FAQ Building and Cadastre

Section 62 BauO NRW 2018 regulates which projects are exempt from a permit. Some examples are:

• Buildings up to 75 m³ gross volume without habitable rooms, stables, toilets or fireplaces; outside built-up areas only if they serve an agricultural or forestry business and are used neither for sales nor exhibition purposes,
• Garages including covered parking spaces with an average wall height of up to 3 m and a gross floor area of up to 30 m², except outside built-up areas, or
• Terrace roofs with an area of up to 30 m², conservatories up to 30 m² gross floor area on buildings of building classes 1 to 3 with a minimum distance of 3 m to the neighbouring boundary

In all these cases, however, the project must be compatible with building regulation and building planning law provisions (e.g. setback areas, etc.). In cases of doubt, please consult an architect.

If a building permit exists for a structure on a piece of land and this land is to be used differently in future, in most cases you also need a new permit for the planned new type of use. Even if, after a change of tenant, the property is to be used for a different purpose, this must be approved. Structural alterations do not even need to be made for this to apply.

Here are a few examples of changes of use that usually require approval:

• Office or flat converted into a doctor's practice
• Grocery shop converted into a café

If in doubt, ask your architect.

This depends on many factors and cannot be answered in general terms. A legally binding clarification of your building project or related details is only possible through a building permit procedure or a preliminary decision. Ultimately, your architect is responsible for the planning.

As a rule, you will need a design author (draughtsperson). This is the person who compiles the building application documents for you, draws plans and so on — in other words, architects or engineers who hold building-design authorisation. Only for a few, smaller building projects can this be dispensed with. These projects are listed in Section 67(2) in conjunction with paragraph 1 of the Building Code (BauO NRW 2018).

Important: Ultimately, the completeness and quality of the building application documents is decisive even for smaller projects, so sketches instead of construction drawings are not sufficient. In order to be able to submit a building application that can be examined, we therefore recommend commissioning a person authorised to prepare building application documents for all applications.

Depending on the project, you must submit various documents (building plans) and forms. This is set out in more detail in the Regulation on Technical Building Inspections (BauPrüfVO).

We can only assess submitted documents as an application if they are complete. If something is missing, we will give you the opportunity to complete the documents within a reasonable period. After receipt of your application, you will receive a confirmation of receipt listing any deficiencies.

In any case, you must make a statement on the parking situation on the property. A parking space calculation is required for almost all applications. Depending on the construction project, parking spaces for vehicles, in particular for cars and bicycles, must be provided on the property and shown on the site plan.

Depending on who prepares it, the Building Inspection Ordinance distinguishes three types of site plans:
    

Official site plan by a publicly appointed surveying engineer (ÖBVI):

An official site plan by an ÖBVI is only required if, for example, the property boundaries have not been determined or boundary points cannot be surveyed within a uniform coordinate system. The same applies if there are boundary encroachments, or if building encumbrances exist or are planned. If the location of the existing buildings on the cadastral map is only approximately known or not known at all, this is indicated by a dash-dot line on the cadastral map. In these cases too, an official site plan is required.

Site plan by a surveying engineer:

A site plan by a surveying engineer is required when there are special property circumstances, in particular due to a confusing course of the boundaries caused by boundary offsets or kinks.

Site plan prepared by the design author.

In all other cases, a plan prepared by the architect is sufficient. The required content of the site plans is identical in all three variants. Please note that in all cases the site plan must also be co-signed by the design author.

Site plans must be prepared in accordance with Section 3 of the Building Inspection Ordinance (BauPrüfVO) on the basis of the official real property map (Section 2 BauPrüfVO). You have the option of retrieving an official extract from the real property map online at www.obk.de/fluks.

Old documents are often required for the conversion, extension or change of use of an existing building, serving as the basis for planning the new construction project. They are also frequently needed for financing matters. These may include living space calculations, gross volume calculations, structural (statics) documentation, old building permits, drawings, plans and more.

In principle, the owner of the property is obliged to keep these documents. If they can no longer be found, you have the option of inspecting our files, provided such files exist for the property and you can prove entitlement. Files from already completed applications are kept in our records archive. Some of these have already been digitised. All further details on file inspection are explained on the page linked below. (LINK TO APPLICATION FORM TO FOLLOW)

The Oberbergischer Kreis holds building files in its archive dating back to 1934.

Responsibility depends on which municipality your construction project is to be carried out in. You will find the name of the responsible case officer on the written confirmation of receipt.

This question cannot be answered precisely in general terms either. The processing time for a complete building application is generally two to three months. This time is required because the external and internal specialist authorities to be involved in the procedure are legally granted a corresponding period for issuing their opinions. If a procedure takes longer, the reason is usually that the documents required to assess the project are not available and must be requested subsequently.

The amount depends on the individual case, but is at least 50.00 euros. It is calculated on the basis of the General Administrative Fees Ordinance of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (AVwGebO NRW) and depends, among other things, on the cubic capacity and the shell construction value of your project. The following formula is applied for new constructions or extensions:

Insofar as the AVwGebO NRW provides fee ranges, the currently valid service instruction of the Oberbergischer Kreis for setting fees in building-law matters applies.

