Brandenburg's digital building authority: Turbo for applications and less bureaucracy!

Brandenburg's digital building authority: Turbo for applications and less bureaucracy!

On Monday, June 23, 2025, the long -awaited virtual building authority opened its gates in the Uckermark district and in the city of Schwedt. With the aim of digitizing the building application process in Brandenburg by 2026, this digital offer is already being well received. The initiative goes back to the Federal Minister of Bauen, who wants to accelerate the planning and approval procedures in Germany with a strong portion of momentum. As Cityreport reports, the ministers for infrastructure and state planning, emphasized the new system.

One of the main goals of the virtual building authority is the networking of builders, planners, authorities and communities. Processing times are significantly shortened with the digital platform and the bureaucracy is noticeably reduced. In the pilot land circles it has already been found that up to two thirds of the building applications are submitted online. This not only offers advantages for the applicants who can electronically pursue the process to the final decision, but also for environmental protection by saving paper. The digital building authority also enables civil friendship that is available around the clock.

The support of the building supervisory authorities

The virtual building authority is borne by a total of 20 building supervisory authorities, including 14 counties and 6 cities. Already in real operation, the building inspectorate from Oberspreewald-Lausitz, Märkisch-Oderland, Prignitz and Teltow-Fläming are already in real operation. The Uckermark and Schwedt now officially turn into the digital building future. Six other authorities have already started quietly, while the rest are still in the test system. The declared goal is to make the virtual building authority available nationwide by the end of 2025.

An important aspect of digital implementation is the handling of the file formats. Applicants can submit their documents in the form of PDF files, whereby the circumference is limited to a maximum of 200 MB. A single file must also not be larger than 80 MB. If the number of 100 files is exceeded, the application must be transmitted in physical form. Accordingly, a certain planning is required in advance to meet the conditions. All this information is carefully prepared in the official portal of the virtual building authority vba Brandenburg .

A look into the future

Compared to other federal states, Brandenburg is not alone with the digital building authority. Federal states such as Baden-Württemberg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania show that the trend towards digital building applications has long since started and promising approaches are pursued. While Baden-Württemberg introduced a similar system on July 1, 2025, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has been using the advantages of digital application since 2021. At the opening of the virtual building authority in Calau, Minister Rainer Genilke (CDU) emphasized that the digital exchange significantly simplifies the entire process from building application to building permit.

at a time when efficiency and environmental protection are becoming increasingly important, Brandenburg sets an example with its new virtual building authority. May the doors in the state of Brandenburg open the doors to the digital age!