A working group meeting at the acatech office in March was not only special because members of WG 1 and WG 3 (“Building materials, construction and energy” and “Transformation and implementation strategies”) met together for the first time. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Stefan Winter, co-lead of WG 1, opened the meeting with a brief introduction: in his role as Chairman of the DIN Standards Committee for Construction and member of the DIN Special Presidential Committee for Buildings (SPB), he gave an overview of the role of standardisation in construction and the current committee work within the context of DIN e. V.
Standardisation between cost driver and simplification
Standardisation is currently under pressure, with allegations suggesting it increases construction costs - partly due to the influence of the construction industry. “Standardisation is essential for construction,” emphasized Stefan Winter. “It has the potential to simplify construction and thus reduce costs—if developed with clear goals. It is also important to understand: Standards do not define the requirements for a building, but how something is built.” He illustrates this with an example from sound insulation: instead of prescribing a certain comfort level, the standard should specify how different sound insulation levels can be implemented. Of course, basic minimum requirements for health and safety must still be fulfilled.
Goal of the standardisation roadmap for buildings
One of the goals of the DIN standardisation roadmap for buildings is to more clearly define technical minimum requirements and distinguish them from higher demands related to comfort or aesthetics. Building materials such as concrete are subject to such minimum technical requirements, for example in terms of load-bearing capacity or construction as defined in various DIN standards. In addition, specific user requirements such as aesthetics of exposed concrete are also addressed through standards that differentiate between various classes of exposed concrete. In addition to the standards for the type of construction, there are also design standards that define how calculations - e.g. for statics and structural design - are to be carried out.
Need for action in the standardisation of existing buildings
As construction is increasingly shifting from new buildings to existing buildings, according to Stefan Winter, there is an urgent need for standards that enable the strength of used components to be assessed – an area where a considerable require considerable research. The shift towards more prefabrication in factories, for example in serial construction methods, would also lead to a need for standardisation for quality control.
Stefan Winter strongly advocated for better education on the role of standards in the construction sector and thus aiming to improve future handling of this topic in politics and professional circles. He welcomes the approach of estimating the follow-up costs of new standardisation, even though this currently often only refers to the value of new construction and, due to a lack of data, do not (yet) consider the life cycle. Overall, it is important to encourage experts to carry out this work in standardisation committees, despite the cost and time involved, to jointly and consensually define technical regulations.
Working group discussion: transparency and legal challenges
Following the presentation, some participants questioned whether so many standards are actually needed. The number continues to grow and increasingly impacts day-to-day practice. In the sale of newly built, high-end apartments, legal disputes frequently arise when these units are marketed as “exclusive” but – for example – only meet minimum standards in terms of sound insulation. According to court rulings in Germany, marketing as “exclusive” constitutes a binding promise of elevated living comfort, which is not fulfilled by merely meeting the minimum standard. Any deviation must be clearly stated in the performance specifications.
In practice, this leads to shifting priorities in construction and saving costs in areas where no legal rulings exist due to lack of standardisation.
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