What it means
تأسیسات (ta’sisât) refers to the installed systems and utilities inside a building: plumbing, electrical wiring, heating, ventilation, and similar services. The word is borrowed from Arabic, from the root أ-س-س (a-s-s), which carries the meaning of founding or laying a base. The Arabic noun تأسيس (ta’sis) means foundation or establishment, and the Persian plural form تأسیسات (ta’sisât) has narrowed to mean the totality of building services or technical installations. In formal speech and on construction sites, تأسیسات is the standard term. A simpler, less formal equivalent is سیستمها (sistam-hâ), meaning systems, though this lacks the precision of the original.
How to use it
- تأسیسات ساختمان باید قبل از نقشهبرداری بررسی بشه. (ta’sisât-e sâkhteman bâyad qabl az naqshe-bardâri barrasi beshe.) “The building installations should be inspected before surveying.”
- هزینهی تأسیسات توی برآورد اولیه نبود. (hazine-ye ta’sisât tu-ye barâvard-e avvaliye nabud.) “The cost of utilities was not in the initial estimate.”
- مهندس تأسیسات اومد سیستم گرمایش رو چک کرد. (mohandes-e ta’sisât umad sistem-e garmâyesh ro chek kard.) “The installations engineer came and checked the heating system.”
- تأسیسات برقی این خونه خیلی قدیمیه. (ta’sisât-e barqi-ye in khune kheyli qadimiye.) “The electrical installations in this house are very old.”
Cultural note
In Iranian construction practice, تأسیسات has become a discipline of its own: universities offer degrees in مهندسی تأسیسات (mohandesi-ye ta’sisât), and specialist contractors called تأسیساتی (ta’sisâti) handle all building services separately from the structure itself. When Iranians buy or rent a home, the condition of the تأسیسات is one of the first things negotiated, because replacing old plumbing or wiring is a significant cost. The word also appears in broader institutional contexts, such as تأسیسات نظامی (military installations) or تأسیسات هستهای (nuclear facilities), showing how the Arabic root retained its general sense of established infrastructure.