Building encumbrances, exemptions, deviations, involvement of other authorities and other matters are charged separately.

Decisive within the General Administrative Fees Ordinance is Tariff Item 2, Parts I and II.

Costs are also incurred, incidentally, if a building application is rejected or withdrawn.

The building permit is valid for three years after service. Execution of your building project must begin within this period. Your building permit lapses if construction is interrupted for longer than one year. If construction work is interrupted for longer than three months, you must notify us again in writing at least one week before resuming work.

Before the permit expires, you can apply for a one-year extension by informal letter. Please state the file reference number of the building permit in it.

This question cannot be answered in general terms either. To clarify this question in a legally binding manner, we recommend that you carry out a formal application procedure (e.g. a preliminary building enquiry). Furthermore, urban land-use planning, i.e. the establishment of local building law, is the responsibility of the cities and municipalities. For questions regarding building planning law, please contact the building or planning office responsible for your municipality.

An easement means: A property must allow or refrain from something for another property.
This is recorded in the land register and always applies to the respective owner of the benefited property – not to a specific person.
Typical examples:
A neighbor is allowed to walk or drive across the property (right of way).
Utilities are allowed to run above or below the property (easement for utilities).
The owner is allowed to have a building or part of a building extend over the property boundary onto the neighboring property (encroachment right).

Building encumbrances are public-law obligations of a property owner to the building authority. They are not recorded in the land register but in the building encumbrance register. A building encumbrance regulates what is necessary for compliance with building regulations, e.g., maintaining setback areas, securing access roads, or providing parking spaces.

Easements secure rights between properties or owners.
Building encumbrances ensure compliance with building regulations vis-à-vis the authorities.
The same matter can exist simultaneously as a building encumbrance and as an easement – e.g., a path that must be secured both under public law (building encumbrance) and private law (easement).

Often, building encumbrances and easements refer to parcels of land that no longer exist. If you want to find out the currently encumbered or entitled parcels, you may need to have an identity certificate issued by the cadastral office.

For more information on land register excerpts, see "Where can I obtain a land register excerpt?"

Link to the building authority's page with the building encumbrance register

For Radevormwald, Hückeswagen, Wipperfürth, and Lindlar, contact the

Wipperfürth District Court

For Gummersbach, Wiehl, Bergneustadt, Engelskirchen, and Marienheide, contact the

Gummersbach District Court

For Waldbröl, Morsbach, Nümbrecht, and Reichshof, contact the

Waldbröl District Court

Development contributions are levied when a plot of land is made suitable for building.
Development contributions are not levied by the cadastral office. Sole responsibility lies with the city or municipality in which the property is located.
The municipality decides:
- whether a development contribution is due
- in what amount
- for which measures
- at what point in time

Cadastral renewal means that the real property cadastre in a specific area is fully reviewed and updated. In the process, boundary and building points are re-surveyed or recalculated based on old records, in order to obtain reliable, up-to-date data (coordinates). Such renewals usually take place in areas with a historically grown cadastre.
 

A surveying order means that a citizen, property owner, or authority commissions a surveying office to precisely measure a plot or building. This is necessary, for example, when new boundaries are to be established, buildings registered, or construction projects prepared. The results are incorporated into the cadastre to ensure that the data on boundaries, areas, and buildings remain current and reliable.
The surveying is carried out by Publicly Appointed Surveying Engineers or the cadastre office.
 

A boundary point is a precisely defined point that marks the course of a property boundary. Several boundary points together form the complete boundary of a property. 
 

They are determined by surveys and documented in the real property cadastre. 

Boundary point coordinates are the precise location data of a boundary point in a uniform coordinate system. They therefore describe mathematically exactly where a boundary point is located, regardless of whether it is visibly marked on site or not.
These coordinates are determined through surveys and stored in the real property cadastre. They make it possible to reliably locate boundaries at any time or to correctly reconstruct missing boundary markers (e.g. boundary stones).
Thanks to the coordinates, the boundary remains legally clearly determinable even if the visible marking is no longer present. They are thus a central component of a modern, digital real property cadastre.

Boundary points can be made visible on site, for example by boundary stones, marking nails or other permanent markers. Whether a boundary point is visible depends on the terrain, the use and previous surveys. Boundary points are important for clearly clarifying ownership, safely planning construction projects and avoiding disputes about the course of the boundary.

With a mobile phone or a regular GPS device, you can only approximately locate boundary points. The devices are not accurate enough to determine a boundary point with legal certainty. For an exact determination, a surveying office must always be contacted.
In the Geoportal there is the option to display the location on the map. This function can be used to orient oneself in the locality.
Independently restoring, moving, or obscuring boundary markers is prohibited. For this, please contact a publicly appointed surveyor or the cadastre office.

The boundary setback describes the minimum distance that a building, a structure or certain uses must maintain from the property boundary. These distances are set out in building law and serve to ensure safety, lighting, ventilation and the protection of neighbouring properties.
The boundary setback is not recorded in the real estate cadastre; rather, it results from the building regulations and development plans. However, the cadastre provides the basis for correctly determining boundary setbacks, as it shows the exact course of the property boundaries and the location of buildings.
Anyone wishing to build or plant should always observe both the boundaries from the cadastre and the requirements of building law in order to avoid conflicts with neighbours and authorities.
 

