The German prefabricated housing industry, while cautiously optimistic about stabilizing prices for consumers, is embroiled in a contentious dispute with its occupational accident insurer, creating significant financial strain and drawing criticism of government inaction. Following a period of material, labor and energy cost increases that initially drove up prices, the Bundesverband Deutscher Fertigbau (BDF), the industry’s trade association, reports a flattening of the cost curve, albeit without a significant decrease in consumer costs.
Despite a slump in demand, the prefabricated housing sector largely weathered the recent economic turbulence, avoiding widespread insolvencies. However, employment has decreased by 10%. The current crisis stems from a disagreement with the Berufsgenossenschaft, the industry’s accident insurance provider, concerning a reclassification into a new risk tariff for accident insurance, specifically into a category previously reserved for carpenters.
BDF President Mathias Schäfer characterized the situation as “comparing bananas with lemons: Both are yellow, but otherwise bear no resemblance”. This reclassification has resulted in a doubling of insurance costs per employee, amounting to an additional €1,000 per worker annually. A coalition of 70 companies is now pursuing legal action against the reclassification, estimating cumulative costs of approximately €100 million over the next five years.
Schäfer sharply condemned the policy as “unconscionable” particularly given the sector’s existing challenges. He argued that this inflated insurance burden is actively impeding efforts to offer more affordable housing solutions. “We want and could build more affordably – but not when we have to pay accident costs that simply do not apply to us” he stated. He emphasized that the reclassification does not prevent accidents nor has it resulted in a demonstrable increase in accidents that would justify the policy change.
The BDF president leveled criticism at Federal Labour Minister Bärbel Bas of the SPD, accusing her office of ignoring legal assessments from Professor Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf arguing the reclassification is unlawful. Despite presenting such documentation to the responsible federal agency for social security, a meeting has not been granted. Schäfer suggested this demonstrated a failure within government to properly review critical processes.
Furthermore, Schäfer expressed frustration at the lack of response from the Federal Ministry of Construction, highlighting a perceived contradiction between the government’s stated goals of faster, more reliable and sustainable construction versus the introduction of increasingly restrictive regulations. The industry maintains that restrictive policies like these ultimately undermine the government’s broader construction agenda.
