Serious violations of essential terms included in the demolition permit were identified after the building on Makarios Avenue collapsed on Tuesday, scattering scaffolding and rubble onto the road, the Nicosia district government organisation (EOA) said on Wednesday, instructing the contractor to immediately cease all works.

The application to demolish the late 1960s modernist building, known as the Nicosia Teachers’ Savings Bank, was submitted in December 2024 and the permit was granted in March 2025, with strict special conditions issued for projects within the Nicosia commercial triangle of similar scale and intensity.

The terms included submitting a detailed plan of scheduled works and timetables 10 days before the demolition was set to start, as well as photographs of the area in front of the building three days in advance.

Once consent is given, a bank guarantee of €40,000 must be deposited in the EOA fund and the whole project must be supervised by an engineer registered with the Cyprus scientific and technical chamber (Etek).

The Nicosia EOA said the precondition for all safety measures to be taken for passing pedestrians, bicycles and vehicles was not met and the contractor was notified to immediately cease all works.

A notice was also sent for the immediate suspension of all demolition works on the plot, not to restart any demolition works before full compliance with all the terms of the permit, taking all measures to eliminate any hazards, removing and cleaning all demolition debris from the public road and sidewalk and installing adequate fencing on the plot.

The Nicosia EOA said there would be zero tolerance for any violations, which would entail administrative and disciplinary measures.

Furthermore, the EOA will require Etek to look into the liability of the supervising engineer regarding the implementation of the terms of the permit and the on-site supervision of the demolition works, which were his full responsibility.

It added that this was “particularly important” considering that the current licensing framework provides that Etek members assume responsibility for the construction of multistorey buildings.

As a result of the collapse, part of the avenue from the police station to Evagoras Street was closed.

The building, known as the Nicosia Teachers’ Savings Bank, was erected in 1968 and designed by architect Pefkios Georgiadis.

In January, following reports that the building was to be demolished, the Cyprus Architects Association said it was an “excellent example of the representation of the modern movement in Cyprus” and “a landmark […] on the international map of Modernism”.

Its demolition, the architects said, would be “a blow to the historical development of the city centre”.