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Germany’s 16 state construction ministers met in Würzburg last week for their Bauministerkonferenz, and emerged with a package that, at least on paper, could lower costs, speed approvals and make conversions far easier. Building Type E — the long-discussed “simple building” category — took centre stage, supported by procurement reform, digital permits and new depreciation options.
Pilot projects in Bavaria and Hamburg already show cost reductions above 15%, with Hamburg claiming savings of up to €2,000 per square metre through smarter material use and compact layouts. The political message was unmistakable: Germany cannot afford another year of talking about faster building while building ever more slowly. The investor question is equally blunt: how much of this will survive the legislative machinery and reach construction sites in time to matter?
The ministers renewed pressure on the federal government to deliver the civil-law framework for Building Type E. The model allows developers to deviate from cost-intensive DIN norms and technical rules, provided statutory safety requirements are met. In theory, this unlocks leaner processes, more flexible technical solutions and materially cheaper construction.
Industry associations responded with rare enthusiasm. GdW president Axel Gedaschko called the proposals “an important step” toward faster, more cost-efficient building. HDB chief Tim-Oliver Müller praised policymakers for “finally addressing the core of the problem” — Germany’s rigid attachment to technical norms. ZDB head Felix Pakleppa described the plan as a “milestone”, warning that the federal states must resist the temptation to add new requirements.
Central to the reform is a dedicated Building Type E Contract in the Civil Code, giving contractors liability protection when departing from recognised technical rules. Without it, engineers fear that building simply will trigger litigation.
But timing is already slipping. North Rhine-Westphalia’s minister Ina Scharrenbach warned the law “will not be enshrined in 2026” and likely won’t take effect before 2027. Or, as one attendee put it privately: the turbo is ready — the ignition is not. The Bauherren-Schutzbund backed the transparency push but cautioned that without clear cost breakdowns, buyers risk paying “the same price for lower quality”.
Beyond Type E, ministers endorsed a series of measures that — if implemented — would chip away at long-standing bottlenecks.
1. Easier conversions
The Model Building Code will be amended to ease attic conversions, additions and clearance-area rules. “Building in existing structures is becoming the standard,” ministers agreed.
2. Procurement reform
Serial, modular and systemic construction cannot scale without lighter procurement law. The BMK urged the federal government to finally make this possible.
3. Digital permits
Ministers again pushed for a legal basis for digital building permits and BIM-based applications — reforms several states admit they are not yet equipped to implement.
4. BauGB amendment
Berlin is urged to accelerate the “construction turbo”: streamlined planning procedures, faster nature-protection reviews and clearer immission-control rules.
5. Tax depreciation options
States want new residential buildings to be depreciable over either 50 or 80 years, giving socially oriented housing companies more cash-flow flexibility. Resistance from the Finance Ministry is widely expected.
6. Cost-reduced construction platform
Best-practice examples from the Länder — including Hamburg’s €2,000/m² savings — will be consolidated into a national platform. Hamburg senator Karen Pein called it “federal swarm knowledge”.
The BMK delivered an unusually coherent agenda, but the real test is implementation. States agree on the destination — faster approvals, simpler rules, lower standards for simple buildings — but doubt Berlin’s capacity to deliver reforms at speed. ZIA president Iris Schöberl captured the mood: the construction turbo contains “key measures”, but success “depends crucially on the local authorities”.
For institutional capital, several signals stand out:
Germany is inching toward a more permissive and cost-conscious construction regime. But the system promising simplification is the same system that must implement it — and that is where optimism typically evaporates.
For now, Würzburg showed one thing clearly: the political will for simplification finally exists. Whether the government machinery can match that ambition is the story to watch in 2026.
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