GEG Is Now GModG: What Applies to the Facade from 29 July 2026

What has changed — and what has not

Since 29 July 2026, the Building Energy Act (Gebäudeenergiegesetz) has been called the GebäudeModernisierungsGesetz (GModG). This is not just a new name: the sections have been renumbered. Anyone offering a facade renovation and citing “§ 48 GEG” has, since a few days ago, been citing a provision that no longer exists under that number.

What has changed — and what has not

The basis is the amending act of 23 July 2026, promulgated on 28 July, with Article 1 in force since 29 July 2026. Legally it is the same act as before — same date of issue, same reference number — merely renamed and reorganised. Four shifts are relevant for facades:

previously	now	content
§ 46 GEG	§ 34 GModG	Maintenance of energy performance
§ 47 GEG	§ 35 GModG	Retrofitting of an existing building
§ 48 GEG	§ 36 GModG	Requirements on alteration
§ 50 GEG	§ 38 GModG	Overall balance instead of individual component

Schedule 7 is still called Schedule 7, but now carries the heading “(re § 36)”. The figure for external walls is unchanged: U = 0,24 W/(m²·K) for residential buildings and for zones of non-residential buildings with a design room temperature of 19 °C or above. For zones between 12 and 19 °C, 0,35 W/(m²·K) applies.

When the requirement applies at all

There is no general obligation to insulate a facade. § 36 GModG ties the requirement to a measure that is being carried out anyway: anyone who renews, replaces, or installs an external building component for the first time must comply with the value in Schedule 7 while doing so.

For painting and plastering firms, the decisive threshold lies in Schedule 7, item 1b. The triggers listed there are the application of cladding, boarding, masonry facing skins or insulation layers to the exterior — and the renewal of external render. This gives rise to a distinction worth knowing:

• Removing render and reapplying it triggers the requirement.
• A pure repaint is not on the list and does not trigger it.

There is also the de minimis threshold in § 36 sentence 2: alterations affecting no more than 10 per cent of the total area of the relevant component group are exempt. A single gable wall may fall under this, a complete facade will not.

Five exceptions that matter in practice

• Year of construction. Schedule 7, footnote 2: for measures under item 1b, the requirement does not apply if the external wall was constructed or renewed after 31 December 1983 in compliance with energy-saving regulations.
• Limited insulation thickness. Footnote 1: if the thickness is limited for technical reasons, the requirement is deemed met if the maximum possible insulation layer thickness is installed. This is not, however, a blank cheque — the footnote still requires a design value of λ = 0,035 W/(m·K) (0,045 for blown-in insulation and renewable raw materials).
• Overall balance. § 38(1): the component requirement is deemed met if the altered building’s overall annual primary energy demand does not exceed that of the reference building by more than 40 per cent.
• Undue hardship. § 102: exemption on application, in particular where the expenditure cannot be recouped through the savings within a reasonable period, or is disproportionate to the value of the building.
• Heritage protection. § 105 for listed buildings and other structures of particular conservation value.

This should not be confused with the genuine retrofit obligation. § 35 GModG applies irrespective of any renovation — but not to facade insulation, rather to insulating the top-floor ceiling to U ≤ 0,24 W/(m²·K). For residential buildings with no more than two dwellings, one of which was occupied by the owner on 1 February 2002, this only takes effect two years after a change of owner.

Funding demands more than the law

Funding law has also been refreshed: the BEG Einzelmaßnahmen (individual measures) funding guideline of 17 July 2026 has applied since 21 July 2026 and runs until the end of 2030. For applications submitted beforehand, the previous version continues to apply.

The point at which most proposals fail is a double threshold:

Requirement	U-value external wall
Statutory (Schedule 7 GModG)	≤ 0,24 W/(m²·K)
Funding-eligible (Technical minimum requirements BEG EM)	≤ 0,20 W/(m²·K)

Anyone who only meets the statutory requirement receives no funding. Incidentally, the same value of 0,20 W/(m²·K) is also required by the Energetische Sanierungsmaßnahmen-Verordnung for the tax rebate under § 35c EStG. For listed buildings, the funding threshold is 0,45, and for internal insulation behind exposed timber framing it is 0,65 W/(m²·K).

What is actually paid out

The basic funding rate for the building envelope is 15 per cent of eligible expenditure. In 2026, the iSFP bonus of 5 percentage points is tied to two new conditions: a minimum eligible investment volume of 30,000 euros gross, and it applies only to the portion of expenditure exceeding the maximum threshold without an iSFP. The measure must be carried out within 15 years of the renovation roadmap (Sanierungsfahrplan) being drawn up.

Maximum eligible expenditure, residential buildings	without iSFP	with iSFP
first dwelling unit	30,000 €	60,000 €
2nd to 6th dwelling unit, each	15,000 €	30,000 €
from 7th dwelling unit, each	8,000 €	15,000 €

For a single-family house with a renovation roadmap, this works out as follows: 15 per cent on the first 30,000 euros is 4,500 euros, 20 per cent on the second 30,000 euros is 6,000 euros — together a maximum of 10,500 euros for the building envelope. Without an iSFP, funding stops at 4,500 euros. Specialist planning and site supervision are funded separately at 50 per cent, capped at 5,000 euros for one- and two-family houses.

A bonus for so-called Worst Performing Buildings of a further 5 percentage points is provided for in the guideline, but for insulation measures it only takes effect from the first quarter of 2027.

What painting and plastering firms can invoice

This is where the practically most important message lies, and it is regularly read too narrowly. The KfW information sheet on eligible measures explicitly lists among the eligible costs of external wall insulation:

• Painting and plastering work, including stucco work
• Facade cladding, for example brick slips
• Removal of the old render
• Scaffolding, window sills, roller shutter boxes, facade greening

Painting and plastering work is therefore eligible for funding in full — but as an ancillary measure to a qualifying insulation measure, not as a stand-alone measure. This distinction is decisive for the application: the coating applied to an insulated facade is eligible, the coating alone is not.

Two formal points on which applications fail: involving an energy efficiency expert is mandatory, and the technical minimum requirements must already be met at the time the application is submitted — not only at completion. Invoices and documentation must show the energy-relevant parameters, meaning thermal conductivity and material thickness in the case of insulation materials.

Sources

All sections and figures are taken from the consolidated text of the GebäudeModernisierungsGesetz as in force since 29 July 2026, and from the BEG EM funding guideline of 17 July 2026, including its technical minimum requirements, and the KfW information sheet version 10.1 (07/2026).

A note on the source situation that is currently practically relevant: at the time this article was published, the official portal gesetze-im-internet.de was still showing the old GEG consolidation, with a note that the amendments of 23 July 2026 had not yet been incorporated. Funding portals and trade publications are also currently mostly citing the old version. Anyone checking a figure should pay attention to the date of the version.

Funding rates and maximum thresholds change; those given here reflect the position as at 3 August 2026. For a specific project, the guideline in force at the time of application is decisive.