As New Bitumen Limits Loom, German Customs Gain Unannounced Digital Access to Construction Sites
Veröffentlicht: 07.07.2026 um 17:14 Uhr, Redaktion boerse-global.de
A tighter workplace safety requirement for road builders and a beefed-up customs inspection regime are both landing on German construction firms in quick succession. From January 2027, the threshold for bitumen fumes and aerosols in road construction will drop to 1.5 milligrams per cubic metre. The transitional arrangement for rolled asphalt expires at the same time.
Industry guidance points to temperature-reduced asphalt (TA-Asphalt) as the main compliance route. The updated technical rulebooks, beginning with ZTV Asphalt-StB 25, will draw a distinction between new-build and existing road surfaces. Digital process monitoring, tracking laying temperatures and emission levels continuously, is expected to become standard to prove the limits are being met.
Keeping hazardous substances like bitumen fumes within safe limits depends on having the right documentation in place. A free COSHH Risk Assessment Toolkit gives you 43 fully customisable templates, checklists and toolbox talks to help you legally assess and control dangerous substances in your workplace. Get the free COSHH Toolkit
That digital push aligns with a separate set of enforcement powers that took effect in January 2026. Customs officers can now show up at any construction site without prior notice and demand full digital access to all documentation. The inspection is no longer limited to the main contractor. General contractors are liable for the entire subcontractor chain, meaning they must be able to pull up records on every firm and every worker on site within minutes.
Two organisations — ISHAP GmbH and the law firm Bronhofer & Partner Rechtsanwälte mbB — have published a specialist guide aimed at helping companies build a legally sound digital filing system that can withstand an unannounced customs check. The stakes are high: a documentation gap can lead to the company being entered in the competition register. That entry blocks participation in future public tenders — a potentially existential blow for many firms.
Beyond health and customs, fleet operators face a separate regulatory change that came into force on 1 July 2026. The statute of limitations for traffic administrative offences has doubled from three to six months. Trading of penalty points has been explicitly outlawed, with fines of up to €30,000 for violations. At the same time, the federal road traffic act now provides a legal basis — under §63g StVG — for the nationwide deployment of scan-cars to enforce parking rules automatically.
