The construction industry has insisted on better digital solutions for administration. It is an indictment that Germany is lagging behind in the digitization of building applications, said association president Peter Hübner on Wednesday in Berlin.
Michael Kellner, Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics, agreed: “I had the bizarre situation that I applied for a building permit in 2020, so I had to hand in a CD,” joked the Green politician at the Day of the Construction Industry. For him, this was a clear sign that digitization in administration urgently needed to be expanded.
Too complex procurement procedures
Hübner also criticized the bureaucracy. “We should finally get away from tendering out specialist lots for complex projects. That’s from the day before yesterday,” he said. In the case of subject lot allocation, tenders can consist of several parts that can be allocated independently of one another. Award procedures that are too complex would also have an impact on climate protection, since coherent solutions would have to be found for this in particular. In the case of partial awards, however, these are often not taken into account.
“We will advance the issue of public procurement law this year as the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection,” said Kellner. “What is clear is that we have to reduce bureaucracy.” For him, this is also an important contribution to being able to recycle raw materials in the construction sector more quickly and easily in the future. In this way, too, an important contribution to climate protection can be made.
Hübner also emphasized that there was an urgent need to improve the infrastructure, for example to be able to transport building materials better through Germany. “Without efficient transport routes there is no mobility, no economy, no prosperity and no freedom.”
Energy efficiency standard EH40 is controversial
Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) emphasized that there will be more investment in infrastructure. “It could even be the case that for the first time we will cross the 20 billion euro mark for investments in transport infrastructure. I also think that is necessary,” he said.
Association President Hübner criticized what he considered to be exaggerated specifications: The EH40 energy efficiency standard increases the construction costs extremely and is superfluous. The benefit is not in relation to the additional costs due to the higher standard. “So the Ministry of Economics should also think again about whether the subsidies should only be made dependent on the EH40 standard,” said Hübner.
According to the federal government’s current plans, the new building specifications EH40 should become the standard from 2025. In terms of sustainability, new buildings may only use 40 percent of the energy that an average house needs.
