Glossary
Glossary: landscaping, law and websites
From BGB to ZTV: terms and abbreviations around landscaping, technical rules, law, tax and a firm's website, explained briefly and clearly.
In short and in plain language
On this page you will find special words. Below each word you see the start of what it means. Click on a word. Then you can read the whole text.
The words are sorted from A to Z. At the top you see the letters. Click on a letter. Then you jump to the words with this letter.
At the very bottom you find a link to the questions and answers and a link to contact us.
A
- acceptance Acceptance means agreeing to something, for example an order or finished work. In construction contracts (German: Abnahme), the client declares that the work is essentially in…
- AGG The AGG is the German General Equal Treatment Act, which protects against discrimination, for example because of gender, age, origin or disability. It also covers job…
- AI Artificial intelligence refers to software that processes language, recognises patterns and formulates answers on its own. Many people now ask AI assistants for businesses near…
- Alt text An alt text describes the content of an image in words. Screen readers read it aloud, and it appears when an image does not load. Purely decorative images get an empty alt text so…
- AO The AO is the German Fiscal Code, the general law on tax procedure. Among other things, it sets retention periods for records that matter for tax.
- API An API is a programming interface. Two programs use it to exchange data without anyone having to type anything in. One example is an online shop that passes orders on to an…
- ASR The ASR are German technical rules for workplaces. They set out the requirements of the Workplace Ordinance in more detail, for example for doors, gates and traffic routes. For…
B
- base course The base course is a layer of compacted crushed stone or mineral aggregate within the sub-base of a paved area. It spreads the loads from above onto the ground beneath. Its…
- BDEW The BDEW is the German association of the energy and water industries. Among other things it publishes statistics on household water consumption. Such data help to put the water…
- BDH The Federation of German Heating Industry is the association of heating technology manufacturers in Germany. Among other things it publishes heat pump sales figures, which can be…
- BDSG The BDSG is the German Federal Data Protection Act, which adds national rules to the GDPR. Among other things it contains rules on appointing a data protection officer. Whether…
- BEG The BEG is the German federal funding programme for efficient buildings, for example for heat pumps. Whether work on outdoor areas is included depends on the current funding…
- BFH The BFH is the Federal Fiscal Court, Germany's highest court for tax and customs matters. Its rulings clarify how tax laws are to be interpreted, for example for the tax reduction…
- BfN The BfN is the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation. It publishes specialist information on topics such as species protection, habitats and light pollution.
- BFSG The BFSG is the German Accessibility Strengthening Act. It implements a European Union directive on accessibility. Under it, many providers of products and services for consumers…
- BGB The BGB is the German Civil Code and governs general private law in Germany, such as contracts, property and liability. For landscaping firms, its rules on works contracts and on…
- BGH The BGH is the Federal Court of Justice, Germany's highest court for civil and criminal matters. Its rulings shape how other courts interpret questions of liability and safety…
- BGL BGL is the German federal association of landscape contractors, including sports ground construction. It represents the interests of the sector and provides information on…
- BITV The BITV is a German ordinance on accessible information technology. It sets out how websites and apps of federal public bodies must be accessible. For companies, the BFSG usually…
- BKA The BKA is the Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany. It publishes crime statistics, for example on residential burglary. These can be relevant to topics such as the security…
- BMF The Federal Ministry of Finance is the German federal ministry responsible for taxation. In its circulars it explains how tax offices apply tax rules, for example the tax…
- boundary distance The boundary distance is the minimum distance that trees, hedges and shrubs should keep from the neighbouring plot. It is set by the neighbour law of each German state and usually…
