Research building law yourself, or with Piloti?
Piloti does the gathering for you and leads you back to the official source for every citation. RIS is the official source for state law, the OIB website the one for the guidelines, both freely accessible. Here is what Piloti makes of them for a project.
RIS: the Austrian federal legal information system (ris.bka.gv.at). OIB: Austrian Institute of Construction Engineering (oib.or.at). OIB editions as stated in the OIB overview of entry into force.
In short
Piloti takes on the work around RIS: it gathers the provisions from the project’s state law and from the OIB guidelines in the edition in force there, connects them to the drawings and records the result as a file note. Every citation leads back into RIS, the official and free source for the original text.
What Piloti takes on
Piloti pulls together the relevant provisions from the project’s state law and the OIB guidelines, sets them next to plan, section and what is already settled, and writes the result down with reasoning, assumptions and citation. If a deciding fact such as the building class is missing, it asks once or states its assumption.
Piloti cites state law the way an official decision does and opens the RIS source inside Piloti at the marked passage. OIB citations carry clause and page, for example “Pkt. 3.5.2 · S. 7”. The way to the original text is one click.
In detail
| Piloti | Own research (RIS, OIB, Google) | |
|---|---|---|
| Sources | State law from RIS, OIB guidelines, register of standards, office archive, project documents, web | RIS for state and federal law, the OIB website for the guidelines, Google for everything else |
| Authority | Cites into RIS and the OIB guideline and opens the passage; the original text remains decisive | Directly at the official source |
| State and edition | Draws on the state’s laws and names the OIB edition in force there | You find the state rule and check in the OIB overview and the state law which edition applies |
| Drawings | Looks at plan and section as an image and marks the drawing it read | You put drawing and rule side by side yourself |
| Documentation | Answer with reasoning, assumptions and citation, as Word; file note sent for approval | You write the file note yourself |
| Project memory | Findings become facts and open points in the project; follow-up questions build on them | You record yourself what is settled |
Where Piloti is ahead
- The gathering: Piloti pulls the relevant provisions together from the project’s state law and the OIB guidelines.
- The edition: Piloti names the OIB edition in force in the state when it changes the value.
- The link to the project: drawings, permits and earlier clarifications sit in the same project as the answer.
- The documentation: reasoning, assumptions and citation are in the answer, downloadable as Word or sent as a file note for approval.
What your own research is good for
- The original text with no layer in between: in RIS you read the provision in its official wording.
- Free and without sign-in, in RIS as on the OIB website.
- The view of the surroundings: what stands next to the provision you were looking for.
What makes your own research work
RIS answers the question of what a law says very well. The work lies before and after. Before: finding out which rule applies at all. A fire-safety question in Vienna leads through the Bauordnung für Wien and the Wiener Bautechnikverordnung 2023 to OIB guideline 2 in the 2023 edition. In Salzburg it leads through the Bautechnikgesetz 2015 to the 2019 edition, according to the OIB overview, because Salzburg has not yet declared the 2023 edition binding.
After: connecting the provision to the floor plan, the building class and what is already settled, and recording the result so that a colleague can follow it a year later. These are the steps Piloti takes on, and RIS stays the place where you read the wording.
Good to know
Interpretation and judgement in the individual case stay with the planning office. Piloti gives the citation for every answer and opens RIS at the marked passage, so that you read the original text in one click. What the zoning plan fixes for your plot, Piloti reads from the plan in the project; if it is missing, Piloti tells you where to look.
Questions
Where do I find my state’s building code?
In RIS, the federal legal information system, under the state law of the state concerned. The names differ: in Vienna it is the Bauordnung für Wien, in Styria the Steiermärkisches Baugesetz, in Vorarlberg the Baugesetz, in Carinthia the Kärntner Bauordnung 1996. The technical requirements are often in a separate building-technology rule; Piloti draws on both for the project’s state.
Which OIB guidelines apply in my state?
The OIB publishes an overview on its website of which edition is in force in which state. According to that overview, the 2023 edition applies in Vienna, Carinthia and Lower Austria for all six guidelines, in Upper Austria and Tyrol for guidelines 1 to 5; in the other states the 2019 edition generally still applies. The state law is decisive and can set exceptions and transitions.
Is Google reliable for building law?
Google quickly finds guidance sheets, articles and legal texts, but ranks by relevance, not by validity. A hit can concern an old version, another OIB edition or another state. The version in force is in RIS and on the OIB website, and that is where every Piloti citation points.
Do I still need RIS if I use Piloti?
Yes, and Piloti gets you there faster: it cites into RIS and opens the source at the marked passage. For an answer that goes into a submission or a file note, you read the original text there without having to find the passage first.
Read on
- GlossaryWhat is the RIS?
- GlossaryWhat are the OIB guidelines?
- Building law by stateBuilding law in Vienna: Bauordnung für Wien, WBTV 2023 and OIB guidelines
- ComparisonsPerplexity or Piloti?
- Use casesChecking submission documents: what is the application still missing?