Building Laws

Buiding and planning laws encompass numerous prescriptions which become particularly relevant in the process of developing pieces of land. Since developing individual private houses and resedencies looks back on a long-lasting tradition in Germany, building laws apply to private persons as much as to enterprises.

German building laws can be categorized as civil and public building laws.

Civil building laws basically regulate the privities of contract between the principal and the entrusted contracting business.


Public building laws, in contrast, define the premises under which and the conditions in which manner a building can be constructed.

Public building laws encompass federal public building planning laws (“Bauplanungsrecht”)as well as public building laws issued by the federal states (“Bauordnungsrecht”).

Federal public building planning laws basically define which kind of building development is permitted in a specific area, if any. This may lead to residential, commercial or industrial areas.

“Baurdnungsrecht” e.g. defines the procedure to obtain a building permit, requirements to be met by buildinging designs, and maintenance rules. Hence, federal state law applies to the procedure of obtaining a buliding permit – it varies from state to state.

In the process of erecting a building, the architect plays an particularly important role. Along with his designing tasks, many verdicts in the field of building laws actually assign him to be the principal’s “trustee”. The architects’ profession is proprietary due to federal states’ acts on architects.

Selected F.A.Q.s and respective answers on this topic will be available for your information and can be browsed in the navigation bar on the left. Please keep in mind that this is introductory information only, not taking into account individual aspects. Although preparing and updating carefully, we cannot guarantee the accuracy, completeness, and quality of the information provided, nor that it is up-to-date. If you face a legal problem, we strongly suggest you consider our firm or any other attorney’s office in order to obtain appropriate legal advice.