Dachdecker/in (Roofer)

An Anlage A trade sitting on the same Energiewende seam as SHK — photovoltaic mounting and roof insulation are now a large share of the work. Also the clearest case in this repo of fall-protection law as the job, and of employment that the weather genuinely controls.
Official title Dachdecker/in
Protected title No — but Anlage A: self-employment needs the Meister
Category skilled-trades
Typical qualification Duale Ausbildung, 3 years
Examining body Handwerkskammer
Regulated Self-employment only
Last reviewed 2026-09

Not quite Bauhauptgewerbe, not quite Ausbau

Roofing sits structurally inside the construction world described in The Bauhauptgewerbe — a sector holiday fund, an AEntG minimum wage above the statutory one, a funded winter — but under its own agreements, not the BRTV-Bau.

Roofing
Framework agreement The Dachdeckerhandwerk agreements, not BRTV-Bau
Social fund SOKA-DACH — its own Urlaubskasse and supplementary pension, same principle as SOKA-BAU
Minimum wage Its own AEntG-declared rate, applying nationwide
Winter Saison-Kurzarbeitergeld applies, as in construction

So check which agreement a contract names. “Construction” is not one tariff world, and a Dachdecker on a Bau contract or vice versa is in the wrong scheme.

Specialisations

Certified on the qualification — you choose a Fachrichtung during the Ausbildung:

Fachrichtung Work
Dach-, Wand- und Abdichtungstechnik The main one: pitched and flat roofs, waterproofing
Energietechnik an Dach und Wand Solar thermal and photovoltaic mounting, roof-integrated systems, insulation
Außenwandbekleidungstechnik Facade cladding
Reetdachtechnik Thatch — a tiny, regionally concentrated specialism on the North Sea and Baltic coasts

The Energietechnik Fachrichtung is the reason this trade has a growth story rather than a steady one.

What the job involves

Pitched roofs in tile, slate and metal; flat roofs in bitumen and single-ply membrane; Dachabdichtung and detailing at every penetration; Dämmung to GEG standards; guttering and rainwater; facade cladding; green roofs; and increasingly PV mounting systems and the roof build-up that has to stay watertight around them.

Renovation dominates new-build in this trade, and storm damage produces sudden urgent work.

The PV boundary is worth understanding. Mounting the array, penetrating and sealing the roof and carrying the structural load is Dachdecker work; the electrical connection is electrical work and is gated by DGUV V3 and the EFK rules. Firms increasingly cover both by employing both trades, and the division of responsibility on a job is a frequent source of dispute. Know where your own competence — and your insurance — stops.

Safety is the trade

Roofing has one of the worst fall-accident records in German working life, and Absturzsicherung is not administrative overhead here; it is the daily structure of the work.

  • Collective protection first — scaffolding, edge protection, safety nets. Personal fall-arrest (PSAgA) is the fallback, not the default, and using it requires documented training and an anchor point that has been assessed
  • Rescue planning is mandatory where PSAgA is used: a person hanging in a harness must be recovered within minutes
  • Weather stops work. Wind, ice and wet surfaces are hard limits, not judgement calls
  • Long-term exposure — UV, hot bitumen, mineral fibres, asbestos in older roofs, and the knee and shoulder wear of a career on pitched surfaces

BG BAU is the accident insurer, and in this trade its rules are enforced hard and inspected.

Pay

Market estimate, positioned against the roofing tariff. The sector’s own AEntG minimum is the floor and is a perishable figure — check the current rate rather than trusting one written down.

Stage Gross/month
Geselle, entry €3,000 – €3,600
Experienced €3,500 – €4,200
Vorarbeiter / Kolonnenführer €4,000 – €4,800
Meister, employed €4,300 – €5,400
Meister with own business Not comparable

Add the sector’s holiday and supplementary-pension entitlements through SOKA-DACH, travel and away-site allowances, and — in a trade with this much emergency work — overtime that is genuinely available. Subtract the winter: Saison-Kurzarbeitergeld months are paid at a replacement rate, not at full wage.

Demand and outlook

Among the strongest in this repo, and for three independent reasons at once.

  1. Energy retrofit. Roof insulation is one of the highest-return measures under the GEG, and it is funded.
  2. Photovoltaics. Germany’s rooftop PV expansion runs through this trade, and the Fachrichtung exists precisely for it.
  3. Storm and hail damage, increasing with the climate, produces repair work that cannot be deferred.

Against that: the residential new-build contraction affects roofing as it affects everything else, and roofing firms are small, so an individual employer’s order book matters more than the national picture. The shortage of qualified roofers is severe — entrant numbers are low relative to demand, which is why training pay and Geselle rates have risen faster here than in most trades.

Foreign candidates

  1. To work: no recognition required. Anlage A binds only self-employment.
  2. For the visa: yes — Handwerkskammer equivalence for §18a.
  3. To run a business: the Meisterbrief, or the routes in the Meister file, including §7b.
  4. Language: B1–B2. Safety coordination at height is not a place for ambiguity, and customer contact on domestic roofs is constant.
  5. Visa: §18a, §16a to train here, or §26(2) BeschV.
  6. Fall-protection and PSAgA training is German and does not transfer. Expect to sit it.

Pitfalls

  • Check the agreement and the social fund. Roofing is SOKA-DACH, not SOKA-BAU, and ending up in neither is a real risk with a small employer.
  • The PV boundary cuts both ways — doing electrical work you are not qualified for is both illegal and uninsured.
  • Winter is part of the deal. Ask how the employer handles the Schlechtwetterzeit before accepting: working-time account, Saison-Kug, or — the wrong answer — a termination.
  • The career is physically finite. Meister, Kolonnenführer, surveying and estimating, or the PV side, are the routes that keep you in the trade past forty-five.
  • Asbestos in older roofs requires a separate qualification and a notified procedure. Never take it on informally.

Sources

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