DIN 1960:2016-09

A key topic of the public procurement law reform adopted by the German government on 7 January 2015 on the basis of the corresponding EU directives was the structural reform of national public procurement law in the area above the EU thresholds. This required the revision of VOB/A in implementation of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement. The focus of the revision of VOB/A was therefore also Clause 2. The high level of detail in the EU directives has led to a sharp increase in the scope of Clause 2. Clauses 1 and 3 have been given a new structure in line with Clause 2 and their content has also been revised, but not to the same extent as Clause 2. The structure of VOB/A has only been changed to the extent that VOB/A is still clear for the user and as much familiar information as possible has been retained. For example, continuous numbering has been dispensed with. Instead, additions a, b and so on have been inserted in the existing paragraphs. Detailed and comprehensive explanations of the main changes to the VOB/A are contained in the implementation decree to VOB 2016 issued by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection on 7 April 2016, which came into force on 18 April 2016 and was published in German Joint Ministerial Gazette No. 20 of 13 May 2016.