An encroachment occurs when a building has been constructed beyond one's own property boundary onto the neighbouring property. This can happen intentionally, accidentally, or due to inaccurate old boundary data. An encroachment therefore always affects two properties and can have legal consequences.
The real property cadastre shows the exact course of the boundary and the location of the buildings. This makes it possible to determine whether an encroachment exists. In cases of uncertainty, a survey can help clarify the situation unambiguously. A possible violation of building law must be examined by the building authority, and the legal consequences between neighbours must be examined by the civil court.

Merging – or, more correctly, referred to in the cadastre as consolidation – of parcels of land means that two or more directly adjoining parcels are combined into a single parcel, so that the cadastral map becomes clearer and fewer parcels need to be managed in the cadastre and land register, or by the owners. A merger may also become necessary if an old parcel boundary crosses a building project.
 

The separation of a parcel is carried out through an official survey, which can be commissioned from a publicly appointed surveyor . This surveyor prepares a subdivision plan and submits the documents to the cadastre office. After the cadastral register is updated, independent parcels are created, and the land register is subsequently updated accordingly. In the cadastre, this process is referred to as subdivision. A prerequisite for the division of the parcel can be a so-called negative certificate,
i.e., confirmation that the planned subdivision does not result in a plot that violates building regulations. The negative certificate is required if the plot is located in an urban area or is intended for construction. If the area is in a rural zone or consists purely of agricultural land, a negative certificate is usually not required. 

(Link contact person building office)

The land value describes the total worth of a plot of land, i.e. the land itself together with any special features of the location.

The official property value is usually determined by the Committee of Valuation Experts for Property Values, or – for tax purposes – the Tax Office. For private purposes, experts or real estate agents can also conduct evaluations.
 

The property price shows how much buyers actually pay for a particular property. It results from supply and demand and may differ from the property value.

The property value is the objective market value of a property – legally defined, methodically determined, and the basis for many financial decisions. The actual sale price of a property may differ from this.

For further information, visit www.boris.nrw.de

Property tax is an annual levy that owners pay to the municipality for their land or property. The expert committee provides important data for this, such as standard land values, so that the property tax can be calculated fairly and transparently.
 

The property tax reform of 2025 replaces the old standard values with current land and property values to make taxation fairer.

An expert opinion is a professional assessment in which an appraiser describes the value of a plot of land or a property in a comprehensible manner.
 

A rent index (Mietspiegel) shows what rents are customary in a city or municipality and helps tenants and landlords better assess the local comparative rent.

To create a transparent rent index, tenants and landlords are randomly selected and contacted periodically in the Oberbergischer Kreis. They are asked to fill out a questionnaire regarding their rent and the rental property and return it to the Expert Committee. Every returned questionnaire is therefore valuable for creating a meaningful rent index.
 

Rent index for the Oberbergischer Kreis.

The property market report summarises how the prices and values of land, houses and flats develop in a region. The Expert Committee prepares this report every year from actually paid purchase prices using statistical procedures and methods, so that citizens and authorities receive a transparent overview of the local property market.

The Housing Market Report describes how rents, purchase prices, and the availability of apartments or residential buildings develop in a city or region. The expert committee provides important data for this purpose.

Aerial images are photos of the Earth's surface taken vertically downward from an airplane or a drone. Orthophotos are computationally rectified and true-to-scale aerial images—essentially like a map, but as a photo. They show buildings, roads, and landscapes without distortions and are therefore well-suited for planning, documentation, or simply for orientation. 

The following platforms offer free access to view and download orthophotos for the Oberbergischer Kreis:

on the Geoportal of the Oberbergischer Kreis

on the Geoportal NRW

on TIM-Online

on the Geoportal of the Regionalverband Ruhr (RVR)

Historical maps and aerial photographs can be viewed on the Geoportal of the Oberbergischer Kreis.

A laser scan is a measurement method in which a laser measures many points on surfaces. This produces a highly accurate 3D model of the surroundings.
The so-called "point clouds" can be collected by aircraft (airborne laser scan) or by laser scanning on the ground (terrestrial laser scanning).

3D survey data can be obtained via Geobasis.NRW.

The Oberbergischer Kreis has not published the hunting grounds in the geoportal.
Information about the hunting register is provided by the lower hunting authority.

Costs for surveying and transfer are the fees that property owners pay for the official surveying of a plot and for the subsequent entry of the new or modified data into the cadastre to ensure that all information is correctly, currently, and legally documented.

The costs for surveying arise from the work of the surveying office, which measures the property on-site, defines boundaries, records points, and produces all technical data necessary to clearly demonstrate changes.

The costs for the transfer to the cadastre are incurred afterwards and cover the official review, processing, and entry of the new surveying data into the cadastre, so that the changes become official and can later be used in the land register.

The costs are based on the Surveying and Valuation Costs Ordinance NRW (VermWertKostO NRW).

The costs are determined according to the Surveying and Valuation Costs Ordinance NRW (VermWertKostO NRW).