Bavarian ‘Bauturbo’ Act: Draft bill to facilitate conversion projects on existing buildings

The Free State of Bavaria intends to significantly simplify the legal framework for conversion projects on existing properties. To this end, the Bavarian State Ministry for Housing, Construction and Transport submitted a draft of the Bavarian ‘Bauturbo’ Act as early as the beginning of June 2026. Following a consultation with industry associations, the Council of Ministers has now approved the draft bill on 21 July 2026. The draft will be introduced into the legislative process in the Bavarian State Parliament at the end of September.

The draft bill builds on the modernisation measures already implemented under the Bavarian Building Code (BayBO) and implements measures of the Federal Modernisation Agenda. The focus is on far-reaching simplifications to facilitate the creation of residential projects – in particular through the extension and conversion of existing buildings, as well as the abolition of the parking space requirement when converting buildings to create residential space. Further planned changes relate to distance-to boundary regulations for replacement buildings, the abolition of the state-level definition of ‘development’, the extension of the approval fiction to all building projects under the simplified planning permission procedure, and practical adjustments to fire safety regulations.

The following article provides an overview of the key planned changes and practical amendments contained in the draft bill.

Creation of residential space as an overriding public interest (Art. 4 BayBO-E)

The new Art. 4 BayBO-E aims to establish by law that the creation of residential space is a matter of overriding public interest. This creates a clear framework of priorities: residential construction projects are to be prioritized in administrative procedures, meaning that the creation of residential space must be given precedence in official decision-making. This affords authorities greater latitude – for instance, when weighing competing interests or applying regulatory facilitations.

New section VIII ‘Conversion’: Simplified requirements for conversion projects

The draft bill’s key innovation is that, in the future, typical conversion projects will no longer be treated in the same way as new buildings; instead, they will be subject to a distinct, less restrictive legal framework.

For this purpose, a separate section – Section VIII ‘Conversion’ – is to be introduced into the BayBO. The proposed new regulations (Arts. 48a and 48b BayBO-E) aim to significantly facilitate the conversion of existing structures – particularly for the purpose of creating residential space – and, in many instances, replace the previously often necessary case-by-case applications for exemptions under Art. 63 BayBO. The core idea of these proposed provisions is the direct statutory anchoring of specific, safety-justified facilitations regarding existing building fabric, thereby making them available for practical application with legal certainty and without additional bureaucratic burden.

Art. 48a BayBO-E: Legal definition of the term ‘Conversion’

In accordance with Art. 48a sentence 1 BayBO-E, a statutory definition of which construction measures are to be regarded as conversion will be introduced for the first time. The legal definition covers, in particular, the one-off addition of one storey, the conversion of attic space, and the change of use or alteration of units containing habitable rooms in lawfully existing buildings. According to the explanatory memorandum to the bill, extensions are deliberately excluded from the proposed regulation, as these can – apart from being connected to the existing building – be constructed in accordance with current building regulations and must comply with distance-boundary requirements.

The key simplification lies in the fact that, in the case of such conversions, existing structural building elements do not necessarily have to be adapted to meet all the requirements applicable to new construction. In accordance with Art. 48a sentence 1 half-sentence 2 of the draft Bavarian Building Code (BayBO-E), no new verification pursuant to Art. 15 and 17 BayBO will be required for the assessment or classification of existing load-bearing or space-enclosing structural building elements regarding fire resistance. According to Art. 48a sentence 2 BayBO-E, this will also apply when new structural building elements are connected to the existing building. As worded, this simplification applies to all existing buildings, regardless of their type of use.

Art. 48b BayBO-E: Further facilitations for conversions creating residential space

The provision envisaged in Art. 48b BayBO-E for conversions aimed at creating residential space goes even further. This newly introduced regulation consolidates and extends the existing facilitations for measures aimed at creating residential space and incorporates them into a unified conversion regime.

Art. 48b para. 1 sentence 1 no. 1 BayBO-E stipulates that, for existing building elements, the distance-to-boundary requirements (Art. 6 BayBO) and fire safety standards for load-bearing elements (Art. 25 BayBO), external walls (Art. 26 BayBO), separating walls (Art. 27 BayBO), fire walls (Art. 28 BayBO), floor slabs (Art. 29 BayBO), roofs (Art. 30 BayBO), required staircases and stairwells (Art. 32, Art. 33 para. 1 and Paras. 3–8 BayBO), and required corridors (Art. 34 BayBO) will not apply. However, the requirements regarding the escape route system (Art. 31 BayBO) and escape route length (Art. 33 para. 2 BayBO) remain applicable. Any derogation in this regard will continue to require an application for a derogation pursuant to Art. 63 BayBO.

