How do contractors find accommodation for workers in Germany?

Where do crews in Germany actually stay?

Germany is the largest country in our booking data. Across 42 German bookings in our system (cancellations excluded), crews stayed in roughly 30 different places. Only 11 of the 42 were in cities of 100,000 people or more, such as Düsseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt and Dresden. The other 31 were in towns like Radebeul, Rodenbach, Bad Rothenfelde and Hann. Münden [Bonjour Residences OS, 5 October 2026, n=42].

Stays were short. The median German booking was 11 nights, and 81% were under 30 nights (n=42). That is shorter than our overall median of 15 nights (n=193, all countries, cancellations excluded). In practice German projects rotate crews: a trade arrives, finishes its phase and hands over to the next.

The supply that matches this is a mix of Monteurzimmer (rooms let to fitters and trades), whole apartments and houses for crews of three to six, and hotels for one or two nights. In a small town each type tends to sit with a different platform or local landlord, which is why bookers end up working through several at once.

Why is demand spreading into smaller towns?

Because the money is going into infrastructure. The federal budget for 2026 plans record investment of more than EUR 118.2 billion, of which EUR 58.1 billion comes from the special fund for infrastructure and climate neutrality. Rail is a clear example. Deutsche Bahn's renewal plan scheduled four corridor renovations for 2026 (Hagen to Wuppertal to Köln, Nürnberg to Regensburg, Obertraubling to Passau, Troisdorf to Wiesbaden) and four for 2027 (Rosenheim to Salzburg, Lehrte to Berlin, Bremerhaven to Bremen, Fulda to Hanau). Each one closes a line for months and moves the work along its length.

Industrial projects follow the same pattern: LNG terminals on the coast, green steel in Salzgitter and Duisburg, pharma plants in Alzey and Saarlouis, chip fabs in Dresden. We keep project guides for several of them, for example Salzgitter, Alzey and Dresden.

What rules apply when you provide the accommodation?

The employer stays responsible

Annex 4.4 of the Workplaces Ordinance (ArbStättV) requires employers to provide adequate accommodation where it is needed, including off site. It is always required when workers recruited or posted for temporary work were promised shared accommodation. If the employer arranges shared accommodation through a third party, the employer is still responsible for it being adequate.

You must keep a written record

For shared accommodation (Gemeinschaftsunterkünfte), the employer must document the address of each property, its capacity, which workers are housed where, and for which dates. The record must be available at the place of work from the first night, and kept for four weeks after the stay ends.

Minimum space per person

The technical rule ASR A4.4 sets minimum areas for accommodation provided under the ordinance:

Residents per sleeping area	Usable area per resident	Of which sleeping area per resident
Up to 6	at least 8 m²	at least 6 m²
More than 6, up to 8	at least 8.75 m²	at least 6.75 m²

Foreign employers are covered too

The Posted Workers Act (AEntG, section 2) applies German rules on accommodation provided by the employer to workers posted into Germany by employers based abroad. So a UK or Polish contractor housing its crew in a shared house in Saxony is held to the same record and the same standard. We compare these rules across countries in What accommodation standards do we have to meet for posted workers in Europe?

What does tax add?

Short-term accommodation is charged VAT at the reduced 7% rate (UStG section 12(2) no. 11), but services that are not directly part of the letting, such as breakfast, are not covered by it. Many cities add a local accommodation tax on top. In Berlin it is 7.5% of the net price for any stay offered for less than six months, and business stays have been taxable since 1 April 2024. Ask for invoices that show each tax line separately. If the crew's pay is involved, read Can we deduct crew accommodation from posted workers' pay? first.

What should bookers do differently?

• Search the corridor, not the city. Set a maximum drive time to site and search every town inside it. On rail and road projects the site moves, so plan two or three bases along the line.
• Match the property type to the rotation. Short trade rotations suit Monteurzimmer and hotels. Crews staying a month or more are usually better in whole apartments on mid-term terms. Our clients have saved 20-30% by using the correct market for the length of stay.
• Ask for floor areas before you book shared houses. Check the usable area and the sleeping area against ASR A4.4 for the number of people you plan to put in each room.
• Build the ArbStättV record into the booking. Capture address, capacity, names and dates at confirmation, and send a copy to the site manager before arrival.
• Check local accommodation tax per town. It varies by municipality and changes the real cost of a long block.

German-speaking teams can also read our article on Monteurzimmer for whole crews.

FAQ

Do I have to provide accommodation for workers in Germany?

Not in every case. The ArbStättV requires it where safety, health or the nature of the work make it necessary, for example a remote site, and always when shared accommodation was promised to workers recruited or posted for temporary work.

How much space does each worker need in shared accommodation in Germany?

Under ASR A4.4, at least 8 m² of usable area per resident, of which at least 6 m² is sleeping area, for up to six people per sleeping area. For seven or eight people it rises to 8.75 m² and 6.75 m².

Do the German accommodation rules apply to UK or other foreign contractors?

Yes. Section 2 of the AEntG applies German requirements for employer-provided accommodation to workers posted into Germany by employers based abroad.