Occupational safety for architecture firms
Architecture firms design at the screen and supervise construction on site. In both places, the employer's duties under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Occupational Safety Act (ASiG) and DGUV Regulation 2 apply to the firm's own employees. Things get more complicated when the firm also takes on site tasks that fall to the client. Two sets of responsibilities then run side by side, and each needs its own records.
- Architecture firms
Architecture firms on site: employer and site supervisor at once
Site management and construction supervision regularly take your employees out of the office. On site they face unprotected edges, open excavations and site traffic. None of these hazards arises in office work, and each calls for personal protective equipment to be ready.
Two duties need to be kept apart. As the employer, you assess the hazards facing your own staff, including on a site that is not yours. Where employees of several employers work on a site, the client has to appoint one or more coordinators unless it hands this task to a third party (sections 3 and 4 of the Construction Site Ordinance, BaustellV). If your firm is appointed health and safety coordinator, it provides a service to the client. The risk assessment for your own employees stays as it is.
The same distinction decides which insurance association is responsible. The VBG and BG BAU have agreed that architecture and engineering firms belong to the VBG as long as they plan and, within that remit, manage or supervise construction. A business that builds structures itself, with most staff working in trades such as shell construction or interior fit-out, belongs to BG BAU. Both treat the type of contract as an indicator: fees under the HOAI point to the VBG, works contracts under the VOB to BG BAU.
Architecture firms: insurance association, support group and site coordination
| Item | Architecture firm |
|---|---|
| Accident insurance institution | VBG, risk tariff position for engineering and architecture businesses. BG BAU only where the firm mainly carries out construction work itself |
| Economic sector | WZ 71.1 architectural and engineering activities |
| Support group under DGUV Regulation 2 | III: above 20 employees (Annex 2) 0.5 hours of basic support per employee and year, shared between specialist and occupational physician, at least 20 per cent each. Company-specific support comes on top |
| From the first employee | Risk assessment, safety training, first-aid organisation, appointment of an occupational safety specialist and an occupational physician |
| Up to 20 employees | Annex 1 of DGUV Regulation 2 with no fixed support hours |
| Above 20 employees | Occupational safety committee meeting once per calendar quarter (section 11 ASiG) |
| Up to 50 employees | Unternehmermodell permitted as an alternative. More than 50: standard support |
| From 50 employees in an office | Safety officers (section 22 SGB VII, since 29 May 2026) |
| Coordination on site | Where employees of several employers work on site, the client appoints a coordinator (sections 3 and 4 BaustellV). The firm only takes on the role if it is appointed to it |
Employed architects count towards the thresholds, as do draughtspeople, working students and trainees, whether they mostly work in the office or on site. Part-time staff count proportionally towards the threshold of 20: up to 20 hours a week as 0.5, up to 30 hours as 0.75.
Four focal points of the risk assessment in an architecture firm
- Site visits as an activity in their own right. Personal protective equipment, access rules and coordination with the site safety coordinator belong in the risk assessment as their own section, not as a footnote to screen work.
- Large formats in the office. Plotters, cutting equipment and model making with adhesives and scalpels. Add the storage of plan rolls and models, which frequently ends up above head height.
- CAD work on several monitors. Long, concentrated screen time at high visual detail. The focus is monitor arrangement, viewing distance, freedom from glare and the offered eyesight screening.
- Submission deadlines in competition phases. Competitions and submission dates create predictable peaks in workload. Predictable means manageable, so they belong in the assessment of mental stress under section 5 paragraph 3 ArbSchG.
Model making involves adhesives and spray paints. If a product is labelled as a hazardous substance, it goes into the risk assessment together with its safety data sheet. Hazardous substances in the office explains when the register of hazardous substances can be dropped.
Typical findings when walking through an architecture firm
In the office itself the recurring findings are plan rolls stored above head height, overloaded power strips at plotters and large-format printers, and traffic routes blocked with models and material samples. What is regularly missing from the walkthrough is the building site: there is no record of who goes to which site how often, no arrangement for protective equipment, and no agreement on how a missing check-in during lone working would be noticed.
Safety training in an architecture firm before the first site visit
Safety training therefore needs two parts. The office part covers screen work, fire safety, first aid and operating the large-format equipment. The site part covers behaviour on someone else's building site: reporting to the site manager, wearing protective equipment, conduct near fall edges and in excavations, and the reporting route after an accident while out. Commuting accidents and accidents on site are reportable accidents at work like any other.
New graduates benefit from attending their first site meeting with an experienced site manager. Safety training in the office covers how often training has to be repeated.
Related
- External occupational safety specialist: What the specialist covers in an architecture firm, from the drawing office to the site meeting.
- Occupational safety for engineering and planning offices: The same economic sector, with measurements taken in other operators' plant.
- Setting up a screen workstation correctly: Height and distance when two large monitors stand side by side.
- Screen work glasses: when the employer pays: From the offered eyesight screening to the question of cost for long hours of CAD work.
- Mental stress in the risk assessment: How to capture competition phases and submission deadlines.
- Support-hours calculator (DGUV Regulation 2): The hours for the specialist and the occupational physician at your headcount.
Legal basis
- Occupational Health and Safety Act (ArbSchG)
- Occupational Safety Act (ASiG)
- DGUV Regulation 2 (occupational physicians and safety specialists)
- Social Code Book VII (SGB VII), statutory accident insurance
Frequently asked questions
Is an architecture firm covered by the VBG or by BG BAU?
Usually the VBG. It is responsible as long as the firm plans and, within that remit, manages or supervises construction. BG BAU is responsible for a business that builds structures itself and deploys most of its staff in trades such as shell construction or interior fit-out. Your membership notice is binding.
Does our firm have to provide the health and safety coordinator if we manage the site?
Only if the client appoints you. As soon as employees of several employers work on the site, the Construction Site Ordinance requires the client to appoint a coordinator or to hand this task to a third party. Your firm can take on that role. Either way, the risk assessment for your own employees on site remains your responsibility.
Who pays for hard hats and safety boots for site visits?
The employer. The costs of occupational safety measures may not be passed on to employees (section 3 (3) ArbSchG). The risk assessment for site work determines which equipment is needed. It should be ready before the first visit.
Other business types
Worry-free occupational safety in 4 steps
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