The Danish Authority of Social Services and Housing is revising the building regulations in a holistic approach — the largest change since the 1970s. The goals the industry has put forward: simpler requirements, fewer conflicting rules, markedly lighter requirements for renovation and transformation, better coherence with adjacent legislation and digital support for case handling. A central principle in the discussions is that a renovation is judged by the rules from the time the building was constructed.

The regulations are expected to be finished in 2027 and to take effect in 2028; elements are expected to be introduced progressively. None of it has been issued as law yet — BR18 applies, and the note is corrected with a date when that changes.

A building project is handled under the rules on the day of application. A house applied for in 2026 or 2027 is judged by BR18 — and a project postponed to after 2028 is judged by something no one knows yet. That is not an argument for waiting; it is an argument for documenting what you build so it can carry both. The climate requirement tightens whatever the regulations are called.

Projects applied for before 2028 are handled under BR18. Projects in the budget cycle for 2028 and onwards may land in the transition — and must be planned with that in mind. What does not change: the tightening of the climate requirement, the EU's deadlines for zero-emission buildings and the minimum standards for the worst-performing buildings. We follow the revision in the strategic dialogue forum and correct the note when something is issued.

The Danish Authority of Social Services and Housing · the Danish Association of Construction Clients' initiative for holistic building regulations · Danish Architectural Practices and FRI on the coming BR28 (2024–2026). Nothing issued yet.

The recast buildings directive (EU) 2024/1275 sets common years for the whole EU: new public buildings must be zero-emission buildings from 2028, all new buildings from 2030. From 2028 new buildings over 1,000 m² must have their whole-life carbon calculated, from 2030 all new buildings. The worst-performing 16 % of non-residential buildings must be renovated by 2030 and the worst 26 % by 2033; for residential buildings average energy use must fall by 16 % by 2030 and 20–22 % by 2035 — as an average for the building stock, not as a requirement for the individual building. Subsidies for new fossil-fuel boilers ended from 2025.

The directive entered into force on 28 May 2024. The deadline for Danish transposition was 29 May 2026; the national building renovation plan must be submitted by 31 December 2026. The thresholds for "the worst-performing buildings" are set nationally — the Danish Energy Agency's preliminary assessment is 190 and 168 kWh/m² per year for non-residential buildings, and it is not law yet.

If you are building a detached house, the Danish climate requirement is already an implementation of the directive — and stricter than most other countries'. What affects you are the requirements for the housing stock as a whole: the energy label carries more weight at sale and financing, and a house drawn today should meet the 2027 limit of 6.0. If you own commercial buildings, the minimum standards for non-residential buildings are what to plan for — Portfolio check shows where you stand.

New public buildings must be zero-emission buildings from 2028 — that is two budget years from now, and a design brief written in 2026 should already aim for it. The minimum standards for non-residential buildings and the 3 % designation under the executive order on energy efficiency in the public sector are the same task seen from two sides: the register first, then the prioritisation. Building stock check calculates the designation requirement on your own register.

Directive (EU) 2024/1275 of 24-04-2024, arts. 7, 9, 11 and 17 · executive order no. 1193/2025 on energy efficiency in the public sector · the Danish Energy Agency's preliminary thresholds (not issued)

The Sustainable Development Goals are 17 political goals the UN's member states adopted in 2015 for the period up to 2030. Four of them affect construction directly: goal 7 on affordable and clean energy, goal 11 on sustainable cities and communities, goal 12 on responsible consumption and production and goal 13 on climate action. They are not legislation and cannot be enforced in a building project.

Adopted in 2015, in force as a political framework until 2030. The EU climate law, the buildings directive and the Danish climate requirement are each written with the goals as their justification — that is where they gain legal effect: as concrete sections with dates.

If you meet the goals in a proposal, ask which section they have become. With us the answer is always concrete: goal 13 is the climate requirement in BR18 s. 298, goal 7 is the energy frame in s. 259, goal 12 is the waste order and the choice of materials in the design proposal. We do not write goals into the reports — we write the rules they have become, with a date.

Most municipalities and regions have a climate plan and a sustainability strategy that building projects must be traceable to — that is where the goals become requirements in your projects: in the design brief, in the sustainability level at milestone M1 and in the award criteria of the tender documents. We write the reference into the concept, so the committee recommendation can point to it.

UN resolution A/RES/70/1 of 25-09-2015 · the EU climate law, regulation (EU) 2021/1119 · BR18 ss. 259 and 298 · the municipalities' climate plans (DK2020)

New build must document its emissions over 50 years. The limit is 6.7 kg CO₂ equivalents per m² per year for detached, terraced and semi-detached houses, 7.5 for apartment blocks and offices and 8.0 for institutions — plus no more than 1.5 for the construction process itself. The limit covers modules A1–A3, B4, B6 and C3–C4.

