VOB online

The German Construction Contract Procedures (Vergabe- und Vertragsordnung für Bauleistungen (VOB)) is the basis for all public construction contract and procurement procedures in Germany and are also used for many private construction projects. They are issued by DIN, the German Institute for Standardization on behalf of the DVA, the German Committee for Construction Contract Procedures.
The VOB is divided into 3 sections:

• VOB/A (DIN 1960) contains general provisions relating to the award of construction contracts
• VOB/B (DIN 1961) stipulates the general conditions of contract relating to the execution of construction work
• VOB/C comprises 65 standards under the general title "General technical specifications in construction contracts (ATV)". Besides containing general rules applying to all types of construction work, these cover a wide range of trades, each standard dealing with different aspects of construction, both over- and underground.

VOB standards need to be continually updated, whether this is due to changes in regulations or to technological developments (the former impacting on VOB/A and VOB/B, the latter on VOB/C). Generally, the VOB is published as a full edition comprising all of its Parts (i.e. A, B and C). 

In this 2019 edition, Part A (the standard DIN 1960) has been updated, while in Part C 14 standards have undergone technical revision and 40 have been editorially revised. This 2016 edition comprises the English translations of all the standards of the VOB.

Subscribers to the English version of VOB online not only have access to the current full 2019 edition – they can also (for defects liability purposes, for example) refer to the 2016 edition.