Private Building and Architect Law

Fortifying foundations,
accelerating processes.

In Germany, construction projects of all types – no matter how large or small – are governed by private building law, architect law and engineering law. Contracts and legislation form the basis on which both principals and clients can assert their rights.

Taking this legal framework as our starting point, our experts here at GSK Stockmann, will help you develop and implement an optimal legal strategy for your project. Thanks to our diligence and in-depth understanding of the industry, the approach we take is geared toward delivering results – particularly for complex building projects.

We liaise closely with authorities, engineers and businesspeople on a daily basis, and are thus highly experienced in supervising building projects large and small. We are accustomed to working hand in hand with building specialists from a range of trades and professions, and can offer clients access to our wide network of project developers, surveyors, building companies and engineers. We develop cost-effective and practical solutions which are tailored to the precise needs of our clients.

Private Building Law

We offer advice and support on complex building projects, particularly office buildings, hotels, residential properties, logistics facilities, plant construction, infrastructure projects and civil engineering structures. Most building projects call for legal expertise in fields other than building law alone.

For this reason, we work hand in hand with colleagues from other specialist fields in order to help you handle tendering processes, for example, or obtain and defend an official planning permission, buy or sell the building plot, finance your project or found and manage a special-purpose entity.

In order for a building project to run its course successfully, you need a clear strategy for awarding contracts, and you also need your building contracts or partnering agreements to be legally watertight. This applies to private and public clients alike. Whether you are the principal or the client in the building project concerned, we will help you lay the foundation for a successful building project by drafting and negotiating contracts of all kinds (general contractor agreements, subcontractor agreements, GMP contracts, consortium agreements, developer contracts, FIDIC contracts).

We not only offer our clients advice and support in drafting and negotiating contracts, but also during the entire building phase – through to successful completion. Thanks to our specialist expertise and experience, we are able to offer our clients legal advice on issues as varied as building site safety, insurance for building risks, addenda to contracts, all kinds of disruptions to building work, termination of agreements, withheld performance, insolvency issues of companies involved with the building work, final accounts, claim management and anti-claim management.

First and foremost, we aim to help all parties involved to avoid time-consuming and costly court cases. On request, we are therefore happy to support our clients in all types of alternative dispute resolution – mediation meetings, arbitration and adjudication procedures and conciliation proceedings, for example. Naturally, we will be more than happy to represent our clients in court if the above measures are unlikely or fail to deliver the expected results.

“Competent, innovative and high-quality legal advice on complex transactions and real estate projects with an emphatic approach.”

Heiner Krull, architect, Head of Planning (South), Art-Invest Real
Estate Management GmbH & Co. KG

Architect and Engineering Law

Complex building projects require the expertise of architects and engineers. Hence our work on complex building projects is not restricted to general contractors or

subcontractors alone; it also covers the services provided by architects and engineers and aims to include the best possible planning and project management.

Whether you are the principal or the client in the building project concerned, we will help you lay the foundation for a successful building project by drafting and negotiating contracts of all kinds (architect agreements, general contractor agreements, engineer agreements and project management contracts).

Throughout each and every phase of a building project, we offer our clients – whether principals, architects or engineers – advice and support on questions concerning fees and liability. Naturally, we will also be happy to legally represent our clients in the event of a dispute over fees or liability.

Buildings and constructions can sometimes be subject to copyright. We offer advice and support with all issues pertaining to copyright laws, whether in connection with an existing building or a planned project.

Many complex building projects are preceded by an architectural design competition. We help public institutions, companies and private persons to prepare and run a legally watertight planning or architectural design competition.

First and foremost, we aim to help all parties involved to avoid time-consuming and costly court cases. On request, we are therefore happy to support our clients in all types of alternative dispute resolution – mediation meetings, arbitration procedures and conciliation proceedings, for example. Naturally, we will be more than happy to represent our clients in court if the above measures are unlikely or fail to deliver the expected results.

More than lawyers.
Find the right experts.

Get to know our lawyers from our “Private Building and Architect Law” team.

Find a lawyer