Turn 100 into 1: A standardised building regulation for more efficient housing construction

If I build a house, how high must the ceiling be and how wide must the stairs to the upper floor be? What are the minimum dimensions of a car park and what are the requirements for the height of railings?

The answers to these and many other questions can be found in the municipal building regulations. And because each municipality is free to set its own rules, it is said that there are now as many building regulations as there are municipalities: 100 in total.

"The lack of harmonisation is currently making our work more difficult, " says Jean-Claude Welter. Like Michelle Friederici, he is an architect and urban planner. Both are also members of the Board of Directors of the Association of Architects and Consulting Engineers (OAI), with Friederici as Chairman.

The OAI is working to change this. The coalition agreement between the CSV and DP had already promised harmonisation and simplification. Then, in 2024, Prime Minister Luc Frieden (CSV) announced "a standardised national building regulation by 2025 in his state of the nation declaration, which would allow construction to be carried out "faster and cheaper". In the meantime, Interior Minister Léon Gloden (CSV) has set the first half of 2026 as the new deadline, as he announced in mid-August in response to a parliamentary question from the LSAP (see info box).

An arduous exercise for architects

What does it actually mean for urban planners and architects today to have to deal with 100 different sets of regulations? "We have to read through the building regulations again for each municipality […] so that we are compliant, " explains Welter. It's tedious work that takes time. And time is money.