Excavation; Applying for an Excavation Permit

An excavation permit grants you the right to carry out excavation work for projects that require a permit. In particular, excavation work with a maximum area of 500 m² and a maximum depth of 2 m is not subject to a permit. The permit requirement therefore does not apply only if both limits are not exceeded.

Excavation in Connection with a Construction Project

If the excavation is part of a construction project, you do not need to apply for an excavation permit.

Excavation Not Requiring a Permit

If the excavation does not require a permit, you do not need to apply for an excavation permit. Such a permit would not be granted to you anyway.

Consequences of Failing to Obtain a Required Excavation Permit

If you intentionally or negligently carry out excavation work without the required excavation permit, this constitutes an administrative offense. You may be subject to a fine of up to €500,000.

The requested excavation permit will be granted only if the project is subject to approval. Furthermore, the excavation must not conflict with any public law regulations, which must be reviewed during the approval process.

Procedures with or without an Environmental Impact Assessment

The procedure depends in particular on whether an environmental impact assessment is required. The lower-level excavation authority will conduct such an assessment if you apply for an excavation requiring a permit with an excavation area of more than 10 hectares. This also applies to excavation projects with an excavation area of more than one hectare located within a protected area, a national park, or a nature reserve. If more than one hectare of the excavation area is located within a biotope, the lower-level excavation authority will also conduct an environmental impact assessment.

As part of the environmental impact assessment, the lower-level excavation authority must involve:

• the authorities whose environmental responsibilities are affected by the project, as well as
• the public.

You are not required to involve the neighbors yourself, as they will have the opportunity to comment as part of the environmental impact assessment.

If, however, none of the above cases apply, the lower-level excavation authority will not conduct an environmental impact assessment. For you, this means that you must first submit the excavation plan to the neighbors of the excavation site for their approval before filing it. Any approval must be in writing.

Written Submission

• After consulting with your neighbors, if necessary, submit the excavation application along with the required documents to the competent local excavation authority (district offices and independent cities).
• Submit the application in triplicate using the prescribed forms.
• Verbal applications are not permitted.
• The lower excavation authority decides on the application, if necessary after conducting an environmental impact assessment.
• If the local excavation authority is not itself a municipality, it will involve the municipality in the process.

Digital Submission

Digital submission of excavation applications is not yet possible throughout all of Bavaria. When you select a location, the link to the online procedure will appear, provided it is already available.

• The excavation application can be submitted digitally using the online wizard, after consulting with neighbors if necessary.
• The standard forms are replaced by the prompts in the online wizard.
• The excavation plan is uploaded to the online wizard in electronic form (PDF files).
• Signatures are replaced by authentication via a “BayernID” or “Mein Unternehmenskonto” user account.

For excavation projects that require a permit, apply for the excavation permit and wait until it has been granted before beginning the work.

none

• current cadastral extract
• Site Map
  

  (Scale 1 : 1,000 or 1 : 5,000)

• Construction Drawings
• Building Specifications (See "Forms" for the form)
• any additional documents, if applicable
  

  Depending on the excavation permit applied for, additional documentation may be required. This is particularly true if an environmental impact assessment must be conducted.

The fees for an excavation permit depend on the volume of usable excavated material.

• For sand and gravel pits, quarries, and similar excavation sites for the extraction of excavated material for projects involving up to 50,000 m³ of usable excavated material: 100 EUR plus 25 EUR for each 1,000 m³ or fraction thereof
• For sand and gravel pits, quarries, and similar excavation sites intended to extract excavated material for projects with usable excavated material exceeding 50,000 m³ up to 500,000 m³: 1.350 EUR plus 55 EUR for each 10,000 m³ or part thereof exceeding 50,000 m³
• For sand and gravel pits, quarries, and similar excavation sites for the extraction of excavated material for projects with usable excavated material exceeding 500,000 m³ 3.825 EUR plus 110 EUR for each 50,000 m³ or part thereof exceeding 500,000 m³
• For other independent excavation sites: 50 to 2,000 EUR

If an environmental impact assessment is required, the fee increases by 40%.