German Construction Slump Deepens as Industry Gets New Safety Bible for Complex Sites
29.06.2026 - 04:35:35 | boerse-global.de
Cement consumption in Germany has cratered to roughly 30 percent below 2020 levels, the president of the Federal Association of Building Materials – Stones and Earth (BBS), Dominik von Achten, confirmed this week. The grim metric underscores a construction downturn that has stalled housing starts and is now forcing heavy industry to throttle production. Against this backdrop of recession and regulatory clutter, a new two-volume reference work for safety and health coordination (SiGeKo) hit the market in Düsseldorf today, authored by Donato Muro.
The first volume of the publication lays out the legal framework, planning, execution, communication, and liability issues that project managers must navigate. The second amounts to a color-printed technical hazard and measure atlas, offering a systematic breakdown of site risks and concrete protective actions. To match the industry’s push toward digital site management, the hardcover set also includes digital work aids and a PDF version. Muro’s book addresses the increasingly tangled demands of Germany’s Baustellenverordnung (Construction Site Ordinance), a subject that grows more pressing as safety requirements tighten.
Managing construction risks on paper is one thing; having a ready-made system to document and update assessments is another. Many project managers overlook the compliance gaps that emerge when safety documentation is patchy. The free Risk Assessment Toolkit provides 41 templates and checklists covering everything from fire safety to lone working, helping teams stay on top of legal requirements without starting from scratch. Download the free Risk Assessment Toolkit
Although permits for new-builds have risen 10 percent, actual construction starts remain delayed, keeping the residential sector in stagnation. Additional turbulence comes from massive rail-network repair projects. According to the BBS, rail construction sites are inflicting significant damage on key industries such as steel, chemicals, and automobiles. The effects are tangible: Salzgitter has already scaled back blast-furnace output, and the chemical sector, which moves roughly 25 million tonnes of freight by rail each year, is calling for cargo traffic to be prioritized. The industry pins hope on state infrastructure funds from special-purpose reserves, with the impact anticipated in the second half of 2026.
On the sustainability front, a separate publication by Sandra Schuster is scheduled for release tomorrow, focusing on circular timber construction – covering deconstruction and reversible connections. One real-world example: two 40-meter-tall wooden residential high-rises rising in Wolfsburg, designed to run on geothermal energy and photovoltaics.
Early July will bring planned talks between construction associations in North Rhine-Westphalia and political representatives including Angela Freimuth. Topics include digitization, Building Information Modeling (BIM), and the volatility of material prices. The overriding goal, according to participants, is to keep construction affordable while meeting escalating safety and sustainability requirements.
Separately, the Central Association of the German Construction Industry (ZDB) has signaled that its member companies are prepared to deploy machinery and materials more actively in post-disaster infrastructure restoration.
