Erbringung grenzüberschreitender Dienstleistungen im zulassungspflichtigen Handwerk erstmalig anzeigen

If you are a craftsman or craftswoman from the European Union, the European Economic Area or Switzerland and wish to temporarily provide craft services requiring a license in Germany without having a branch here, you must report this.

In order to increase the mobility of self-employed persons in the internal market, there is a notification procedure for the provision of cross-border services for regulated professions. As a rule, it replaces a procedure for the recognition of professional qualifications, which is generally provided for in the case of establishment procedures for the purpose of exercising a regulated profession.

In the case of regulated professions, proof of a specific professional qualification is required for access to the profession or for practicing the profession. In the skilled trades, these are the skilled trades requiring a license. Here, the skilled trades entrepreneur or a company manager must have a relevant master craftsman examination or an equivalent domestic or foreign professional qualification.

The trades requiring a license are listed in Annex A of the Crafts Code. These include the following professions:

• Bricklayers, carpenters, roofers, road builders, scaffolders, metal workers, tilers, screed layers,
• stonemasons, stone sculptors and plasterers,
• Painters, varnishers, interior decorators,
• car body and vehicle builders,
• Information, automotive and electrical technicians,
• plumbers and heating engineers, tank and apparatus builders,
• bakers, confectioners and butchers,
• hairdressers and barbers,
• glassblowers and glass apparatus makers,
• chimney sweeps,
• orthopaedic technicians and dental technicians.

The notification procedure does not apply to establishment procedures, but only to the cross-border provision of services. This means that the main focus of the business is in another European country and services are only provided in Germany occasionally and temporarily. Nationals of the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland or companies based in EU/EEA states or Switzerland benefit from the regulations.

List of countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.

You must report any significant changes in circumstances that affect the requirements for the provision of services (e.g. change in the person responsible for the business, provision of new craft activities requiring authorization). In doing so, you must prove that the requirements for the cross-border provision of services continue to be met.

• Proof of nationality
• Proof of legal establishment in the country of origin, i.e. self-employed commercial activity for an indefinite period of time from a permanent establishment
• Proof of the required professional qualification, i.e:
  • Proof of lawful exercise of the profession in the case of professions regulated in the country of origin
  • Proof of training if the profession is not regulated in the country of origin
  • Proof of relevant professional experience if neither the profession nor the training is regulated in the country of origin

You are qualified to provide craft services in Germany that require a license. You can prove your qualification as follows:

• The profession is regulated in your country of origin and you can prove that you have practiced it legally.
• The profession is not regulated in your country of origin, but the training is and you can prove that you have acquired the professional qualification. State-regulated training is training that is specifically geared towards practising a particular profession and consists of a completed course of training.
• Neither the profession nor the training is regulated in your country of origin: you can provide evidence of at least one year of relevant professional experience in full-time work or longer equivalent periods in part-time work. You must have gained the professional experience within the last 10 years.

You can find the professions that are regulated in the EU in the EU database.

You must also provide proof of legal establishment in your country of origin.

As a rule, the notification procedure is not subject to fees.

If the professional qualification is checked in individual cases, administrative fees may be incurred.

The amount of the costs depends on the cost and fee statutes of the respective competent Chamber of Skilled Crafts.

You can report the provision of cross-border services in the skilled crafts sector requiring a license in writing or electronically.

Information on forms and procedures can be obtained from the relevant Chamber of Skilled Crafts or from the websites.

As a rule, you are entitled to provide services in Germany once you have fulfilled the notification requirement if the legal requirements are met. In addition, a confirmation should be issued within one month that the obligation to notify has been fulfilled and that the requirements have been met.

In the case of healthcare trades (opticians, hearing aid acousticians, orthopaedic technicians, orthopaedic shoemakers, dental technicians) and chimney sweeps, you may only provide services in Germany once you have been notified that your professional qualification will not be re-examined or confirmation that the examination has been successfully completed.

You must report any significant changes in circumstances that affect the requirements for the provision of services and provide evidence that the requirements are still met. Significant changes are, for example, a change in the person responsible for the business or the provision of new craft activities requiring authorization.

The continuation of the cross-border provision of services without significant changes must be reported informally every 12 months at the latest.

If all requirements are met, the confirmation of receipt is usually issued within one month of receipt of the notification and all documents.

If a review of the professional qualification is necessary in individual cases, you will usually receive an average of the results within one month.

The notification must be made before the services are provided for the first time. In the case of health trades and the chimney sweep trade, you must also wait for notification that no examination of the professional qualification is intended or that a sufficient professional qualification has been established.

You must submit an informal follow-up notification once a year if you wish to continue providing services in Germany.

If the requirements for the cross-border provision of services are not met, legal action may be taken. Information on the existing legal remedies can be found in the information on legal remedies in the notices.

• Notification of the first-time provision of cross-border services in the skilled crafts sector subject to licensing Confirmation
• Notification of cross-border provision of services if craft services are occasionally and temporarily provided in Germany by companies from other EU/EEA countries or Switzerland
• Regulation only applies if
  • craft activities requiring a license are to be carried out in Germany
  • there is no branch in Germany
• no obligation to be entered in the register of craftsmen
• Deadline: before the first provision of cross-border services in Germany
• Application in writing or electronically
• usually not subject to a fee
• Responsible: Chamber of Skilled Crafts in whose district the cross-border provision of services is to take place for the first time. If it is not yet known where the first provision of services is to take place, the notification can be submitted to any Chamber of Skilled Crafts.