BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Fewer sockets, thinner suspended ceilings: The federal government wants to make building cheaper and simpler. The Ministry of Construction has therefore published a guideline that enables planners and builders to agree on lower building standards. "Building must be made easier and cheaper again, without compromising on safety," explained Construction Minister Klara Geywitz (SPD).

Housing associations had complained that buildings were often built to the gold standard for fear of legal problems. This leads to high costs, so that the apartments are then hardly affordable for consumers. They had called for many unwritten standards in housing construction to be called into question. The German government is now responding with the so-called building type E - where E stands for simple or experimental.

Construction costs as a reason for housing shortage

The contractual partners could thus deviate from cost-intensive standards with legal certainty when building, explained Geywitz. This can mean, for example, dispensing with basements, fewer balconies or lower noise protection measures. Both the construction industry and users benefit from such agreements because building becomes cheaper. Construction costs are considered to be the main reason why there is a lack of affordable housing in Germany.

The guide contains recommendations on how agreements on lower building standards can be made with the greatest possible legal certainty and examples of simplifications, for example for storey ceilings, sockets and pipes or room temperature./tam/DP/mis