A facilities team planning from an older German brief may find a 290 kW threshold, a deadline at the end of 2024 and a reference to Section 71a GEG. Those details came from the previous law. The consolidated federal text now places the building automation duty in Section 56 and uses a threshold above 70 kW.
The name has changed too. The amendment that took effect on 29 July 2026 renamed the Gebäudeenergiegesetz (GEG) as the Gebäudemodernisierungsgesetz (GModG). The official consolidated text remains at the federal /geg/ address, so GEG still appears in searches and project documents. This guide uses “Section 56” for the current rule and identifies the former rule only where the change matters.
Which buildings and systems are in scope
Section 56 applies to a non-residential building when the rated output of any of these systems is more than 70 kW:
- a heating system;
- a combined space-heating and ventilation system;
- an air-conditioning system; or
- a combined air-conditioning and ventilation system.
The text says “more than 70 kilowatts”. A system rated exactly 70 kW does not cross that threshold. Record the rated output and the equipment boundary used to reach it. Do not substitute the building’s electricity connection rating, floor area, annual energy use or the sum of unrelated loads.
The building must have the required building automation and control system by the end of 31 December 2029. The statutory exceptions are where the installation is technically impossible or economically unreasonable. Section 56 does not define a fixed payback test for those exceptions, so a project should retain the engineering and cost evidence behind any decision to use one.
Buildings owned by the federal government, allied armed forces or a federally owned company are outside subsections 1 to 4 when they serve national or alliance defence. That is a narrow ownership and purpose test, not a general public-building exception.
What the automation system must do
Section 56(2) sets six functions. The system must be able to:
- continuously monitor, log and analyse consumption from all main energy carriers and all building technical systems, and adjust the consumption of those main energy carriers;
- make collected data accessible through a common, freely configurable interface, allowing analysis independent of the company and manufacturer;
- establish target values for the building’s energy efficiency;
- detect efficiency losses in building technical systems;
- inform the operator about possible energy-efficiency improvements; and
- monitor indoor climate quality.
These are system outcomes, not a list of products. A meter can provide a reliable energy value, but it does not establish targets, diagnose a loss or adjust plant by itself. A dashboard can display data without providing a freely configurable interface to another supplier’s analysis tool. A complete design assigns each function to a component and shows how the components exchange data.
The legislative explanation describes indoor climate quality through conditions that affect occupant health and wellbeing, including temperature, humidity, air change and contaminants. Select the parameters that fit the rooms and their use. A temperature sensor in one plant room does not establish conditions throughout an occupied building.
Additional requirements for new buildings
A new non-residential building in scope must also meet Section 56(3):
- above 290 kW, the automation must correspond at least to automation grade B under DIN/TS 18599-11:2025-10;
- above 70 kW, it must correspond at least to automation grade C under that specification; and
- the building must pass technical commissioning management, including adjustment of the building technical systems.
The commissioning management must cover at least one heating period for heat-generation plant and at least one cooling period for cooling plant. The automation must allow communication between connected building systems and other applications and operation with other types of technical system, including equipment and technology from different manufacturers.
Automatic lighting control is also required
Section 56(6) adds a separate requirement for a covered non-residential building. By the end of 31 December 2029 it must have automatic lighting control, unless that installation is technically impossible or economically unreasonable.
The control should be suitably zoned and include occupancy detection. Define the zones from the way the space is occupied and lit. A single building-wide time switch cannot respond to occupancy in separate rooms, circulation areas and open-plan zones. Record the controlled luminaires, occupancy sensor coverage, schedules, manual override and the state used after a sensor or communication failure.
Lighting energy belongs in the wider energy record, but the lighting-control duty is not satisfied by measuring a lighting distribution board. The installed controls must act on the lighting.
How the transition from Section 71a works
Before 29 July 2026, Section 71a GEG applied the mandatory retrofit to covered non-residential systems above 290 kW and set 31 December 2024 as its deadline. Current Section 56 replaces that provision. A specification that repeats Section 71a, 290 kW and the 2024 date does not describe the current scope for a new assessment.
Section 56(4) contains a limited transition for an automation and control system installed in an existing non-residential building during the three years before 1 January 2027. If that system does not meet Section 56(2), the owner may retrofit it after 31 December 2029. The provision says the compliance period is ten years, but does not state its starting point within subsection 4. Record the installation date and do not infer an exact final date from the short provision alone.
The transition is tied to when the automation system was installed and whether it meets subsection 2. It is not a general ten-year extension for every existing building.