In addition, further facilitations are planned in relation to existing habitable rooms. Art. 48b para. 1 sentence 1 no. 2 BayBO-E dispenses with requirements relating to thermal and acoustic insulation (Article 13 BayBO) and to required room specifications such as the minimum room height for habitable rooms (Article 45 BayBO).

According to Art. 48b para. 1 sentence 1 no. 3 BayBO-E, the requirements applicable to the existing building class are to remain decisive for conversions creating residential space, particularly in cases where the conversion would result in the building being classified in a higher building class under the BayBO system. This prevents a jump to a higher building class with more stringent requirements as a consequence of the conversion. 

For buildings previously classified in building classes 3 to 5, Art. 48b para. 1 sentence 2 BayBO-E contains further specific facilitations of fire safety requirements, such as limiting fire resistance requirements for ceilings and separating walls on the top floor to ‘fire-retardant’ or treating single-storey extensions in the same way as storeys within roof spaces. Furthermore, it will also be sufficient if, after the conversion, load-bearing parts of required staircases in the area where they are extended by one storey are constructed from non-combustible building materials or are fire-retarding. With regard to required stairwells, simplified regulations are provided for cases where they do not comply with current legal requirements. Depending on the condition of the existing building, any retrofitting obligation will be limited to a few key elements, such as closures for openings leading to basement levels, and requirements for new doors and openings for smoke extraction (see Art. 48b para. 1, sentence 2 no. 4 BayBO-E). In addition, Art. 48b para. 1 sentence 3 BayBO-E clarifies that existing staircases do not have to be retrofitted with a second handrail solely because of the conversion, where no second handrail previously existed.

These facilitations are accompanied by the so-called ‘prohibition on deterioration’ in Art. 48b para. 2 BayBO-E. Where existing building elements already provide a higher standard of fire safety than the minimum level envisaged by the facilitations, it is reasonable to maintain the existing quality and to apply it appropriately to the conversion measures.

However, it should be noted that the facilitations under Art. 48b para. 1 BayBO-E do not apply to high-rise buildings and to buildings which, as a result of the conversion, become special-purpose buildings (Sonderbauten) within the meaning of Art. 2 para. 4 BayBO. They are expressly excluded from the scope of the conversion provision.

Of particular practical relevance is that conversions creating residential space will generally be exempt from the parking space requirement under Art. 48b para. 4 BayBO-E. Art. 47 BayBO will not apply to such projects, even if a local municipality requires parking spaces under local by-laws. This facilitates, in particular, conversion measures in densely built-up inner-city areas where the requirement to provide evidence of parking spaces often poses significant obstacles to implementation.

Replacement buildings: Special provisions for existing distance-to-boundary areas under Art. 6 para. 8 BayBO-E

Distance-to-boundary regulations are also to be aligned more closely with the specific characteristics of existing buildings.

Under Art. 6 para. 8 BayBO-E, the replacement of lawfully existing buildings or building parts will be permissible in terms of distance-to-boundary regulations if the existing dimensions are maintained. According to the proposed regulatory approach, this also applies where the replacement building remains within the previous dimensions.

The current provision, which treats such situations as a special case of derogation, will thereby be transformed into a general statutory rule of permissibility, meaning that applications for derogations under Art. 63 BayBO, which were previously necessary, will no longer be required.

In practice, this primarily means that replacement buildings should not fail solely to meet the distance-to-boundary requirements currently in force simply because the existing building does not comply with these requirements. Rather, it should be possible to continue to utilise the existing boundary distances to that extent.

However, it is still unclear whether, and to what extent, this exemption is linked to the existing building use and whether these must be maintained. Further clarification or specification may be provided during the course of the legislative process.

Abolition of the definition of ‘development’ under state law in Art. 4 BayBO

A further planned amendment concerns the current Art. 4 BayBO and, consequently, the provision defining the term ‘development’ under state law. This provision will be repealed.

