Submit a building inquiry in Hamburg

Does anyone here have experience with submitting a preliminary building enquiry in Hamburg? We want to buy a plot of land with an existing semi-detached house and build an extension at the back. The development plan provides a sufficiently large building window, floor area ratio, number of floors, etc. all fit as well. Now, my inquiry at the building authority revealed that the preliminary building enquiry must be submitted by an authorized building professional. We are supposed to find a planning office, architect, etc. and have a rough plan made. The architect then submits all documents digitally. I am totally confused. I thought you could submit such a preliminary building enquiry yourself?! According to the building authority, this is not possible. I have now contacted 3 planning offices with the request and for feedback. My question to you: Who has already had a rough plan made for a preliminary building enquiry? From whom did you have it made and what did it cost? I am a bit shocked at the (financial) effort required just to obtain information on the building law feasibility.

that the preliminary building request must be submitted by an authorized building professional.

Apparently, this is new or there are issues apparent in the development plan or even in the information from you, so they want something from a specialist.
hamburg dot de actually has a good information page with all the authority information available.

Has anyone here had experience with submitting a building preliminary request (Bauanfrage) in Hamburg?

Yes, building preliminary requests can be submitted quite informally by anyone. I am not aware of any changes requiring these to be submitted by a licensed architect or similar (I also did not immediately find this in the law or on Hamburg’s website).

Now my inquiry at the building authority revealed that the building preliminary request must be submitted by a licensed building submitter (Bauvorlageberechtigter).

On what basis?

We want to buy a plot with an existing semi-detached house and build an extension to the rear. The development plan provides a sufficiently large building envelope, floor area ratio, number of floors, etc. all fits as well.

Why then a building preliminary request? This is used to answer specific questions about whether a matter is feasible. If you adhere to the development plan, there are no questions to be answered. Maybe that’s why...

I received this information in writing by email and also orally (phone call) from the building authority. In Hamburg, informal procedures are no longer possible. Building preliminary inquiries can only be submitted digitally by authorized building submitters. Our construction project is basically standard. Extension to an existing semi-detached house, according to the development plan there should be no problem at all. I spoke three times with the responsible caseworker. She said that before submitting the building preliminary inquiry, we should ideally obtain the neighbors' consent (so they do not later file objections, sue, and delay/prevent the entire construction process). And that we need to find an architect/authorized building submitter. Without a building preliminary inquiry, the entire construction project is not secured. I explicitly asked if we could submit the building preliminary inquiry ourselves. We are not allowed to.

I found a PDF about the building inspection on the authority's website, which contains all the important information about the preliminary decision. It also does not mention that a licensed building submitter must make the preliminary inquiry. But that doesn't help me if the caseworker points this out to me repeatedly both verbally and in writing and explicitly denies my question about it?! When I call the building authority, I am always referred to this lady as the responsible caseworker. I also do not want to provoke any trouble in advance. Who knows if I would still get a building permit then.

Then just skip a preliminary inquiry and simply submit a building application directly.