If you want to build a house, you need a building permit. This fact is clear to most landowners. What is less known, however, is that you often have to ask the authorities for permission to build a garden house. The following article explains when you need a building permit for the garden house and when you don’t.

A building permit is also required for a small garden shed

Table of Contents

Show all
  1. the essentials in brief
  2. Definition garden house
  3. building codes
  4. building permit costs
  5. Rather not build black
  6. frequently asked Questions
  7. Do you also need a building permit for the summer house in the allotment?
  8. Can I set up a garden house at the property line?
  9. Do I also need a building permit for a prefabricated wooden garden house?
  10. How long is a building permit valid?

    11. the essentials in brief

    • A building permit is almost always required to build a garden shed.
    • Depending on the federal state, garden houses with a very small building area may not require a permit.
    • A caravan parked for a longer period of time also requires a permit.
    • A summer house (€24.90) may not be used as a permanent lounge.

    "You can only build castles in the air today without a building permit". (after: Willy Meurer)

    What is a garden shed?

    No matter how small, a garden shed is by definition a building. As such, it is fundamentally subject to building law and only requires a building permit for certain exceptions described here. Buildings - which also include the garden shed - are defined by the legislator as follows:

    • It is about a covered structure.
    • This can be used independently and is used for Protection of people, animals or things.
    • you are connected to the ground.
    • This also applies if they limited mobility are,
    • or mostly stationary to be used.
    • you are made from building materials and/or components.

    In principle, a summer house is not part of the living space and may only be used temporarily.

    What is a lounge?

    Whether or not you need a building permit to build your summerhouse depends, among other things, on how it is defined as a lounge. The legislator understands this to be a room in which you stay more than just temporarily. By definition, bedrooms and living rooms are lounges that always require a building permit. If you put up a bed in your garden shed, it is a living room that requires a permit and you will have to apply for a building permit afterwards.

    digression

    Do you need a building permit to park a caravan?

    Many a resourceful property owner tries to circumvent the applicable building regulations with a caravan. In fact, however, every caravan parked on a property for a longer period of time is also subject to approval and must meet the respective legal requirements. This also applies to tiny houses and other mini houses, mobile homes (so-called mobile homes) and other movable structural objects.

    Building codes also apply to garden sheds

    A building permit is not always required for a garden shed

    Whether you need a building permit for the construction of your planned garden house or not depends on a variety of factors:

    • type and use: Does the garden house have cooking facilities, a toilet or other installations that require approval?
    • size: The different federal states have different maximum sizes up to which a garden shed does not require a permit.
    • location: Is the summer house within a built-up area or outside? If the latter is the case, a building permit is always required in many federal states.
    • height: As a rule, only single-storey garden houses up to a maximum height of three meters (depending on the federal state and municipality!) do not require a permit.
    • foundation: Garden sheds that rest on a solid concrete foundation also require planning permission in most states.

    tips

    Since the official requirements regarding the approval requirement for building projects are so confusing and so different depending on the federal state and municipality, you should definitely go to your responsible building authority with the concrete building plans and make a so-called preliminary building inquiry there. This clarifies whether you need a building permit for your garden house or not.

    Development plan and state building regulations

    The building law is not only laid down in the state building regulations, but also in the so-called development plan of your responsible municipality or municipality. This regulates:

    • where you can build and where not
    • how big the garden house can be
    • and how high
    • and also what shape the roof must have.

    The regulations differ from municipality to municipality.

    The following video clearly explains why the statutory building regulations are so useful:

    youtube

    Regulations for the garden house according to the development plan

    The development plan prescribes the planning specifications for building projects within certain building limits. These generally include residential areas that have emerged within the last 80 years. This does not affect so-called outdoor facilities, which are often areas used for agriculture and forestry, such as fields, meadows and pastures. Here you can usually create a garden, for example, but the construction of a garden house is often prohibited. In some municipalities, the development plan also severely restricts the possibility of building a garden house or gazebo or prohibits such a project from the outset.

    How big can a garden house be?

    The respective state building law prescribes the size of the planned garden house. The legal requirements of the individual countries differ greatly from each other. While in Bavaria, for example, arbors with a room size of 75 cubic meters generally do not require a permit, builders in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania have to obtain a building permit for a floor area of just ten square meters.

