First amendment of the Construction Site Ordinance

On 01.04.2023, amendments to the Construction Site Ordinance from June 1998 will come into force for the first time. The reason for this is a reminder from the EU Commission with detailed demands for improvement with reference to sanctions for non-compliance with the specified level. The necessity also arises from the high accident figures and the highest fatality rates at work in the construction industry.

The key points of the revision are references in § 2 to the legally responsible party according to § 4 of the Construction Site Ordinance (client or appointed third party) instead of the former references in § 7.

In addition, § 4 creates an obligation to inform the person responsible for construction measures for which advance notice is required or particularly dangerous work according to Annex II takes place, even if this is only carried out by employees of a contractor. This information on the circumstances on the site must be based on the contents that would have to be taken into account in a safety and health protection plan.

In § 3, the obligation to appoint one or more coordinators is clearly assigned to the responsible person according to § 4. Furthermore, the requirement to adapt the safety and health plan is no longer linked to significant changes in the construction work, but to changes that affect coordination.

In § 5, the employers' obligations are extended to include special measures for particularly hazardous work in accordance with Annex II and a reference back to the information from § 2(4) is inserted.

In Annex II, editorial adjustments were made to the structure of the BioStoffV and the GefStoffV. Furthermore, point 10 on the assembly or dismantling of solid construction elements no longer refers to the individual weight of the components, but to the use of power-operated work equipment.