What is the RIS?
Every Austrian building code is in the RIS, free and up to date. Still, searching for a section often lands you on an outdated copy. How to find what you are looking for in the RIS. Piloti opens every cited passage straight from the RIS, marked.
In short
The RIS, the federal legal information system (Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes), is the freely accessible database of Austrian law run by the Federal Chancellery; among other things it holds federal law, the law of all nine states including their building codes, and the decisions of the highest courts. Piloti cites state law the way a permit names it and opens the passage from the RIS.
What is in the RIS
The RIS (ris.bka.gv.at) collects federal and state law in consolidated form, the law gazettes and case law, for example of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Administrative Court and the state administrative courts. For planners, state law is the key part: building code, building-technology regulation, spatial planning act and the regulation by which the state makes the OIB guidelines binding.
The consolidated version merges all amendments into one readable text. It is a reading aid. What was promulgated in the relevant law gazette is what counts, and when in doubt that is where to look.
How Piloti uses the RIS
Piloti answers questions from the nine state building codes and related state law from the RIS and cites them the way a permit would, for example “Bauordnung für Wien, § …”. The source opens inside Piloti at the marked passage, and the citation is checked against the text before it appears.
What is not in the RIS
Your plot’s development plan is generally not in the RIS but with the municipality or in the state’s geoportal. The OIB guidelines themselves are on the OIB website; the RIS holds only the provision that makes them binding. ÖNORM standards are freely available in neither place.
How to find the building code in force in the RIS
- 01
Choose state law
Under “Landesrecht konsolidiert”, select the state the project is in.
- 02
Search for the act
Search by title, for example “Bauordnung für Wien” or “NÖ Bauordnung 2014”. Short title and abbreviation are the safest search terms.
- 03
Check the version
Note the date of the version. For a pending procedure or an existing building an older version may count; the RIS shows versions as of a given date.
- 04
Read the transition rules
The end of the act says from when an amendment applies and for which procedures the old law still applies.
Why Google is not enough here
A web search for a section often finds copies on chamber, company or authority sites, and not every one of them reflects the latest amendment. A section that was right two amendments ago is an error in the file that only surfaces in the procedure.
Good to know
Piloti cites state law in the version in force. For an older version, for an existing building say, look it up in the RIS by date; which version applies to your procedure is decided by the transition rules.
Questions
What is the RIS?
The federal legal information system, a free database run by the Federal Chancellery at ris.bka.gv.at. It holds federal and state law, the law gazettes and the case law of the highest courts.
Is the version in the RIS legally binding?
The consolidated version is a reading aid that merges all amendments into one text. What was promulgated in the relevant law gazette is what counts. In daily work the consolidated version is the right starting point; for a disputed passage, a look at the gazette is worth it.
Where do I find my state’s building code?
In the RIS under “Landesrecht konsolidiert”: select the state and search by title. The titles are not uniform: in Vienna it is the Bauordnung für Wien, in Styria the Steiermärkisches Baugesetz, in Vorarlberg the Baugesetz.
Is the development plan in the RIS?
Generally not. Development plans are municipal regulations and are held by the municipality or in the state’s geoportal. The RIS holds the state act on which they are based.