    Overview of sizes that do not require approval and those that require approval

    The following table shows you a clear list of the sizes up to which a garden shed generally does not require approval in accordance with the currently valid (as of: September 2022) state building regulations of the federal states. Please note that some federal states use the maximum size in square meters of floor space, while others use the room size in cubic meters. Nevertheless, your planned garden house may still require approval if your municipality requires it or the house meets other requirements for approval.

    federal state Permission-free size in the development area Approval-free size outdoors
    Baden-Wuerttemberg up to 40 cubic meters up to 20 cubic meters
    Bavaria up to 75 cubic meters up to 20 cubic meters
    Berlin up to 10 square meters only with building permit
    Brandenburg up to 75 cubic meters only with building permit
    Bremen up to 30 cubic meters up to 6 cubic meters
    Hamburg up to 30 cubic meters only with building permit
    Hesse up to 30 cubic meters only with building permit
    Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania up to 10 square meters only with building permit
    Lower Saxony up to 40 cubic meters up to 20 cubic meters
    North Rhine-Westphalia up to 30 cubic meters only for agriculture and forestry
    Rhineland-Palatinate up to 50 cubic meters up to 10 cubic meters
    Saarland up to 10 square meters only with building permit
    Saxony up to 10 square meters only with building permit
    Saxony-Anhalt up to 10 square meters only with building permit
    Schleswig Holstein up to 30 cubic meters up to 10 cubic meters
    Thuringia up to 10 square meters only with building permit

    digression

    When is a summer house definitely subject to approval?

    Since a summer house may not be used as a permanent living space, models with a permanently installed kitchen or other cooking facility and/or a bathroom or toilet generally require a building permit. The same applies to a shed built on a concrete foundation. This can no longer be easily dismantled and is therefore no longer considered a summer house by the authorities.

    If you want to build your summerhouse without a building permit, do without the following components and installations, which all require approval:

    • kitchen or cooking facilities
    • bathroom or toilet
    • All heat sources (heating, fireplace, oven, etc.)
    • built-in grill

    Incidentally, for the authorities, beds and other overnight accommodations (e.g. a sofa bed) are also an indication that the garden house should be used as additional living space. Any sleeping accommodations often make the building subject to approval.

    You can definitely take a nap in the armchair in the garden shed

    How much does a building permit cost?

    Obtaining a building permit always costs money. In principle, the fee rate in many German municipalities is around half a percent of the raw value. For you, this means that a garden shed costing around EUR 5,000 costs another EUR 25 for the required building permit. But be careful: Many municipalities charge a minimum fee, which is set independently of the raw value of the house and is often in the low three-digit range. These fees are usually due before the building permit is granted, so you should have the money when you apply or within six weeks of applying.

    Rather not build black

    Many a builder builds his garden shed “black” either out of ignorance of the situation or out of unwillingness, although it requires approval. We strongly advise you not to do this, because it can get expensive in case of doubt! Even if you think that the responsible authorities can't look into your garden anyway and don't notice anything about the arbor, illegal construction will be exposed faster than you think. All it takes is a disgruntled neighbor reporting you to the building authority. It is therefore essential to comply with the applicable regulations, also with regard to the height and size of the garden house to be observed, and do not build the arbor too close to the property line.

    frequently asked Questions

    Do you also need a building permit for the summer house in the allotment?

    According to the Federal Allotment Garden Act, allotment gardeners in an allotment garden do not generally need a building permit for their garden house, provided that it is not larger than 24 square meters including the terrace. This also applies if the cottage has cooking facilities or a kitchen and a toilet. You are only not allowed to live permanently in your allotment garden hut.

    Can I set up a garden house at the property line?

    No matter how small the house, you may only set it up on or at the property line in exceptional cases. Most legal regulations stipulate a minimum distance of three meters, and the garden house often must not be higher than three meters (sometimes even lower). The respective state building regulations prescribe when border development is possible.

    Do I also need a building permit for a prefabricated wooden garden house?

    The same legal regulations apply to ready-made kits from the hardware store or garden center as to self-built garden houses. However, the manufacturers often plan these wooden houses from the outset in such a way that they may (depending on the valid development plan!) not require approval.

    How long is a building permit valid?

    Once granted, building permits are not valid indefinitely, but lose their validity after a certain period of time (usually three years). After this period has expired, they must be applied for again. However, you can have a building permit extended by a maximum of two years, provided you submit the application in good time before the deadline.

    tips

    The authorities understand a procedure-free project as a building project that does not require a permit, for which you do not need a building permit and therefore do not have to submit an application.

Category:

Garden design