Climate requirements since 1 January 2023. The current limits, and the removal of the 1,000 m² threshold, from 1 July 2025. The tightening to 6.0 is politically agreed for 2027 — no date set — and 5.4 for 2029. Neither has been issued as a rule yet.

The calculation has to accompany the building application and cannot be opted out of. It is decided by the structural principle and the roof more than by anything else. The rule that applies is the one in force on the day you apply — a house that meets 6.7 today will not necessarily meet 6.0. Try the climate check.

Danish Building Regulations 2018, ss. 297–298 and annex 2, tables 6–7 · executive order no. 271 of 11-03-2025 · DS/EN 15978 · the tightenings: supplementary agreement of 30-05-2024

In consequence class 1 too — detached houses with at most one basement and two storeys — the structural documentation must follow a fixed structure: A1 design basis, A2 structural calculations, A3 structural drawings, A4 structural changes and B1 structural inspection plan.

From 1 April 2024. Before that, smaller cases could in practice be handled with simpler documentation.

The two things are often confused: certification is a requirement on the person, documentation is a requirement on the paperwork. In class 1 the structural engineer does not have to be certified — but A1–A4 and B1 must still accompany the application, and they are produced by a structural engineer you contract with directly. From class 2 he must be certified. The structural work is the heavy item in the authority phase and has to be ordered in good time, or the application waits for it. If you have a project from before 2024, the structural documentation is the first thing to check if you need to re-apply.

Danish Building Regulations 2018, s. 504(2) · ss. 485–489 on consequence classes · SBi guideline 271

Refurbishment and demolition waste must be notified to the municipality at least two weeks before work begins when it produces more than 1 tonne of waste — and always when sealed glazing units from 1950–1977 are replaced, because they may contain PCB. Selective demolition is required from 250 m² of removed floor area. Asbestos requires a preliminary survey.

The May 2024 executive order replaced chapter 13 of the waste order. The old 10 m² threshold for environmental screening no longer exists.

Four windows in a house from 1965 trigger the notification. Plan for two weeks' waiting time, and do not let the contractor start before the municipality has received it — it is the client's responsibility, not his.

Executive order no. 496 of 21-05-2024 on construction and demolition waste · executive order no. 1328 of 19-11-2025, s. 10 (asbestos)

Infiltrating rainwater into the ground requires a permit under section 19 of the Danish Environmental Protection Act. It is a separate decision from the municipality — not part of the building permit — with requirements for distance to buildings, boundaries and drinking-water wells.

In force. The Environmental Protection Act in its latest consolidation from December 2025; the infiltration requirements are in the wastewater order.

Apply for it together with the building application — with us it is a named document in phase 4. Without the permit the roof water may not be disconnected from the sewer, and it is typically discovered the day the drainage contractor asks for it.

Environmental Protection Act, consolidated act no. 1742 of 22-12-2025, s. 19 · wastewater order, executive order no. 1446 of 27-11-2025

After the Omnibus amendment, CSRD requires more than 1,000 employees and more than EUR 450m in turnover — both of them. The taxonomy is aimed at financial market participants and the companies CSRD covers. Practically no purely Danish property companies are caught directly, and private individuals not at all.

Directive (EU) 2026/470 in force 18 March 2026; first applied to financial years from 1 January 2027. Denmark has postponed and exempted already from financial year 2025.

No reporting obligation. What does apply is the climate requirement in the building regulations — and that cannot be opted out of. If you meet ESG arguments in a proposal for a house, they are sales language. If you build as a company, it is the lender's requirement — energy label A or B — that is the real one.

Directive (EU) 2026/470 of 24-02-2026 · regulation (EU) 2021/2139, annex I, section 7 · act no. 1636 of 16-12-2025 · executive order no. 328 of 24-02-2026

ABR 18 is the Danish industry's terms of engagement for consultancy between professionals — with a 15-working-day payment term, liability caps and a dispute ladder written for companies. For private homeowners there is the consumer agreement GBF 19, and the Danish Consumer Agreements Act gives a 14-day right of withdrawal for agreements made at a distance or away from the consultant's place of business.

ABR 18 from 1 January 2019. GBF 19 from 2019, published by the consulting industry's own organisations specifically for consumers.

If you are a private client and receive a proposal "under ABR 18", you are on professional terms. Ask for the consumer agreement and the withdrawal notice. With us both come with the proposal — and the terms of engagement are stated in the footer of every page of this site.