- BSFH The BSFH is the German federal association of manufacturers of playground equipment and leisure facilities. Among other things it provides information on safety standards for…
- BSI The Federal Office for Information Security is the German federal authority for cyber security. It publishes situation reports and recommendations that also show why small firms…
- BuGG The Bundesverband GebäudeGrün is the German trade association for green roofs, green facades and indoor greening. It publishes market figures and technical information that can…
- business profile A business profile is a firm's listing in a search engine's results and map service. It shows name, address, opening hours, phone number, photos and reviews. For a landscaping…
- BW Baden-Württemberg is a federal state in south-western Germany. In landscaping the abbreviation appears, for example, with the state's nature conservation act, which contains rules…
- BWP The BWP is the German Heat Pump Association, the industry body for manufacturers, trades and other companies involved with heat pumps. Among other things, it publishes sales…
C
- CMS A CMS is a program that lets you maintain the content of your website yourself. You edit texts, images and pages in the browser without programming. The look of the site stays the…
- Contrast Contrast is the difference in brightness between text and background. The WCAG set minimum values for it. Good contrast helps everyone, especially people with low vision or in…
- Cookie A cookie is a small text file that a website stores in the browser. Some cookies are needed for the site to work, for example for a shopping cart. For others, such as measuring…
- crown bracing Crown bracing links weak limbs or stems in a tree crown with belts or ropes. It is meant to prevent breakage in storms and to preserve a tree that would otherwise need heavy…
- crown care Crown care covers pruning work in the crown of a tree, such as removing deadwood and diseased or crossing branches. It aims to keep the tree healthy, stable and safe for people…
- CSS CSS defines how a web page looks: colours, fonts, spacing and the arrangement of the content. Because the design is kept separate from the content, a page can adapt to the screen…
- cutting period Cutting periods are the times of year in which heavier cutting of hedges, shrubs and trees is permitted under nature conservation law. During the breeding season, usually just…
- CV CV is short for curriculum vitae, a summary of a person's education and work history. In landscaping job adverts it can help not to require a CV for the first contact.
- CW CW stands for calendar week, the running number of a week within the year. In Germany the week starts on Monday. In landscaping, dates for work and maintenance visits are often…
D
- DDG The DDG is the German Digital Services Act, which among other things governs provider identification. It sets out what belongs in the legal notice of a business website, such as…
- DGUV The German Social Accident Insurance is the umbrella association of the statutory accident insurance institutions in Germany. It publishes rules and information on safety, for…
- DIN The German Institute for Standardization develops technical standards that are published as DIN standards. In landscaping, such standards describe for example earthworks, lawns…
- DIY Do it yourself describes carrying out work without hiring a professional firm, for example in the home or garden. A DIY store sells materials and tools to private customers.
- Domain A domain is the name of a website on the internet, for example the part after “www.” in the address. It is registered with a registry and points to the server on which the website…
- drainage Drainage means the planned removal of rainwater from paved areas, roofs and plots. It includes falls, channels, gullies, drain pipes and soakaways. Missing or faulty drainage can…
- duty of care The duty of care (German: Verkehrssicherungspflicht) is the obligation to prevent foreseeable dangers on land, paths or trees one is responsible for. It generally lies with the…
- DWA The DWA is the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste. Its codes of practice serve as technical rules, for example for the infiltration of rainwater.
- DWD The DWD is the German Meteorological Service, the national weather service in Germany. Its data on rainfall, hours of sunshine and drought help landscaping firms assess planting…
E
- EC The European Community was a forerunner of today’s European Union. Older EU directives therefore carry the abbreviation EC in their number.