Section 56 is separate from Section 14a EnWG
Section 56 and Section 14a EnWG can affect equipment on the same site, but they answer different questions.
| Rule | Main purpose | Trigger | Required action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Section 56 GModG, formerly described as GEG | Energy performance and operation inside a non-residential building | Covered heating, ventilation or air-conditioning system above 70 kW | Building automation functions, open access to collected data, indoor climate monitoring and automatic lighting control by the statutory deadline |
| Section 14a EnWG | Manage congestion on the low-voltage distribution network | A specified controllable electrical load under the Bundesnetzagentur rules | Accept a temporary grid-import limit in exchange for reduced network charges |
A heat pump may contribute to the rated output that brings a non-residential building into Section 56. If it is also a covered low-voltage electrical load, it may have a separate Section 14a control path. The building controller must not treat a DSO import limit as an energy-efficiency command. Keep the grid limit, the plant’s safety controls and the building optimisation logic as distinct inputs with defined priority and event records.
Build a record that proves the functions
Start with a point schedule organised by physical boundary and system function.
| Evidence layer | Points to record | What it demonstrates |
|---|---|---|
| Main energy carriers | Electricity, gas, district heat or cooling, and other main carriers at the building boundary | The totals that continuous monitoring must cover |
| Building technical systems | Energy input to heating, cooling, ventilation, hot water, pumps and lighting | Which system changed and whether totals reconcile |
| Plant operation | Run state, mode, schedule, set point, command, alarm and availability | Whether a change in energy has an operational cause |
| Service output | Heat or cooling output, flow and temperatures where available | Whether more input reflects more useful output or an efficiency loss |
| Indoor climate | Representative temperature, humidity, air quality and ventilation evidence for occupied zones | Whether energy adjustment kept the required indoor conditions |
| Lighting | Occupancy, command, output state, schedule and manual override by zone | Whether the automatic control acts as designed |
For each point, record the unit, source, sample interval, timestamp basis, retention period, expected range and quality state. Define what happens when a value is stale or absent. Missing data stored as zero can create a false saving and hide a loss of communication.
Test the open interface with a second, independent client. Confirm that it can obtain values, timestamps, units and quality without a proprietary export step. If the interface also permits control, document authentication, writable points, command priority, timeout and the safe state. Use the plant manufacturer’s supported control boundary rather than bypassing local protection.
Commission loss detection with known conditions. Examples include simultaneous heating and cooling, plant running outside the occupied schedule, rising electrical input for the same thermal output, a stuck valve command, or indoor conditions moving outside the agreed range. Assign an owner and response time to each finding. An alarm that nobody receives does not inform the operator.
Where EpiSensor fits
EpiSensor can provide measurements and interfaces around existing building plant. Electricity monitors can separate HVAC, lighting and plant feeders. Pulse and M-Bus interfaces can collect gas, water and heat-meter totals. Modbus and analogue interfaces can collect controller states and process measurements. Edge can keep the operational record on site and serve collected data onward over Modbus TCP, MQTT or HTTP.
That can close measurement gaps and connect older equipment to the wider automation system. It does not make an installation compliant by itself. The complete building system must perform every applicable Section 56 function, implement the required lighting control and retain the evidence behind commissioning and any claimed exception.
Use the HVAC energy monitoring application to define plant boundaries and the BMS and SCADA meter integration application to plan the data path from existing equipment.
Common questions
What is the current German building automation threshold?
Section 56 applies when the rated output of a covered heating, combined space-heating and ventilation, air-conditioning, or combined air-conditioning and ventilation system is more than 70 kW. A system rated exactly 70 kW does not cross the stated threshold.
When is the German Section 56 deadline?
The current consolidated law sets 31 December 2029 for the building automation and control system and for automatic lighting control. A separate transition applies to certain systems installed in existing buildings during the three years before 1 January 2027.
Is Germany’s building automation rule still Section 71a GEG?
No. The law that took effect on 29 July 2026 renamed the statute as the Gebäudemodernisierungsgesetz (GModG) and replaced former Section 71a with Section 56. Older material that gives Section 71a and a 290 kW threshold describes the earlier law.
Is energy monitoring alone enough for Section 56?
No. Monitoring, logging and analysis are required, but the system must also support adjustment of energy use, efficiency targets, loss detection, operator information, indoor climate monitoring and access through a common, freely configurable interface. Lighting control is a separate additional duty for covered buildings.
Is Section 56 the same as Section 14a EnWG?
No. Section 56 concerns building automation in non-residential buildings. Section 14a EnWG concerns distribution-network control of specified electrical loads, such as certain heat pumps, chargers, cooling units and batteries, in exchange for reduced network charges.