ABR 18, guidance no. 9021 of 09-01-2019 · GBF 19 · Danish Consumer Agreements Act, act no. 1457 of 17-12-2013, ss. 18–19

The energy frame is documented in the Be18 calculation program under annex 2 of the building regulations. With the implementation of the revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive a new calculation method has been announced — but it has not been promulgated as law in force.

The directive's deadline was 29 May 2026. As of September 2026 the Danish implementation is not confirmed, and Be18 remains the basis for building cases. This note will be corrected, with a date, when that changes.

An energy calculation made in Be18 today is valid. A calculation under a method that has not come into force cannot be relied on. Our energy frame calculator is indicative and says so itself; the calculation for the building case we make on the basis the municipality recognises.

Danish Building Regulations 2018, s. 259 and annex 2 · directive (EU) 2024/1275 (EPBD) · the Danish Energy Agency

The energy frame for dwellings is 30.0 kWh/m² per year plus 1,000 kWh divided by the heated floor area. The voluntary low-energy class is 27.0 kWh/m² per year — without the area supplement. For buildings other than dwellings the figures are 41.0 plus supplement and 33.0.

Danish Building Regulations 2018, in force. The low-energy class is voluntary, but it is the one energy label A2020 and several lenders' requirements refer to.

For a 180 m² house the frame is 35.6 and the low-energy class 27.0. The difference is 24 % — not 10 %. That is the gap the envelope, the windows and the heat source have to close between them, and it is rarely closed with a single measure. The calculator shows the gap.

Danish Building Regulations 2018, s. 259 (dwellings), s. 260 (other buildings), s. 474 (low-energy class)

The insurance is mandatory when a commercial client builds new year-round housing — including when commercial premises are converted into dwellings, and including when a main or design-and-build contractor builds the house for a consumer. It runs for 10 years with inspections after 1 and 5 years.

Since 1 April 2008. The rules are in the Danish Building Act and in the executive order on building defects insurance.

If you build as a private client with trade-by-trade contracts, there is no mandatory insurance — and no 10-year cover behind the house. It is a choice to be made with open eyes; we settle it in phase 0. Holiday homes are not covered. Rental housing can be exempted against a registered covenant. Public and social-housing clients are exempt.

Danish Building Act, consolidated act no. 1178 of 23-09-2016, ss. 25 A–25 F · executive order no. 1292 of 24-10-2007

Holiday homes, camping cabins and similar holiday accommodation do not have to meet the energy frame. Instead fixed U-values apply: external walls 0.25, ground slab 0.15, ceiling and roof 0.15 W/m²K, windows and external doors 1.80 — and a linear thermal transmittance for foundations of 0.15 W/mK.

Danish Building Regulations 2018, annex 2, table 4. In force.

The documentation is simpler, but the requirements are not lenient — 0.25 in a masonry cavity wall is around 150 mm of insulation. The climate requirement applies to holiday homes as well. If you later change the use to year-round housing, the full rules for a permanent dwelling apply. the U-value calculator has holiday home as its own option.

Danish Building Regulations 2018, chapter 11 and annex 2, table 4 · DS 418

State clients must meet the BIM regulation at an estimated construction sum of DKK 5m, municipalities and regions at DKK 20m, social housing organisations at DKK 20m. The requirements: coordination, classification, a common data environment, models in IFC, digital tender, quantities, digital handover to operations and digital snag lists. In refurbishment too — where waivers are possible, though not from the digital tender.

Executive orders no. 118 and 119 of February 2013, in force since 1 April 2013.

If you are a private client it does not apply to you — whatever a proposal says. If you are public, the threshold is the construction sum, not the total budget, and a municipal day-care centre at DKK 16m is below it. The requirements must be in the consultancy tender; written later, they become an extra service.

Executive order no. 118 of 06-02-2013 (state, regions, municipalities) · executive order no. 119 of 07-02-2013 (social housing)

Bill L 113 would have repealed the Tender Act, moved construction works below the EU threshold into the Public Procurement Act and introduced a national threshold of DKK 5m. The bill lapsed at the general election in March 2026.

The Tender Act in consolidated act no. 1410 of 07-12-2007 remains in force: at most three negotiated quotes, a fourth from a company outside the local area, prohibited for public buyers above DKK 3m.

Material that assumes the repeal — including "the national threshold of DKK 5m" — is wrong as a statement of law in force. For public clients the bands below DKK 3m and DKK 3–5m are therefore still different purchasing routes. We check this at every revision of our agreements, not at every launch.

Tender Act, consolidated act no. 1410 of 07-12-2007, s. 12 · Public Procurement Act, consolidated act no. 116 of 03-02-2025 · L 113 (2025-26), lapsed