The four roles
| Role | Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Client | preparing and carrying out the project, appointing the parties |
| Designer | completeness and fitness of the design |
| Contractor | proper execution of the work undertaken |
| Site manager | conformity of execution with the consented documents |
Two points matter for design practices. Both concern how responsibility is assigned.
| Point | Content |
|---|---|
| The designer is responsible for completeness | they must ensure the design meets the requirements of public law |
| The site manager under state law is not construction supervision under fee law | site management under building regulations law is a public law function, construction supervision a contractual one |
Who may submit building applications
Bauvorlageberechtigung is the entitlement to prepare building application documents and submit them to the building authority. It is regulated by the states and tied to professional law requirements.
It regularly attaches to registration on a list held by the relevant professional chamber. Special provisions sit alongside, for instance for certain engineers or for limited categories of project.
For certain projects no entitlement is required, particularly for procedure-free projects and, in some states, for smaller schemes. The scope and limits of these exceptions differ considerably. The requirements on the project itself are unaffected.
A question of access follows for design practices, to be settled before any commission: the entitlement does not apply automatically across Germany. Anyone working in several states checks the respective conditions, including the provisions on professionals from other states.
Responsibility rises under the simplified procedures
This is the most important relationship in this article and it is regularly underestimated. It concerns the relation between scope of examination and responsibility.
Under the simplified procedures the authority examines only a restricted catalogue. The substantive requirements apply unchanged, and compliance with them is the responsibility of the parties.
| Procedure | Examination by the authority | Designer's responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| Full procedure | comprehensive | high, with official scrutiny |
| Simplified procedure | restricted | high, with no scrutiny on unexamined points |
| Exemption | none | complete |
A consent under the simplified procedure therefore relieves the designer only as to the points examined. On all others they remain responsible, with no official corrective in place.
For practice management it follows that internal checking under the simplified procedures should be more thorough rather than lighter than under the full procedure. Where the authority does not check, no one else does.
Entitlement to certify is a separate question
Alongside the entitlement to submit sit separate entitlements for individual technical certifications, particularly for structural safety and fire safety. They are independent of the entitlement to submit.
Who may prepare and who may check these is regulated independently by each state, and the requirements additionally depend on the building class and on special building status. A certification from one state is therefore not readily usable in another.
For a project it should therefore be established early which certifications are required, who prepares them and whether they are subject to third-party checking. The article on technical evidence covers the system.
What belongs in the contract
Four points settle the roles before they have to be settled in a claim. They belong in the contract rather than in a later minute.
- Who is the designer in the building regulations sense, and for which fields are specialists engaged.
- Who takes on site management under state law, and is that the same person as construction supervision.
- Which certifications are required, who prepares them and who checks them.
- Which procedure is followed, and which points the authority therefore does not examine.
The fourth is most often skipped and shapes the liability position most strongly. It concerns the boundary between the public law and the contractual role.
Related articles
This article reflects the position of the rules at the date of checking and serves professional orientation. It does not constitute legal advice and does not replace assessment of the individual case.