Renovated Apartment Buildings and Tama 38

Tama 38 has been going around in Tel Aviv for several years now, and many of the older buildings in the city get to benefit from it, improving Tel Aviv’s urban facade, immensely.  

What is Tama 38?

In April 2005, Tama 38, the national outline plan for the seismic strengthening of existing buildings was approved. In the absence of other significant government measures, Tama 38 soon became the only comprehensive solution the state is offering to hundreds of thousands of buildings erected before January 1st, 1980, when a binding standard of seismic-proof construction was enacted in Israel.

Building rights:

In its current form, following two changes that were approved in 2007 and 2010, Tama 38 permits the following additions to any residential building, which was built in line with a permit issued before January 1st 1980, provided an engineer stated it requires strengthening against earthquakes:

• 25 square meters to each existing housing unit in the building.

• A new residential floor on the top of the existing building, or alternatively a new ward. The area of the new floor/ward is the same as a typical, expanded floor (including the addition of 25 square meters to each housing unit).

• To close the open floor, increase its area to that of a typical expanded floor and divide it into new housing units.

The plan does not limit the number of housing units which can be built in the new floors.

Apartments in buildings that have gone through Tama 38, are built with a MAMAD (shelter room) consisting of reinforced concrete, standing as a reinforced pillar to the entire building, making the entire building immuned to earthquakes.

Those of us who experienced Operation Protective Edge back in summer of 2014, very much appreciated having an in house mamad as those who didn’t (like myself) had to find shelter in one of the building’s common areas such as the staircase or run down to the common shelter room.

Most mamad rooms are of 9 m2 – 11 m2 and are mainly used as either a study or work room, guest room, walk-in closet, or storage space.

Apartment buildings that have gone through Tama 38 renovations no doubt have benefited, however, there’s one major con to having a mamad – and that it limits your renovation options. These reinforced concrete rooms cannot be demolished, and so in the event you wish to renovate your apartment and change the layout – your hands are pretty tied.

Additional Building Rights:

The Tel Aviv municipality has granted additional building rights to the Tama 38 plan, where in some areas in Central Tel Aviv, new or renovated buildings can extend the upper floor rooms from 23 m2 to 40 m2.

However, and this important, these sort of things tend to take time, and although duplex-penthouses as such have began to sprout, it will take a while for it to take effect in all existing or future buildings in Tel Aviv.

Apartment buildings built after 1980 offer a complete different style and come with lower ceilings, smaller living spaces, and it seems that they just don’t have the charm that one would expect from a classic Tel Aviv apartment.