When is a safety coordinator required in Germany?

Three questions to assess separately

The coordinator, advance notice and safety and health plan are connected, but have different triggers. A common mistake is assuming that only large sites need a coordinator. Size alone does not answer the question. Start with who will work on the site and what work is planned.

Create a short decision record identifying the programme revision, employers, estimated workforce and assessment of particularly hazardous work. If procurement or the programme changes, that record gives you a basis for reviewing the decision.

• Coordinator: employees of several employers – section 3(1) BaustellV.
• Advance notice: duration and simultaneous workforce, or total workload – section 2(2).
• Safety and health plan: several employers plus advance-notice requirement or particularly hazardous work – section 2(3).

What does “employees of several employers” mean?

The test is not simply the number of trades or names on the main contract. Employees of a general contractor and a subcontractor can already mean several employers. Different activities performed within the same employer do not, on their own, mean several employers.

RAB 10 covers both simultaneous and successive work. Scheduling the drylining and electrical teams one after the other does not automatically remove the requirement. The rule also draws distinctions for certain short delivery, testing or surveying activities and exclusively supervisory or coordinating visits. Assess borderline cases against the actual activity and RAB 10 rather than counting every visit automatically.

When is advance notice also required?

Section 2(2) BaustellV provides two alternative thresholds. First, work is expected to last more than 30 working days and more than 20 workers will be employed simultaneously; both conditions must apply for that route. Alternatively, the total expected work exceeds 500 person-days, independently of the first combination.

A person-day represents one person’s work over one day. Add the anticipated assignments across the project. For example, six workers each working 100 days amount to 600 person-days. Where staffing varies, sum the relevant periods instead of multiplying a peak workforce by the full duration.

Submit advance notice to the competent authority at least two weeks before establishing the site, display it visibly on site and update it for significant changes. Exactly 30 working days, exactly 20 simultaneous workers or exactly 500 person-days do not exceed the corresponding threshold, but the other alternative must still be checked.

When is a safety and health plan required?

Where several employers’ workers are involved, the plan is required before establishing the site if advance notice is required or Annex II particularly hazardous work is planned. Review the complete annex for your project. It includes certain burial and fall hazards, work near high-voltage lines and assembly or removal of certain heavy prefabricated components using powered lifting or positioning equipment.

Heights and depths in the annex are criteria for this particular classification. They do not mean that falls or burial cannot occur below those values, or that protective measures are unnecessary. Employers’ risk assessments remain necessary independently of the plan.

Four fictional examples

The following cases are deliberately simplified and entirely fictional. They assume work within the scope of BaustellV and employers actually using employees. They illustrate the decision process rather than replacing assessment of a real project.

• Small alteration: two employers, 20 working days, 120 person-days in total, no Annex II work. A coordinator is required; these facts do not trigger advance notice or a plan.
• Longer fit-out: several employers and six workers each working 100 days, totalling 600 person-days. A coordinator, advance notice and a plan are required.
• Short project with a particular hazard: two employers, ten working days and work specifically covered by Annex II. A coordinator and plan are required; that hazard alone does not trigger advance notice.
• One employer with 600 person-days: advance notice is required. The employer count does not trigger appointment under section 3(1) or a plan under section 2(3); the information duty under section 2(4) still applies.

Who appoints the coordinator and what competence is needed?

The construction client is generally responsible under section 4 BaustellV unless a third party has been appointed to perform these measures on its own responsibility. The client or appointed third party may undertake coordination if suitably competent. RAB 30 specifies coordinator competence; a job title or software account alone does not demonstrate it.

Appointing a coordinator does not remove the responsibility of the client or appointed third party. Employers retain their occupational safety duties too. Define duties, contacts, information flow and involvement during planning and execution. A later inspection report cannot retrospectively replace coordination omitted during planning.

Checklist for the next planning meeting

Record the decision and its assumptions, and identify who reports changes to employers, sequencing and hazards. Clarify unresolved points with a suitably competent person or the responsible authority. This overview describes general rules; unusual arrangements and project-specific requirements need their own assessment.

• List employers and subcontractors actually deploying employees.
• Estimate working days, simultaneous workforce and person-days transparently.
• Assess Annex II work separately and record the result.
• Arrange competent coordination in time for planning and execution.
• Assign required advance notice, the safety and health plan and the file for later work.