Construction Law

Lawyers for Construction Law & Real Estate Law

Investing in real estate is lucrative for private individuals and for commercial or institutional investors. Whether it’s your dream home or business premises, a real estate sale or building purchase – comprehensive legal advice from experienced lawyers in real estate law is decisive for the successful completion of your real estate transaction. As a seller or buyer, you have to reckon with legal risks that can only be overcome with the help of a specialist lawyer.

The reason for that is in the interdisciplinary character of this area of law: in addition to the classic sub-areas such as property law, residential property law and tenancy law, such areas as liability law, family law, inheritance law, architect law and copyright law also play a role.

ZENK lawyers for comprehensive legal advice from a single source

Exciting architecture and engineering structures inspire us. That is why we have been committed to this area of law for a long time. As a highly specialised team of lawyers in construction and real estate law, we are happy to advise you on all legal matters in these areas. Beginning with the idea or the purchase through the planning and the construction up to the completion or sale of the property.

In each project phase you will have a personal contact person with many years of experience by your side. Our clients in real estate law include in particular:

  • Institutional investors
  • Public and private owners
  • Owner communities
  • Architects
  • Engineers
  • Building contractors
  • Builders
  • Commercial landlords
  • Caretakers
  • Project managers

You benefit not only from our sound legal expertise, but also from our knowledge of the economic aspects of real estate projects and their complex, interlocking mechanisms. It is precisely this comprehensive understanding that enables us to take a holistic view of your specific situation so that we can offer you individual legal advice in line with your interests at all times.

Private Construction Law and Construction Contract Law

The construction of a building is a complex business. The parties involved operate in a conflict-prone market environment with high risks. Whether office complex or residential complex, industrial or stadium construction, clinic, tunnel or offshore wind farm, no two construction projects are alike. This requires creativity, courage, far-sightedness, skill and technical understanding in coping with a wide variety of problems. First and foremost, however, it requires enthusiasm for the object. This enthusiasm connects us with you.

We provide highly specialised advice in all areas of private building law.

An overview of some of our previous projects:

  • New construction of the U4 underground line into Hamburg Hafencity
  • The Weser power plant in Bremen
  • The Tacheles Quarter in Berlin-Mitte
  • New construction of the Schulauer Hafen port in Wedel near Hamburg
  • Hospitals

Architectural Law and Engineering Law

Exciting architecture and engineering structures inspire us. Which is why we have been committed to this area of law for a long time. Whether for contract drafting, enforcement of rights, defects or fees – we provide you with highly specialised advice in all legal matters concerning architectural law and engineering law.

Here is an excerpt of our references in architectural law and engineering law:

  • Elbphilharmonie Hall Hamburg
  • Berlin-Neubrandenburg Airport
  • THE FONTENAY Hotel Hamburg
  • Central Station Berlin
  • A-West Frankfurt airport extension
  • Munich Airport Satellite
  • Replacement of the Friedrich Ebert Hospital Neumünster (as well as numerous other hospital buildings)
  • The “crane” buildings (Kranhäuser) in Cologne
  • Numerous football and stadium buildings

Architectural Copyright Law

We are inspired by the extraordinary creativity of architects. This is why we have long been concerned with the copyright law of architects. It is of great value for architects, but often a disaster for building developers without a reliable copyright agreement.

The copyright dispute we have been involved in concerning Berlin Central Station has become widely known. The copyright issues surrounding the so-called “crane buildings” in Cologne’s Rheinauhafen, the Kulturpalast concert hall in Dresden, the Beuys Museum Schloss Moyland and the Frankfurt Grossmarkthalle building have attracted attention throughout Germany as well.

We enforce the copyrights for our clients, but we also help our clients to avoid such disputes from the outset or help our clients to deal with them.

Our references in the copyright law are publicly known:

  • Legal dispute between Prof. Dr. h.c. mult. Meinhard von Gerkan on the Berlin Central Station against Deutsche Bahn AG
  • (Central Station Berlin LG Berlin, judgment of 28.11.2006 – IBR 2007, 253; GRUR 2007, 964; NZBau 2007, 324
  • Dispute about the crane buildings in the Rheinauhafen in Cologne
  • (Kranhäuser Köln BGH, judgment of 26.02.2009 – IBR 2009, 715; GRUR 2009, 1046; MDR 2009, 1236; NZBau 2009, 724)
  • Dispute over the Kulturpalast concert hall in Dresden
  • (Kulturpalast Dresden OLG Dresden, judgement of 13.11.2012 – 11 U 853/12 IBR 2013, 225)
  • Litigation about the Beuys Museum Schloss Moyland (Schloss Moyland LG Düsseldorf, judgment of 21.11.2012 12 O 426/11)
  • Dispute over the Frankfurt Grossmarkthalle building

We are also very experienced in the disciplines of public building law and public procurement law.

Plant Construction (Onshore / Offshore)

In the context of the energy turnaround, wind farm projects are being implemented nationwide onshore and offshore in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. ZENK advises on the complex contractual arrangements with the relevant transmission system operators (TenneT, 50hertz, TransnetBW etc.) as well as on local project developments through lawyers with many years of experience. The project languages are English and German.

Our experienced experts cover international construction law, corporate law, public procurement law, public law, insurance law and real estate law as your key contacts. With us you will receive professional and fast advice at fair conditions. For in-depth questions, we always proactively involve the competencies of our large team of specialist lawyers in a solution-oriented manner.

You can look forward to clear and resilient directional decisions by your ZENK contact persons. We are at your side from project start to commissioning – individually tailored to your needs and wishes.

We are currently and in the last years advising e.g. in the following wind farm projects:

BorWin (Offshore North Sea)
Suedlink (onshore)
SuedOstLink (onshore)
Borkum Riffgrund (Offshore North Sea)

Law on the Preservation of Historical Monuments

The protection of historical monuments correlates in legal, ecological and economic respects and stands in an area of tension between preservation and use. This requires sensitive handling of both private interests in the building and the architectural, monument preservation and urban development aspects.

Our experts will be at your side to guide you through the restrictive regulations and general conditions of the law on the preservation of historical monuments.