Construction industry

The price of new-build apartments rose by around 17% from November 2021 to November 2022. This was reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Increased prices for various services and materials are likely to have had a significant impact on this. According to Destatis, prices for roofing and sealing work, among other things, rose by 20.3% in the period in question, while prices for...

Roofers and electricians will cooperate in future to pool their knowledge of photovoltaic systems. This was decided by the Central Association of German Electrical and IT Trades (ZVEH) and the Central Association of German Roofers (ZVDH). As part of the cooperation, further training in relation to photovoltaic systems is planned, among other things. The aim of the...

If home builders want to create a raised wooden bed in their garden, on their patio or on their balcony, they can find tips on the "bauen.de" portal. First, 2.5 to 5 centimetre thick wooden slats (depending on requirements) must be purchased for the side walls as well as squared timber or posts for stabilization and coated with an appropriate protective glaze. Then the...

According to the Association of Private Builders (VPB), owners should promote biodiversity in home gardens and avoid stone deserts. The VPB also provides some tips on how this can be achieved. For example, owners should opt for insect-friendly hedges with plants such as red dogwood, field maple or hornbeam instead of cherry laurel and thuja hedges. This is because the latter are...

Improvements to the framework conditions for new construction, special depreciation for affordable rental apartments in tight housing markets and more incentives for home ownership - this is what the German Building Materials Association, the Federation of the German Construction Industry, the Central Association of the German Construction Industry (ZDB) and the German Confederation of Skilled Crafts call for in their position paper...

Builders can now also have so-called energy-plus houses built. The portal "effizienzhaus-online.de" points this out. Energy-plus houses are houses that not only save energy, but can also produce energy. The principle of energy-plus houses is based on more efficient building use and therefore...

In two workshops, more than 80 people from 65 German municipalities discussed how cities can make themselves climate-proof and better protect themselves against extreme weather events. The twelve recommendations for action from the project "ExTrass - 'Urban resilience to extreme weather events - typologies and transfer of adaptation strategies in cities'" were presented in a policy brief.

A landlord may not simply turn off the hot water to his tenants, not even in summer. This was decided by the Frankfurt Administrative Court (case reference 8 L 1907/22.F). In this case, a landlord had cut off the gas supply to his tenants in the summer due to the Ukraine conflict and the associated supply bottlenecks and price increases. The landlord stated that his tenants...

The German Engineering Prize 2022 was recently awarded to the Stuttgart-based firm "sbp - schlaich bergermann partner" for the light rail bridge in Stuttgart-Degerloch at a ceremony. "The winning project, the light rail bridge in Stuttgart Degerloch, is characterized by an imaginative design that strengthens public transport in a major city," said...

If owners need additional space in their property, for example for a home office, a hobby room or an apartment, this can often be realized in the basement. The FMI Mineral Wool Industry Association points this out. However, owners should consider various aspects of the basement extension in advance, namely the building physics, the structural requirements and the...