio of days that can actually be worked within the month from the date the employment start notification is submitted to the distribution company, over 30 days.

Where an employee leaves, the quota is adjusted taking into account the ratio of days that cannot be worked within the month from the exit date stated in the employment termination notification, over 30 days.

• Modification projects resubmitted to the same address before installation acceptance are not subject to quota deduction.
• For modification projects submitted for unit installations that have already been accepted, a deduction of 1 quota unit applies.
• Column line modification projects are not subject to quota deduction.
• Quota deduction on column lines is determined according to the number of branches within the project scope.
• For projects with 11 or more branches, the quota value increases by 6 units with each new band of 10 branches.
• In special cases such as TOKİ, Emlak Konut or bulk production of 50 or more apartments within the same building/complex, quota is assessed separately upon the certified firm’s written request.

6. Periodic Changes

The distribution company may make periodic adjustments to monthly QUOTA values in cases such as excavation season changes, regional workload and market conditions.

Such changes are notified to certificate holders before they take effect.

7. Obligations and Sanctions

Certificate holders are obliged to submit insurance statements in the periods determined by the distribution company and to comply with QUOTA values.

If monthly insurance statements are not submitted, the firm’s activity is suspended under Article 24/A (ç) of the Certificate Regulation.

Firms that fail to submit statements more than three times within a calendar year will be reported to EMRA (EPDK).