According to § 34c Para. 1 No. 3 of the Trade, Commerce and Industry Regulation Act, a license is required for anyone who
- prepares or carries out construction projects as a building owner in their own name for their own account or for the account of third parties and intends to use assets of purchasers, tenants, leaseholders or other beneficiaries or of applicants for acquisition or usage rights for this purpose, or
- intends to economically prepare or carry out construction projects as a construction supervisor in the name of a third party for the account of a third party.
In the case of partnerships, a trader is any managing partner; in the case of legal entities, the permit is issued to the legal entity (e.g. GmbH or AG).
Traders are generally subject to special obligations in accordance with the Broker and Property Developer Ordinance (MaBV). These include in particular the obligations
- to provide sufficient collateral or to take out suitable insurance for this purpose if the trader receives or uses assets belonging to the client (Section 2 MaBV),
- to manage the client's assets received separately (§ 6 MaBV),
- to submit an invoice to the client after completion of the contract (§ 8 MaBV),
- to notify the competent authority of any change in the persons entrusted with the management of the business or a branch office (Section 9 MaBV),
- to provide the client with the information in text form necessary for the assessment of the order and the contract to be brokered or verified (§ 11 MaBV),
- to keep books including the recording of data on individual business transactions and on the clients (§ 10 MaBV),
- Obligation to provide further training (§ 15b MaBV).
To protect the client, the trader's authority to receive and use the client's assets has also been restricted (Sections 3, 4 MaBV). In addition, the trader is obliged to have compliance with the provisions of the Real Estate Agent and Property Developer Ordinance audited annually at his own expense and to submit the audit report to the competent authority (Section 16 MaBV).
The authorities have rights of information and inspection vis-à-vis traders pursuant to Section 34c of the Trade, Commerce and Industry Regulation Act (Gewerbeordnung) in accordance with Section 29 of the Trade, Commerce and Industry Regulation Act. At the request of the authorities, the parties concerned must provide the information required to monitor business operations. Furthermore, the authorities are authorized to enter the business premises in order to carry out inspections and visits.
In addition to obtaining a permit in accordance with Section 34c of the Trade, Commerce and Industry Regulation Act, you must also notify the responsible municipality of your business in accordance with Section 14 of the Trade, Commerce and Industry Regulation Act.