New building type E: Fast and cheap construction by law

New building type E Fast and cheap construction by law As of: October 26, 2026 • 00:07 a.m

Germany needs more affordable housing. This should be achieved, among other things, with building type E - the E stands for “simple”. The draft law is available exclusively to the ARD capital studio.

Anyone who asks Federal Construction Minister Verena Hubertz from the SPD about building type E will be happy to hear her use the slogan “building without frills”. In fact, this catchy formula sums up the basic idea: Building should become easier, faster and cheaper by allowing builders and planners to forego non-mandatory standards - both for single-family and multi-family houses.

With building type E, the aim is to distinguish between really necessary requirements and amenities that bring comfort but also make building expensive. Such comfort standards have become established in recent years, when building was comparatively cheap thanks to low loan interest rates: for example, a certain number of sockets in the living room, extra high ceilings or particularly thick windows and walls for sound insulation.

Many of these are now considered “recognized rules of technology”. If an architect or building contractor deviates from this, he or she may be threatened with a lawsuit by the buyer under current contract law. In the future, those involved in a construction project should be able to agree in advance with legal certainty that they will waive certain standards. This is building type E - the E stands for simple. Experts estimate that construction costs will fall by around ten percent with this concept.

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Federal Minister of Justice Stefanie Hubig makes it clear: There will be no compromises when it comes to safety during construction, which remains the top priority. “Building type E offers the opportunity for a real liberation: building without expensive extras. With the building type E law, we are paving the way for this,” says the SPD politician. And Building Minister Hubertz adds: "Every euro that we don't put into unnecessary standards is a euro for more affordable housing. That's why I'm glad that we now have a draft."

It was planned that the draft law would be available in the summer. This is what both ministers announced in July. But nothing came of it. There were disagreements on detailed issues within the black-red coalition. Among other things, the coalition partners disagreed about whether building type E should be the "new normal" in construction or a special category in contract law.

The Union parliamentary group's construction policy spokesman, Jan-Marco Luczak, said a few days ago: "Instead of the expensive gold standard, we have to make simple and cost-effective construction the 'new normal' - without a new type of contract." The point of criticism: Otherwise a kind of two-tier building could arise. On the one hand, a high construction standard - on the other, building type E with a possibly worse image.

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Justice Minister Hubig does not share these concerns. The draft law, which is available to the ARD capital studio, now stipulates that building type E will become a separate contract category. We are talking about a voluntary option for the parties to a construction project. If you do not decide on building type E, the existing rules of contract law remain the same. This ensures that a simpler construction design corresponds to the wishes of both parties, it is said. Subsequent lawsuits from buyers would therefore have no chance, and planners and construction companies would not take any risks.

The draft is now going to the federal states and the associations. You can express criticism. Detailed changes to the draft law are still possible before the government officially launches it. It will probably take some time before the first building is built based on the new law: after planning and construction, the topping-out ceremony would realistically be conceivable in two years at the earliest.

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This topic in the program: tagesschau.de | Draft law on building type E is ready | Oct 25, 2026 | 11:57 p.m