Person recognized under German state law who inspects safety systems in buildings, such as fire alarm systems, smoke extraction or sprinklers.
A recognized inspection expert (Prüfsachverständiger) is a person recognized under state law who inspects safety systems in buildings. Depending on the state and the type of building, this includes fire alarm and alerting systems, extinguishing systems, smoke and heat extraction, ventilation systems or emergency power supply. The legal basis is the state building code and the inspection ordinances issued under it. Recognition covers specific technical fields and is granted under state law, so it is not regulated the same way everywhere.
The legal framework differs from that of the inspector under the BetrSichV. Elevators, pressure installations and installations in potentially explosive atmospheres are inspected by the approved inspection body under occupational safety law. The building services for fire protection and safety in a building are inspected by the recognized expert under building law. Both can arise in the same building, with separate deadlines, separate reports and separate invoices. Servicing is also a separate service: when a specialist company services the fire alarm system, that does not replace the expert's inspection.
Inspections before commissioning and recurring inspections are operator duties that the operator has to order and pay for. Deadlines, scope and reporting requirements are found in the inspection ordinance of the state concerned and often in the conditions of the building permit or the fire protection concept. If you operate several sites in different states, you have to check site by site and cannot simply carry the deadlines over from one building to the next.
What matters
- For each building, clarify which systems require inspection under the state's inspection ordinance, and track those deadlines separately from BetrSichV inspections.
- Check that the expert is recognized for the type of system in question.
- Do not confuse the service report with the inspection report. Both belong in the asset file.
- When a system is modified, ask whether a new inspection is required before it goes back into operation.
Suppose an office building has an elevator, a fire alarm system and smoke extraction, each serviced by a different company. The operator's calendar shows the approved inspection body's inspections for the elevator, the recognized expert's inspections for the fire alarm system and smoke extraction, and, next to them, the service visits. He tracks all three series separately so that a completed service visit is not mistaken for a passed inspection.