This will also remove the separate building-regulatory requirement that a plot of land must border directly on a public road of appropriate width.

In future, assessment of access will, in principle, be based solely on planning law under the Federal Building Code (BauGB). The previously parallel requirements of planning law and building-regulatory access concepts will thereby be merged.

This is particularly relevant for plots of land that do not directly border a public road. In such cases, the access requirement under planning law in accordance with the provisions of the BauGB can, for example, be satisfied by easements or public-law agreements securing access via a front-lot property. Being located on a back-lot property will therefore no longer exclude the possibility of ‘development’ under building‑regulatory access requirements.

In this context, it should be noted that safety‑related requirements under Art. 5 BayBO remain in force. The obligations laid down therein to provide straight access routes for the fire brigade, as well as adequate fire brigade assembly and movement areas, must continue to be complied with.

More flexibility in fire safety requirements

In addition, the draft bill also generally amends and eases various fire safety regulations in a practice-oriented manner. This includes, for example, requirements relating to fire walls. Under the proposed Art. 28 para. 5 sentence 4 BayBO-E, combustible roof battens and waterproofing membranes may, under certain conditions, be installed over fire walls. Furthermore, in future, flame-retardant insulation materials will be permissible in the plinth area up to a height of one metre (Art. 28 para. 7 sentence 4 BayBO-E). In practice, these new regulations mean that the previous need to submit case-by-case applications for derogations under Art. 63 BayBO will no longer be required in such cases.

Furthermore, in accordance with Art. 32 para. 7 BayBO-E, required staircases without a separate stairwell connecting two storeys within a single unit of use will be exempt from certain fire safety requirements. Consequently, internal staircases within maisonette flats may in future also be constructed as timber staircases.

Procedural simplifications: Extending procedural exemptions and approval fiction

The draft bill of the Bavarian ‘Bauturbo’ Act is not limited to substantive simplifications. It also provides for procedural changes and adjustments.

With regard to building projects exempt from the planning process, Art. 57 para. 1 no. 18 BayBO-E provides that, subject to the further conditions specified therein, not only dormers but also roof cuts may, in future, be constructed without an approval procedure.

Furthermore, the approval procedure is also to be accelerated, in particular by extending the scope of the approval fiction.

Firstly, under the amendment of Art. 68 para. 2 BayBO the approval fiction – currently limited to certain residential projects – is to be extended to all building projects dealt with in the simplified approval procedure under Art. 59 BayBO. It is therefore intended to apply to all non‑special-category buildings (Nichtsonderbauten). As a consequence, the building permit will be deemed granted by operation of law if the competent building authority does not decide on the application within the statutory time period.

Secondly, Art. 69 para. 2 BayBO-E in conjunction with Art. 42a of the Bavarian Administrative Procedure Act (BayVwVfG) will introduce a separate approval fiction for applications to extend building permits. In such cases, the three-month period for the fiction does not begin upon submission of complete documentation, but already on receipt of the application. Unlike Art. 68 para. 2 BayBO-E, this proposed approval fiction is intended to apply to all applications for extension, regardless of whether the building is qualified as a special-category building. If the competent building authority does not decide on the extension application within three months, the extension will be deemed granted. By reference to Art. 68 para. 2 sentence 1 no. 2 BayBO, it is ensured that confirmation of the fiction is issued ex officio and notified to the developer, the local municipality and neighbouring owners.

However, it should be noted that, in accordance with Art. 55 para. 2 BayBO, the approval fiction does not release developers from the obligation to comply with public-law requirements, nor does it affect the supervisory powers of the building authorities to intervene.

Outlook: Impact of the draft Bavarian ‘Bauturbo’ Act on conversion of existing buildings

The draft Bavarian ‘Bauturbo’ Act provides significant incentives for conversions of existing buildings: conversions creating residential space – in particular attic conversions, building extensions and changes of use – are intended to become legally simpler, faster and more economical. The new Arts. 48a and 48b BayBO-E promise greater planning and legal certainty, fewer applications for derogations and reduced time and financial burdens for developers.

Whether these reforms will, in practice, actually contribute to reducing bureaucracy, increasing flexibility and creating additional affordable residential space will depend largely on the final version of the legislation and its subsequent application by the building authorities. In this respect, the further course of the legislative process therefore remains to be seen.

We will continue to monitor the legislative process and remain at your disposal for any questions.