If you claim Federal Funding for Efficient Buildings (BEG) for the building envelope, you cannot issue the confirmation for the application (BzA) and the confirmation after completion (BnD) yourself. This requires an energy consultant on the federal expert list: an Energy Efficiency Expert (Energie-Effizienz-Experte, listed by dena, the German Energy Agency). This service is itself funded at half its cost.
The BEG distinguishes measures by who takes technical responsibility for them. For BEG individual measures (BEG EM) on the building envelope, on building services other than heating, and for the construction of building networks (Gebäudenetze), an approved energy consultant must be involved. The consultant prepares the BzA and, once the work is finished, confirms that the minimum technical requirements have been met and states the amount of the eligible costs.
For replacing the heating system and for heating optimisation, on the other hand, the declaration of the installing contractor is sufficient. If the same application is combined with a measure on the building envelope, or if you want to claim the bonus for an individual renovation roadmap (iSFP), the energy consultant is required again.
Apart from funding, supervision serves a second purpose: workmanship defects in the building envelope can no longer be seen once the work is complete. Thermal bridges and air leaks only become noticeable when moisture damage appears. The inspection therefore takes place before plastering and before cladding is fitted.
The scope is laid down in the funding directive. It goes beyond filling in forms and covers planning, inspection and documentation.
Planning of the thermal insulation, a thermal bridge and airtightness concept for the planned measure, checking whether ventilation measures are needed, help with obtaining quotes, and checking the quotes for consistency with the required scope and quality. This includes requesting missing technical values and product details from the contractor.
Inspection of the energy-relevant building components before they are covered up, checking manufacturers' certificates and contractor's declarations against the minimum technical requirements, documentation of the supervision.
BnD, evidence of the eligible costs, compiling the documents and handing the documentation over to the building owner.
For measures on listed buildings (Baudenkmale) and on buildings of particular historic value (besonders erhaltenswerte Bausubstanz), adapted requirement values apply. Only experts in the separate listed-building category (Denkmal) of the expert list are approved for this.
The service is funded as a separate item. Its funding rate of 50 per cent is well above that for the building work itself.
| Building | Eligible costs | Funding rate | Grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-family or two-family house | up to €5,000 | 50% | up to €2,500 |
| Apartment building with three or more residential units | €2,000 per residential unit, max. €20,000 | 50% | up to €10,000 |
Funding for construction supervision requires that an eligible building measure is also carried out. It cannot be claimed for replacing the heating system or for emission reduction measures. The iSFP bonus does not apply to construction supervision either.
Primary source: BEG EM funding directive (Förderrichtlinie BEG Einzelmaßnahmen) of 17 July 2026, nos. 5.5, 8.3.1(b) and 8.4.7 – Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (in German).
A condition with financial consequences
The funding directive requires the energy consultant to be commissioned independently in relation to the specific project. Neither the consultant nor the company employing them may, even indirectly, have an ownership, partnership, shareholding or employment relationship with the companies carrying out the work or with suppliers, be commissioned by them, or refer services to them.
Without this independence, the funding rate of 50 per cent does not apply and the costs of specialist energy planning and construction supervision cannot be claimed in addition. If the contractor carrying out the work also takes on the supervision, funding for this service is therefore lost.
The reason for the rule is what construction supervision is for: it inspects the work and must therefore be separate from the contractor doing it.
If, in an individual case, the consultant is not independent, they must inform the building owner before the project starts. With package offers, check who issues the confirmation and what relationship that person has to the contractor.
Primary source: BEG EM funding directive of 17 July 2026, no. 9.3. Approved experts: Energy Efficiency Expert list for federal funding programmes (in German).
The consultant is commissioned before an unconditional supply or service contract is signed with the contractor. Planning and advisory services may be provided before that.
Setting the target values for each building component, thermal bridge and airtightness concept, estimating the eligible costs from the quotes and preparing the BzA.
Checking the quotes against the minimum technical requirements. What is most often missing are the technical values or the specific product names. Without them, eligibility can neither be checked nor proven later.
Inspection of the energy-relevant building components while they are still accessible, and documentation of the work.
Evidence that the requirements have been met and of the eligible costs actually incurred.
Compiling and submitting the documents within the required deadline, and handing over the documentation.
The approval period (Bewilligungszeitraum) is 36 months. The proof of use must be submitted within six months of completing the project. Documents recording the construction supervision must be kept for ten years and presented on request.
For individual measures on the building envelope and on building services it is required, because only an approved energy consultant can issue the confirmations the funding requires. For replacing the heating system, the contractor's declaration is sufficient.
Not for funded construction supervision. The directive requires independence from the contractor carrying out the work. Without it, the funding rate of 50 per cent does not apply and the costs cannot be claimed in addition.
Not for measures on the building envelope if you want to use the funding: without the confirmation of an approved energy consultant, the application will not be approved and the proof of use will not be accepted. The only decision is who takes on the supervision and whether its costs are funded at 50 per cent.
Deviations must be reported to the funding body without delay. Whether the measure remains eligible depends on whether the minimum technical requirements are still met. This is why the work is checked while it is in progress and not only at the end.
That is possible, as long as the BzA has not yet been issued by someone else and the project has not yet started. In that case, get in touch early so that we can agree the schedule.
To prepare a quote, I need details of the building type, the number of residential units, the planned measure and the schedule. You will hear back from me within two working days.
