The Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection has presented a draft bill for the introduction of Building Type E. The new regulation is intended to establish a statutory baseline standard in order to streamline construction processes and reduce costs in residential construction. Representatives of the construction and property industry, however, see clear shortcomings in the current plans that jeopardise the intended simplification effect.
Sun Jensch, founder and managing director of the Koalition für Holzbau, takes a critical view of the initiative. Although the construction sector has long offered economical and sophisticated solutions through industrial prefabrication, modern timber construction, as well as serial and modular building, the necessary legal framework to deploy these methods across the board is still lacking. The current draft falls short of the ambition to help innovative building methods achieve a genuine breakthrough.
Lack of alignment with tenancy law and bureaucratic hurdles
According to industry experts, a key weakness lies in the relationship between contract law and tenancy law. Anyone agreeing simplified standards in a construction contract remains exposed to unpredictable legal risks when letting the property at a later stage. This lack of alignment could lead developers to steer clear of the planned simplifications for fear of legal disputes.
In addition, new documentation requirements threaten to noticeably increase administrative effort, potentially turning the intended relief into new bureaucratic hurdles. Jensch stresses that a statutory baseline standard by no means signifies second-class construction, but represents a conscious approach to resources and costs without compromising serviceability or safety. Initial practical approaches for such standards have already been trialled in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein.
Demand for revision of excessive building standards
In the view of experts, a genuine reduction in construction costs also requires fundamental intervention in the system of technical standards. The necessity of simplification has been under intensive discussion since 2024. In this context, Prof. Dietmar Walberg, managing director of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft für zeitgemäßes Bauen, highlighted the pronounced frustration with standards within the industry and called for excessive requirements to be reviewed.
For Building Type E to make a substantial contribution to affordable housing, trade associations are now urging the Federal Ministry of Justice to make amendments. They argue that comprehensive legal certainty throughout the entire life cycle of a property and the targeted elimination of dispensable technical standards are essential.
