GEIG Amendment 2026: the new building charging obligation from the EPBD

What the GEIG amendment 2026 changes

The GEIG has been in force since 2021. It sets out how much charging infrastructure must be present when buildings with parking spaces are built or renovated. So far it was rather cautious. The 2026 amendment makes it considerably stricter, because Germany has to transpose the new EU buildings directive.

The timeline is no longer a draft. The federal cabinet adopted the amendment on 13 May 2026, and the Bundestag and Bundesrat approved it on 13 July 2026, the Bundestag with 323 votes in favour. The central duties apply from 1 January 2027. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs is in the lead, and the amendment is tied to the Buildings Energy Act.

The change in perspective is what matters. The public charger makes the headlines, yet the amendment starts at the building. Where people live and work, the infrastructure that is already there decides whether charging is possible at all. That is exactly what the EU wants to anchor.

From the EPBD 2024 to the new GEIG

Brussels stands behind the amendment. The recast directive on the energy performance of buildings, EPBD for short, entered into force on 28 May 2024. Member states had to transpose it into national law by 29 May 2026. Germany narrowly missed that deadline with the adoption in mid-July 2026.

The core of Article 14 of the directive is simple. Buildings with parking spaces should come with pre-wiring, conduit and charging points, so that later retrofitting stays affordable. The GEIG of 2021 had already transposed the older EPBD version of 2018. It stayed unchanged since. New is the tightening of thresholds and installation duties.

Why is this more than a formality? Because the costly structural preparation is only cheap once, namely when construction is happening anyway. Anyone who has to chase conduit into finished walls and ceilings later pays many times over. The directive forces this provision into the planning stage, instead of leaving it to the future.

The new duties for new builds and renovations

For new and substantially renovated buildings the amendment shifts the thresholds down and raises the installation duty. What matters is a distinction that often gets lost in the debate: cable ducting, pre-wiring and a ready-to-use charging point are three different things.

For residential buildings the threshold falls from more than 5 to more than 3 parking spaces. Then half of the spaces must be pre-wired, the rest fitted with cable ducting, and at least one charging point installed. For non-residential buildings the duty applies from more than 5 instead of more than 6 spaces, with at least one charging point per 5 spaces. Buildings used mainly as offices face stricter requirements.

The duty does not only apply to new builds. It also applies to major renovations, when the car park or the electrical installation is being renewed anyway. That is the moment when the preparation almost comes for free. Miss it, and the groundwork gets rebuilt later at twice the cost.

Retrofit duty for the stock: the real lever

New and, for many owners, most important is the retrofit duty for the existing stock. It needs no construction project. It applies through the passage of time alone.

Affected are existing non-residential buildings with more than 20 parking spaces. From 1 January 2027 they must either provide one charging point per ten spaces or cable ducting for half of the spaces. For publicly accessible areas there is an alternative charging-power requirement of at least 1.1 kilowatts per parking space. Miss the deadline, and a fine is possible.

It sounds technical, but it is a big step. So far a single charging point was enough in existing non-residential buildings above a certain size. Now comes a staggering by the number of spaces. Affected above all are office sites, retail, logistics and public administrations. The rollout needs lead time, because the grid connection and the planning take time. Anyone who only starts at the end of 2026 will struggle.

Stricter and more flexible at once

The amendment is stricter, but not rigid. In several places it opens technical room to move, instead of prescribing a fixed number of charging points. That is the more interesting half of the reform.

For utilities there is a control challenge in this. Many charging points on one connection require load management, otherwise simultaneous charging overloads the grid connection. This is exactly where the building duty meets the digital technology: the backend under OCPP 2.1, the communication between vehicle and charging point under ISO 15118 and the data obligations under DATEX II. The GEIG amendment says how much infrastructure must be there. These standards govern how it works together.

Why private and semi-public charging decides

We are interested in a different number than the one in the headlines. Germany passed the mark of around 200,000 public charging points on 1 April 2026, up about 17 percent within a year. Impressive. Only, hardly anyone charges there when they have the choice.

Most charging sessions happen at the owner's own space or at work, with estimates reaching up to four fifths. That is the reason the EPBD starts at the building and not at the street. Where cars park, charging should be possible. And the cheapest moment to lay that groundwork is conduit and pre-wiring during construction. Later it gets expensive.

Criticism and open questions

The amendment is not uncontested. Critics ask whether the flexible alternatives are enough in practice and whether the stock can meet the deadlines. Both are fair.

The most debated point is the charging-power option of 1.1 kilowatts per space. It sounds pragmatic, but it distributes so little power that a car barely fills up sensibly overnight. For pure maintenance charging it may be fine, as an everyday solution it looks thin. The second bottleneck rarely lies at the charging point itself, but at the grid connection of large car parks. Add to that the shortage of electricians and long lead times. Anyone who considers the IT security of charging stations and grid integration only after installation builds twice.

And the narrow miss of the EU deadline? It is more symbol than scandal. But it shows how tight the timeline was, and hints that the rollout in the stock will not run faster than the legislation itself.

What utilities, real estate and municipalities should do now

Waiting does not help. The retrofit duty from 2027 can only be met cleanly with lead time. These four steps bring the stock and the grid connection into shape in time.

1. Count parking spaces and determine the threshold

   Count the spaces per property and assign each building to a threshold. Only then is it clear whether it falls under the new-build, renovation or retrofit duty and how many charging points are required.

2. Clarify grid connection and load management early

   The connection is often the bottleneck for large car parks. Check the available capacity and plan load management before many charging points run at once. That saves an expensive second rebuild.

3. Include pre-wiring during renovations

   If a renovation of the car park or the electrics is due anyway, conduit and pre-wiring belong in it. That is the cheapest moment and meets the duty almost in passing.

4. Treat charging infrastructure as a business

   For utilities and municipal utilities the duty is also an opportunity. Charging infrastructure as a service, load management and matching tariffs can be bundled into an offer that takes the rollout off property owners' hands.

Further reading

Frequently asked questions