- edge restraint An edge restraint is the side boundary of a paved or slabbed area, usually made of kerbs, palisades or steel edging. It holds the surface and the bedding in place and stops the…
- EGBGB The EGBGB is the Introductory Act to the German Civil Code and supplements it with further rules. Among other things, it contains information duties for consumer contracts and the…
- EStG The EStG is the German Income Tax Act, which governs how the income of individuals is taxed. For garden work it matters mainly because of the tax reduction for tradesman services…
- EU The European Union is an association of European states with common rules and institutions. Its regulations apply directly in the member states, for example in data protection or…
F
- FAQ FAQ stands for frequently asked questions and refers to a collection of questions with short answers. On a firm's website it answers recurring questions about costs, process and…
- FFH Fauna-Flora-Habitat refers to an EU directive protecting habitats, animals and plants. Areas designated under it enjoy special protection, for example for drone flights or…
- FLL The FLL is a German association that develops technical guidelines for the landscaping and green sector. Its guidelines, for example on tree inspection or green roofs, often serve…
G
- GaLaBau GaLaBau is the German short form for garden and landscape construction. It refers to the trade that designs, builds and maintains gardens, green spaces, paths and outdoor areas…
- GbR The Gesellschaft bürgerlichen Rechts is a simple German civil-law partnership in which several people join together for a common purpose. For founders in landscaping it is a…
- GDPR The GDPR is a regulation of the European Union. It governs when and how personal data may be processed, for example names, email addresses or IP addresses. On a website this…
- GDV The GDV is the German Insurance Association, the umbrella organisation of insurance companies in Germany. Among other things, it publishes statistics on damage caused by storms…
H
- HGB The HGB is the German Commercial Code. It governs the law of merchants, such as bookkeeping, the commercial register and the retention of business records. Its retention periods…
- HOAI The HOAI is a German ordinance for calculating fees for architects and engineers. For landscape and open-space projects, it describes work stages and fee tables that landscape…
- HR Human resources is the part of a business that deals with staff. It usually means the department that handles applications, hiring and personnel matters.
- HTML HTML is the language every web page is made of. It defines what each part of the page is: heading, paragraph, list, link or image. Clean HTML is the basis for screen readers and…
- HTTPS HTTPS encrypts the data sent between browser and website. This way, others cannot read what you enter into a form, for example. Many browsers warn about pages without HTTPS with…
- HwO The HwO is the German Trade and Crafts Code that governs the skilled trades. Among other things, it sets out which trades require a master craftsman qualification to run a…
I
- ICT Information and communication technology covers computers, networks, telephony and the internet. The German Federal Statistical Office regularly surveys how households and…
- Impressum (legal notice) The Impressum states who is responsible for a website: name, address and ways to get in touch. Business websites in Germany need an Impressum that is easy to find.
- IP The Internet Protocol defines how data is addressed and transferred between devices on the internet. A visitor's IP address can count as personal data. That is why it matters for…
- IT Information technology covers computers, networks, software and data processing. Small firms also use IT systems, for example for their website, e-mail and accounting, and need to…
K
- KEAN The Climate Protection and Energy Agency of Lower Saxony is a state agency for climate protection and energy matters. Among other things it explains how heat pumps on a plot can…
- KfW KfW is a German state-owned development bank, offering loans and grants for building, renovation and energy saving, among other things. For landscaping firms it can matter which…
- KG A KG is a German limited partnership in which some partners are fully liable and others only up to their contribution. It is often set up as a GmbH & Co. KG, where a limited…
L
- LAGA LAGA is a working group of the German federal government and the federal states on waste law. Its notices set out, among other things, requirements for reusing excavated soil and…
- LAI The LAI is the working group of the German federal and state authorities on emission control. It publishes a guideline on assessing noise from air-source heat pumps. This matters…
- LfU A Landesamt für Umwelt is the environmental agency of a German federal state; the articles mostly refer to the Bavarian one. It publishes guidance on noise, water and soil, for…
M
- measuring up Measuring up (German: Aufmaß) means measuring areas, lengths and quantities precisely on site. Before the quote it forms the basis of the costing; after completion it supports the…
- minimum term The minimum term is the period a contract runs at least before it can be cancelled. It appears for example in maintenance contracts, service agreements and website subscriptions…
- MStV The MStV is the Interstate Media Treaty agreed between the German federal states on broadcasting and online media. For websites with editorial content, such as a blog, it can…
N
- NBauO The NBauO is the building code of the German state of Lower Saxony. It sets out which structures need a permit and which may be built without one, such as garden sheds or walls.
