Excavation; application for an excavation permit

An excavation permit grants you the right to carry out an excavation for projects requiring approval. In particular, excavations with a maximum base area of 500 m² and a maximum depth of 2 m are not subject to approval. The approval requirement is therefore only waived if both dimensions are not exceeded.

Excavation in connection with a construction project

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

Excavation not subject to authorization

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

Consequences in the absence of a required excavation permit

If you intentionally or negligently carry out excavation without the required excavation permit, this constitutes an administrative offense. You can be fined up to €500,000 for this.

Please give priority to using the online services via the "Online building application" and "Online building application - submit missing information and documents" buttons above.
Please also note that you will find the "Building description" and the "Annex to the building permit application" in the Forms section and the answers to the most frequently asked questions in the "FAQ on the digital building permit application procedure".
Further information on the "Building application procedure" is available under the links below.

The excavation permit applied for will only be granted if the project is subject to approval. Furthermore, the excavation must not conflict with any public law regulations that are to be examined in the approval procedure.

none

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

Depending on the excavation applied for, further documents may be required. This is particularly the case if an environmental impact assessment is to be carried out.

• Attachment to the application
• Building application form
• Building application forms (all)

  The binding building forms published by the Bavarian State Ministry of Housing, Building and Transport can be downloaded individually or as a zip file. You also have access to explanations of certain building application forms.

• Building description for the building application form
• FAQ on the digital planning application process

  All important questions about the digital building application process are answered in detail.

• LRA Application for building permit, excavation permit, preliminary decision and submission in the permit exemption procedure
• LRA Explanatory notes on completing the construction or excavation application

The fees for an excavation permit depend on the amount of excavated material that can be used.

• For sand and gravel pits, quarries and similar excavations for the extraction of excavated material for projects with usable excavated material up to 50,000 m³ EUR 100 plus EUR 25 per 1,000 m³ or part thereof
• For sand and gravel pits, quarries and similar excavations for the extraction of excavated material for projects with usable excavated material over 50,000 m³ up to 500,000 m³ EUR 1,350 plus EUR 55 for every 10,000 m³ or part thereof in excess of 50,000 m³
• For sand and gravel pits, quarries and similar excavations for the extraction of excavated material for projects with usable excavated material in excess of 500,000 m³ EUR 3,825 plus EUR 110 for every 50,000 m³ or part thereof in excess of 500,000 m³
• For other independent excavations EUR 50 to 2,000

If an environmental impact assessment is to be carried out, the fee is increased by 40 %.

• Art. 78a Bavarian Administrative Procedure Act (BayVwVfG)
• Art. 9 para. 1 sentence 5 Bavarian Excavation Act (BayAbgrG)
• Art. 9 Bavarian Excavation Act (BayAbgrG)
• Environmental Impact Assessment Act (UVPG)
• Ordinance on building documents and notifications to building authorities (Bauvorlagenverordnung - BauVorlV)
• Ordinance on the digital submission of building authority applications and notifications (Digital Building Application Ordinance - DBauV)

If you do not receive the excavation permit you have applied for, you can file an administrative lawsuit. This must be directed at the granting of the requested excavation permit.

An objection is not possible.

• Building application procedure

  Information on the application procedure, documents, etc.

Procedure with or without environmental impact assessment

The procedure depends in particular on whether or not an environmental impact assessment is to be carried out. The lower excavation authority will carry out such an assessment if you apply for an excavation requiring approval with an excavation area of more than 10 hectares. This also applies to excavations with an excavation area of more than one hectare in a protected area, a national park or a nature reserve. If the excavation area of more than one hectare is located in a biotope, the lower excavation authority also carries out an environmental impact assessment.

The lower excavation authority must be involved in the environmental impact assessment:

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

It is not necessary for you to involve the neighbors yourself, as they have the opportunity to comment as part of the environmental impact assessment.

However, if none of the above cases apply, the lower excavation authority will not carry out an environmental impact assessment. For you, this means that you must first submit the excavation plan to the neighbors of the excavation site for approval before submitting it. Any consent must be given in writing.

Written submission

• Submit the excavation application with the required documents to the responsible lower excavation authority (district offices and independent cities), if necessary after involving the neighbors.
• Submit the application in triplicate using the forms provided.
• An oral application is not possible.
• The lower excavation authority decides on the application, if necessary after carrying out an environmental impact assessment.
• If the lower excavation authority is not itself a municipality, it shall involve the municipality.

Digital submission

Digital submission of excavation applications is not yet possible throughout Bavaria. When selecting a location, the link to the online procedure is displayed, if it is already offered.

• The excavation application can be submitted digitally using the online assistant, if necessary after involving the neighbors.
• The predefined forms are replaced by the queries in the online assistant.
• The excavation plan is uploaded to the online assistant in electronic form (files in PDF format).
• Signatures are replaced by authentication using the "BayernID" user account or "My company account".

For excavations requiring approval, apply for the excavation permit and wait until you have been granted it before you start work.

• Excavation; application for a partial excavation permit
• Building project; application for a building permit
• Excavation; notification of the start of excavation
• Excavation; submission of documents for excavation without a permit
• Excavation; application for a preliminary decision