The city council approves an amendment to the fee schedule
The Darmstadt city council has decided to amend the statutes on the collection of building inspection fees.
The new regulation is expected to come into force after a corresponding resolution by the city council.
The city justifies the adjustment with increased costs
The current regulations date back to 2019 and have not been amended since. According to the city, the existing fees are no longer sufficient to cover the actual costs incurred by the building authority.
City treasurer André Schellenberg and building control officer Paul Georg Wandrey explain: “The fee schedule in effect since 2019 does not adequately reflect the personnel, material, overhead, administrative and increased digitization costs.”
The adjustment is therefore necessary in order to comply with the legal cost recovery principle and to implement the city's budget consolidation.
Changes due to the new Hessian Building Code
The city anticipates additional expenses due to the reform of the Hessian Building Code in 2025.
The so-called “Construction Package I” brings with it new testing obligations, higher requirements for sustainability and energy efficiency, as well as more extensive documentation and digitization processes.
Furthermore, the increased responsibility of building owners during the transition phase resulted in additional personnel and technical costs.
New and higher fee categories planned
The amendment to the statutes includes, among other things, additional fees for various approval procedures.
These include, among others:
- simplified building permit procedures
- Permits for special structures
- Permits for property facilities
- Supplementary approvals
According to the city, fees will in future be more strongly differentiated according to actual workload.
Supplementary approvals cause significant effort
The effort involved in obtaining supplementary permits has increased significantly in recent years.
The building authority must, among other things, re-examine amended project components, evaluate existing permits, and update digital documents and technical evidence.
The city therefore considers an adjustment of the fees necessary here as well.
(DARMSTADT – RED/PSD/stip)
