Increased housing costs due to recent standards implementation?
The German Institute for Standardization (DIN) has released a draft for a "traffic safety inspection for residential buildings". The 40-page document, which has been met with mixed reactions, aims to provide a practical guide compiling and specifying existing requirements.
The draft covers various topics, including the fixing of guttering, safety of balcony railings, fire extinguisher checks every two years, potential tripping hazards, house number visibility, and the height of steps.
Building Minister Klara Geywitz (SPD) has clarified that there will be no building safety check associated with this draft. However, Minister Geywitz intends to protect landlords from additional bureaucracy and tenants from new ancillary costs.
On the contrary, Building Minister Nicole Razavi (CDU) and the Landesverband Haus & Grund Rheinland Westfalen have expressed concerns. Razavi finds it unacceptable that DIN keeps proposing new measures for residential building owners, while Adenauer, President of Landesverband Haus & Grund Rheinland Westfalen, stated that they do not need any further standards that increase housing costs.
Razavi hopes that the draft will never become a reality and will not include these standards in the state building code or technical building regulations in Baden-Württemberg. The author's name who presented the plans for the "Traffic Safety Inspection for Residential Buildings" is not publicly documented.
The "Bild" newspaper reported on the draft, but no comments have been received on it so far. The German Institute for Standardization (DIN) has rejected allegations that planned building safety checks would make housing more expensive.
The draft can still be publicly commented on until April 7. It remains to be seen whether the final version will address the concerns raised by Minister Razavi and the Landesverband Haus & Grund Rheinland Westfalen.
