Passive house requirements of the city are not included in the development plan

Hello dear forum,

we are completely new here as we recently have the opportunity to buy a plot of land in a new development area. We have one of the 5 plots which cannot be connected to the local heating network. We actually find this good, as we can be self-sufficient with a heat pump and photovoltaic system. In our opinion, the development plan is also designed very liberally; hardly any requirements are mentioned that would significantly restrict us. In the exposé of the plot, however, under restrictions it says "-Passivhaus." We find this a very sparse description, because even after further searching all other public documents including the development plan, the word Passivhaus is nowhere to be found. Upon inquiry at various city offices to find the appropriate contact person, we encountered a lot of ignorance regarding this topic. When we were able to identify the planner of the development area, he gave us very brief information on the topic of Passivhaus and referred to a page of a 100-page PDF (IG Passivhaus Deutschland) with the applicable requirements for our plots: Passivhaus Classic, heating energy demand 15 kWh/m²a as well as max. renewable primary energy use of 60 kWh/m²a. Based on this information, we obtained the first offers from various prefab house providers, resulting in many not being able to meet this very low heating energy demand and thus not being able to submit a concrete offer. Now we come to the actual legal question. For the building application to be submitted, isn’t the development plan the legally binding document? Also, no other accessible documents at Baupilot or the city building authority are available in which the specified limit values are described. What is your assessment, if a building application with an energy certificate for a higher heating energy value were submitted here, could it withstand a lawsuit by the city in case of opposition? Many thanks in advance for ideas and opinions on this tricky situation.

Mathias

Isn’t the legally binding document for the building application the development plan?

Yes. Nothing more and nothing less. That settles the matter. The city can certainly make demands, but will face resistance with those demands. Why don’t you present the development plan? So name the city and the development plan or similar – definitely no direct link.

Hello nordanney,
thank you very much for your quick response, all documents can be viewed at Baupilot, the residential area is Beim Brückle 1 in 89079. Thanks in advance for further support.

I took the liberty of reviewing all the documents.

Conclusion: You can also build according to the Gebäudeenergiegesetz, no obligation whatsoever to build a passive house. The building authority can’t do anything to you.

P.S.
For safety’s sake, still invest a few € in an initial consultation with a construction law attorney.
At the same time, submit a written inquiry to the building authority and point out the discrepancy between the development plan and the demand for a passive house from wherever it originated, and ask for a statement or concrete requirements (from the city’s perspective).

P.S. For safety, still invest a few € in an initial consultation with the [Baufachanwalt]

P.S. 2: At the same time, submit a written request to the building authority and point out the discrepancy between the development plan and the demand for a passive house, wherever it may have come from, and request a statement or concrete guidelines (from the city's point of view).