German Construction Industry and Construction Law Conference

on September 10th & 11th, 2021 transmitted into the digital world from the central building of Leuphana University of Lüneburg. As the event (apart from one workshop) is taking place in English, we only provide some fundamental information in English (as to fully participate in the conference, you have to have a good command in German). If you only want to participate in the English workshop, please click on the following link.

Registration for the conference as a whole is available under the following link

Contractual regulations for the resolution of contradictions regarding the supplementary calculation until the law has been changed.

The contradictions between the BGB, VOB/B and HOAI are so great that massive disputes are to be expected in the next few years. However, we want to make an effort to reduce this foreseeable dispute as much as possible, so that construction can take place and there can be less dispute. This is especially important in Corona times.

The 3rd DBB will therefore work on solutions to bridge the time until the wrong legal model of actual costs has been corrected in the law. The basis for this is the five verification steps which, in conjunction with the Uniform Contract and Subcontract Costing (ANKE) and the Verification System for Disturbed Construction Sequences (NSTÖ[1]), represent a self-contained, continuous verification for the settlement of the main contract of the supplements and the disturbed construction sequence.

We have agreed with all workshop leaders to continue working on this approach and to combine aspects of construction management and construction law. For this purpose, it is necessary to reorganise the workshops and to give greater consideration to the thematic interfaces between the workshops.

The Building Contracts Act with its unsuccessful § 650 c BGB has provided us with an opportunity to do this, but we did not create it ourselves. Can we manage to bring construction lawyers, construction companies and engineers together at one table and find pragmatic solutions? It is to be hoped that the construction industry will recognise this necessity and cooperate.

We have sorted the workshops into four thematic complexes for a stronger focus on the common goal, but at the same time we have endeavoured to preserve the autonomy of the workshops. The overriding goal remains the consistent settlement of the main contract, the supplements and the disrupted construction process.

For this purpose, contract conditions are to be developed which, with reference to § 650 c Para. (2) BGB, include the updating of the competitive prices as a principle and the actual costs as a special feature, if larger volumes of dispute are involved, but rather in exceptional cases. FdWI with variant B3 includes the omission of the price and resource level factors and thus a practicable modified form of § 650 c para. (1) BGB

FdW - update of competitive prices without actual costs

FdWI- update of competition prices with actual values

NmI - update calculation with actual values - (effort, actual costs and actual times)

The basis for this are the three upper variants for supplementary costing (FdW, FdWI, NmI) derived from the five verification steps, which apply to the settlement of the main contract, the proof of the claim amount for supplements and the proof of the disturbed construction processes, i.e. also the claim for damages, thus affecting an annual settlement volume of approx. 400 billion in the construction sector.

This is an economically significant topic that is at least as important as BIM, Lean Management, IPA (Integrated Project Management), etc. All topics must be pursued further. I am therefore also pleased that the construction companies from Karlsruhe are continuing to pursue their topics - lean management - and that construction companies are the main drivers here and construction lawyers are also involved.

A consistent structure in the scheduling and monetary handling of construction projects of all kinds is required and not more improvisation and the creation of contradictions. We have already mastered the ability to improvise in construction.

1] The system (NSTÖ) was adopted in Workshop 7 at the 1st DBB 2017.

Register now directly for the 3rd DBB under the following link. Here you will find the workshop descriptions.

The German chapter of the DRBF, together with the DBB and Leuphana University, is organizing a workshop on the subject of price adjustments in the event of service changes and construction disruptions on a comparative legal basis and also from the perspective of a Dispute Adjudication Board.

A systematic and well-founded basis for contract price adjustments, which enables a rapid and reliable decision by a dispute adjudication board, is an essential business basis in international business, because quickly  achieved legal certainty is important for the fastest possible construction progress, especially in the case of construction disruptions.

An exchange of views and experiences on a comparative legal basis, including existing contract models, is very welcome and certainly fruitful.

If you only want to participate in the English workshop, please register via the following link. The workshop takes place September 10th, 2021 14:00-17:00 hours (CEST; UTC+2; GMT+2) and continue September 11th, 2021 9:00-11:00 hours (CEST; UTC+2; GMT+2).