Construction supervision in Germany: HOAI phase 8 explained for international owners
Construction supervision checks whether what is built matches what was ordered, permitted and designed. Our civil engineers check workmanship, control cost and schedule and document the construction process on the owner side, independent of the designer and directly on site.
Construction supervision under HOAI work stage 8 (Objektüberwachung) is the independent control of execution on the owner side: we check that what is built matches the design, the permit and the contract, review quantities, invoices and change orders, control the schedule and document the construction process up to acceptance. Schneider Theißing delivers the service through civil engineers led by the managing directors, independent of designers and contractors, in Frankfurt Rhine-Main, on the Bergstraße and in Rhine-Neckar, and by project beyond.
When owners call us in
- Execution does not match the design
- Defects are found too late
- Change orders pile up
- Quantities and invoices are not plausible
- The schedule drifts
- Documentation is missing or incomplete
- The general contractor effectively controls itself
- The internal project team lacks capacity
We take over independent construction supervision on the owner side. What the HOAI, the VOB/B and the AHO say about it is explained below.
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HOAI phase 8 in plain English
The HOAI (Honorarordnung für Architekten und Ingenieure) is the German federal regulation on fees for architects and engineers. It divides the services for a building into nine work stages (Leistungsphasen). Work stage 8, Objektüberwachung, is site supervision and documentation; for buildings it accounts for 32 percent of the fee for the full service (section 34 (3) HOAI). Work stage 9, Objektbetreuung, covers the period after acceptance.
Since 2021 the HOAI fee tables are orientation values, and the fee is agreed between the parties in text form (section 7 (1) HOAI). If site supervision is appointed as a stand-alone service, without the design, the fee assessment may also draw on the percentages of work stages 1 and 2, again agreed in text form (section 9 (3) HOAI). For an independent site supervisor this is the usual case.
The basic services of work stage 8 for buildings (Annex 10.1 HOAI) include:
- Supervising execution for compliance with the building permit, the contracts with the contractors, the execution documents, the applicable regulations and the generally recognised rules of engineering
- Coordinating the parties involved in site supervision and setting up, updating and monitoring a schedule
- Documenting the construction process, for example in a site diary
- Joint measurement with the contractors, invoice review including the contractors’ quantity take-offs, and comparison with the contract sums including change orders
- Cost control and the final cost statement, for example under DIN 276
- Organising acceptance of the works, recording defects and giving an acceptance recommendation to the owner
- Compiling the documentation, handover of the building, a list of the limitation periods for defect claims and monitoring the remedy of defects found at acceptance
Reviewing and evaluating change order offers is a basic service of work stage 7 c under the HOAI. If we are appointed for supervision only, we agree change order review explicitly, see change order and claim review.
What our construction supervision covers
Execution checked against building permit, execution drawings, bill of quantities and the recognised rules of engineering. All trades on site. Deviations and defects documented with deadlines.
Quantity checks on site, review of interim and final invoices, budget versus actual, assessment of change orders, ongoing cost forecast with transparent reporting to the owner.
Construction schedule set up and updated, planned versus actual per trade, critical path, coordination of specialist designers and subcontractors, early warning on schedule risks.
Systematic recording, classification and tracking of defects, written defect notices with deadlines, documentation for acceptance and warranty, pre-acceptance punch list.
Daily site reports, photo documentation, minutes of site meetings, correspondence with contractors. A traceable record as the basis for change order review and defect claims.
Pre-acceptance inspections, formal acceptance with reservations, defect tracking and an inspection before warranty periods expire.
The architect designs. We check execution
On many projects the designing architect also supervises the works. That can work, but it has a structural weakness: the designer supervises the result of their own design, and if a defect goes back to a design error there is a conflict of interest.
Independent supervision by an external engineer avoids this conflict. We check the contractors’ execution and watch for recognisable gaps and contradictions in the design. On larger projects, public projects and projects with several specialist designers, separating design and supervision is common practice, and institutional owners and investors often appoint independent supervision as a separate service.
What you receive every month
Many supervision mandates run over the whole construction period. A civil engineer from the management team is on site on agreed days, chairs the regular site meeting, reviews every interim invoice and every change order and reports monthly to management, investor or lender.
- Monthly reportTraffic-light status for quality, cost and schedule in a consistent structure.
- Cost statusBy DIN 276 cost groups, with a forecast to completion.
- Change order logEvery change order with status and amount.
- Defect listOpen defects with deadlines and responsible parties.
- SchedulePlanned versus actual, deviations with cause.
- DecisionsWhat you need to decide or release in the coming month.
Acceptance (Abnahme) and warranty under German law
Acceptance is a legal act of the owner with major consequences: the risk passes to the owner, the limitation period for defect claims starts and, under the German Civil Code, the remuneration becomes due (sections 640, 641 and 644 BGB; section 12 VOB/B). If neither party requests formal acceptance, VOB/B treats the works as accepted after the periods in section 12 (5) VOB/B, for example after a written notice of completion or after the owner has started to use the building. Known defects must be reserved at acceptance.
The limitation period for defect claims on buildings is five years under the BGB (section 634a (1) no. 2 BGB) and four years under VOB/B (section 13 (4) VOB/B), in each case unless the contract provides otherwise. Many defects only appear during this period. As work stage 9 we track defects and inspect the building in good time before the periods expire.
- Deadlines: overview of all acceptance dates and warranty periods per trade and contractor
- Defect follow-up: describing defects technically, setting deadlines, checking and documenting the remedy
- Inspection before expiry: technical inspection of the building with a defect list for the last notice
- Securities: recommendation to release warranty bonds and retentions only after inspection
Powers and documents
Defect notices, deadlines, instructions and the declaration of acceptance are declarations of the owner. Before we start we therefore agree in writing what we do in your name and what you decide yourself.
- Documents: construction contracts with bills of quantities, current execution drawings, schedule and payment plan
- Power of attorney: a written rule on whether we may notify defects, set deadlines, release invoices for payment and give instructions
- Contact: one person with authority to decide and an agreed response time for releases
- Access: access to the site and invitations to meetings with contractors and authorities
- Acceptance: you declare acceptance as owner. We prepare, accompany and document it; without an explicit power of attorney we do not declare it in your name.
Our team has supervised building construction, halls and industrial buildings, logistics, data centers, multi-storey residential, new build and refurbishment. Anonymised examples are on our case studies page (German).
Frequently asked questions
Independent eyes on your construction site
Tell us the project, the contract set-up and the stage. You receive an engineering view and a written proposal with site days and reporting cycle.