🔨 Wegweiser Tradespeople

Master craftsman requirement, contracts for work, invoices, taxes, pensions, apprenticeships, building sites: rights and duties for business owners, self-employed people and journeymen.

Legal position: September 2026. These pages are information, not legal advice. Some figures and deadlines (e-invoice, minimum wage, mini-job limit, contribution rates) come from secondary sources and are marked as such. What has not been verified is stated in the pages and on the sources page.

Frequently searched

🎓 Master craftsman requirement, trade register and trades not subject to licensing ✅ Acceptance and warranty 💶 Late payment and security for construction contractors 🧾 Invoicing and e-invoices 📊 Taxes and the small business scheme 🚫 Undeclared work, false self-employment and immediate notification

All topic areas

🧭OverviewWhat legal rules apply to you as a trade business and where to read up on each.1 topic 🏗️Access & start-upMaster craftsman requirement, trade register, business registration and the first notifications.2 topics 📝Orders & contracts for workQuotation, contract, acceptance, defects, late payment and security for your payment.3 topics 🧾Invoices & taxesInvoices, e-invoices, VAT, small business scheme and trade tax.2 topics 🛡️Insurance & protectionLiability, insurance, pension insurance and health insurance for business owners.2 topics 👷Business & teamApprenticeships, hiring, occupational safety on the building site, plus undeclared work and false self-employment.4 topics 🤝Advice & contact pointsWho gives advice in the trades and where you can turn with questions.1 topic

🧭 Overview

What legal rules apply to you as a trade business and where to read up on each.

🔨Overview of trade lawThe most important areas of law for trade businesses at a glance: access to the trades, orders, money, insurance, team.

🏗️ Access & start-up

Master craftsman requirement, trade register, business registration and the first notifications.

🎓Master craftsman requirement, trade register and trades not subject to licensingWho may run a trade business? Master craftsman certificate, exceptions such as the experienced-journeyman rule, and the difference from trades not subject to licensing. 📋Setting up and registering a businessBusiness registration, trade register, tax office and employers' liability insurance association: which notifications are due when a trade business starts.

📝 Orders & contracts for work

Quotation, contract, acceptance, defects, late payment and security for your payment.

📝Contract for work, quotation and cost estimateWhat a contract for work contains, how binding a cost estimate is and what additionally applies to consumers. ✅Acceptance and warrantyWhat acceptance does legally, when it is deemed to have taken place and how long claims for defects last: 2 or 5 years under the BGB, 4 years under the VOB/B. 💶Late payment and security for construction contractorsWhen the customer does not pay: default interest, the 40-euro flat fee, security under § 650f BGB and the dunning procedure.

🧾 Invoices & taxes

Invoices, e-invoices, VAT, small business scheme and trade tax.

🧾Invoicing and e-invoicesSince 2025, businesses must be able to receive e-invoices. Transitional periods for issuing them apply until the end of 2026, and for smaller businesses until the end of 2027. 📊Taxes and the small business schemeSmall business limits of 25,000 and 100,000 euros, trade tax allowance of 24,500 euros and the reverse charge for construction services.

🛡️ Insurance & protection

Liability, insurance, pension insurance and health insurance for business owners.

🛡️Business liability insurance and other insuranceWhat a trade business is liable for, which insurance policies are common and where legal duties lie. 👴Retirement provision and health insuranceTradespeople who personally meet the requirements for entry in the trade register are subject to compulsory pension insurance. Exemption is possible after 18 years of compulsory contributions.

👷 Business & team

Apprenticeships, hiring, occupational safety on the building site, plus undeclared work and false self-employment.

🎓Training apprentices in the businessWho may train, what the training contract must contain and how high the minimum pay is in 2026. 🧰Hiring journeymen and skilled workersMinimum wage of 13.90 euros, mini-job limit of 603 euros and what applies to temporary agency work in construction. ⛑️Occupational safety, BG BAU and building site lawDuties for safety on the building site: employers' liability insurance association, advance notice for large sites and accident reporting. 🚫Undeclared work, false self-employment and immediate notificationIn construction, immediate notification applies when employment starts. Employees must carry identity documents. If the status is in doubt, a status determination helps.

🤝 Advice & contact points

Who gives advice in the trades and where you can turn with questions.

🤝Advice and contact pointsWhere tradespeople can get advice: chamber of crafts, guild, district craftsmen's association, accident insurance, pension insurance, tax office, legal advice.

For reference

📕Keyword indexAll terms from A to Z, with links to the matching topic pages. 📜Sources and methodWhere the information comes from and what is expressly uncertain. 🏠Other target groupsTo the overview of all Wegweiser portals.

A question about your situation that this page does not answer? Write to us or use the contact form – we will tell you which office is responsible and what to bring. Free of charge, without individual legal advice.