Technical regulation and standardisation

The Model Administrative Provisions – Technical Building Rules (MVV TB) play a central role in the advancement of the regulatory framework in Germany. The MVV TB serve as a blueprint for the Technical Building Rules of the federal states.

In 2023/2024, DIBt has published issues 2023/1 and 2024/1 of the MVV TB. Issue 2025/1 is also well underway.

An interdisciplinary DIBt project team is currently working with an external service provider to digitalise the entire process. The DIBt-internal platform is to be rolled out in 2025. By 2026 at the latest, the MVV TB web application will be made available to construction stakeholders, enhancing ease-of-use and comfort for users.

Changes in the regulatory framework are often a response to needs arising from construction practice. Here are two examples from the years 2023 and 2024:

• The MVV TB 2023/1 and following issues feature simplifications for the use of PV modules in the built environment. Adapting the technical rules contained in the MVV TB became necessary because the standard market sizes of individual modules have steadily increased over the years.
• In September 2024, the Conference of Construction Ministers also endorsed the amended Model Guideline for Timber Construction. The main objective of the ministers and senators of the federal states responsible for construction and housing was to pave the way for easier building with timber. The changes will be implemented with MVV TB 2025/1.

DIBt is involved in the development of technical regulations on behalf of the federal states in numerous national, European and international committees. DIBt's mission in this context is to ensure that the interest of a safe built environment is reflected in the relevant technical rules and standards and to promote technical advancement and harmonisation in the construction sector.

Some 170 DIBt technical officers are involved in a wide range of DIN and CEN committees.

Between 1 January 2023 and 31. December 2024, DIBt reviewed

Here is a breakdown of the draft standards reviewed: 

DIBt's standardisation activities in 2023/24 focused on three topics:

The revised contract between the national standards committee DIN and the German federal states, effective as of 1 January 2024, ensures that construction professionals have better access to standards that are relevant from a regulatory perspective or for urban development planning. DIBt provides technical and organisational support on behalf of the federal states.

The public portal gives consumers free access to standards that are referred to in the Model Administrative Provisions – Technical Building Rules (MVV TB) or are relevant for urban development planning. After registering, users can view up to 10 standards per year free of charge. There is also unlimited access to tables of contents and introductory articles of other standards. 

A second portal was set up for the building authorities of the federal states and municipalities. Since 1 August 2024, DIBt has been able to register several hundred authorities from different federal states on this portal, ensuring efficient access to the necessary technical regulations. The roll-out is carried out successively by the federal states.

The ‘Acquis’ of the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) currently comprises around 450 standards, 400 European Assessment Documents and countless Commission decisions and delegated acts. The massive task of reviewing all these documents, revising and improving them to meet the requirements of the revised CPR has been undertaken by the Commission, Member States and experts as part of the CPR Acquis process since the end of 2019. Hundreds of experts are involved at national and European level. 

DIBt contributes on behalf of the federal states to all working groups that have been set up to date as part of the CPR Acquis process. DIBt President Gerhard Breitschaft takes an active role in the EU-wide Steering Group on the CPR Acquis process, which will be continued as the ‘CPR Expert Group’ under the revised Regulation. At the end of February 2023, the DIN Advisory Board also set up a special committee to mirror the CPR Acquis work under the umbrella of the DIN Standards Committee 'Building and Civil Engineering'. Gerhard Breitschaft took over the chairmanship.

First results in the form of two standardisation requests developed as part of the CPR Acquis process were available at the end of 2024. While Germany had made only a few comments related to fire protection on the standardisation request for structural metallic products, the standardisation request for precast concrete products had met with extensive comments. In the latter area, the previous harmonised standards for precast concrete products are to be compressed into a one-size-fits-all standard. This appears to be a rather ambitious goal, especially given the extremely short timeframe, with the new standard due to be completed by November 2025. 

In conclusion, despite a constructive work atmosphere in the CPR Acquis process, Member States still can find it difficult to have their regulatory needs taken into account. However, European standardisation and national regulatory requirements must be closely aligned to create a well-functioning internal market for construction products while ensuring a high level of construction safety in Europe.

The first standards of the second-generation Eurocodes are to be prepared for regulatory introduction in Germany as early as 2025. Preparing the upgrade from one generation of structural design standards to the next has a long lead time indeed. Planned changes have to be substantiated through research, the impact on construction practice and real-life safety levels needs to be assessed, the standards to be updated based on Europe-wide consensus, and appropriate criteria to be found for the National Annexes. As a result, DIBt has been working on the second generation Eurocodes for a long time and has even dedicated a separate conference  to this significant endeavour in 2023.