- NI-VORIS NI-VORIS is the official online collection of the laws and ordinances of the German state of Lower Saxony. It can be used to look up, for example, the neighbour law or the…
- NRW North Rhine-Westphalia is a federal state in western Germany. Like the other states, it has its own building code. It sets rules such as how unbuilt areas of a plot may be…
- NWG The Lower Saxony Water Act supplements federal water law in the state of Lower Saxony. It can determine when rainwater from roofs, yards and paths may be infiltrated without a…
P
- PAngV The German Price Indication Ordinance governs how businesses state prices towards consumers. For a firm's website it concerns, for example, total prices including VAT and how…
- PDF The Portable Document Format is a file format for documents that displays layout and fonts largely independently of the device. Search engines often read content in such files…
- pre-qualification Pre-qualification means sorting an enquiry by key details as soon as it arrives, such as trade, location, area and timing. On a landscaping website this happens through a few…
R
- RAL RAL originally stood for a German committee on terms of delivery. Today the RAL colour collection names shades with fixed numbers. Items such as gates and fences can then be…
- Responsive design Responsive design means that a website adapts to the size of the screen. On a phone the content is stacked, on a large screen it often sits side by side. There is only one website…
- right of withdrawal The right of withdrawal allows consumers to cancel certain contracts within a statutory period without giving reasons. For landscaping firms it can apply when a private client job…
- RSM The Regel-Saatgut-Mischungen are the German standard seed mixtures for different types of lawn. They are published by the German landscape research society and serve as a…
- RStO The RStO are German technical guidelines for the build-up of traffic areas such as roads, paths and squares. Among other things they describe frost exposure zones and the required…
S
- schedule of works A schedule of works (German: Leistungsverzeichnis) lists all tasks of a job in order, each with description, quantity and unit. In tenders and maintenance contracts it is the…
- Screen reader A screen reader is a program that reads the content of a page aloud or outputs it on a braille display. Blind and visually impaired people use it to operate websites. For this…
- SEO SEO covers all measures that help a website to be found more easily in search engines. These include suitable content, a clear page structure, short loading times and clean…
- SGB The German Social Code brings together German social legislation in several books, for example on long-term care insurance or the participation of disabled people. For landscaping…
- SHK SHK is the German term for the plumbing, heating and air conditioning trade. When a heat pump is installed, such firms often work with landscapers on the base, cable trenches and…
- SKiD SKiD is a nationwide German survey on the sense of safety and experience of crime, led by the Federal Criminal Police Office. It also captures offences that are not reported to…
- SME Small and medium-sized enterprises are businesses that stay below certain limits for staff and turnover. Many funding programmes and statistics distinguish by this size.
- SoW A schedule of works lists the individual tasks of a job as items with quantity and unit. It serves as the basis for the quote, the work and the invoice.
- species protection Species protection covers the rules that protect wild animals and plants and the places where they live. In landscaping it mainly affects work on trees, hedges and shrubs where…
- SSL SSL is a method for encrypting data sent between a browser and a website. Today its successor TLS is mostly used, but the name SSL has stuck. An SSL certificate lets a website be…
- sub-base The sub-base is the build-up of compacted layers beneath a paved surface such as paving, a terrace or a driveway. It carries the loads, drains water and protects against frost…
T
- TA Lärm The TA Lärm is a German administrative regulation on protection against noise. It sets guide values for noise by type of area and time of day, for example for heat pumps or…
- TDDDG The TDDDG is the German act on data protection in telecommunications and digital services. Among other things it governs when consent is needed for cookies and similar access to a…
- tender A tender is the procedure by which a client invites quotes from several firms for a described piece of work. Public clients, housing companies and property managers award grounds…
- TMG The TMG was the German Telemedia Act, which used to govern the legal notice on websites, among other things. These rules are now in the Digital Services Act, so current legal…
- tree bylaw A tree bylaw (German: Baumschutzsatzung) is a local regulation by which a municipality protects certain trees. It can make felling, topping or heavy pruning subject to approval…
- tree inspection A tree inspection is a regular, documented visual check of trees for damage that could put safety at risk. Owners such as municipalities and property managers use it to meet their…
U
- UG A UG is a German limited company, a variant of the GmbH that can be founded with very little share capital. Liability is limited to the company's assets. The suffix…
- unit price The unit price is the price per unit of an item, for example per square metre of paving or per shrub. The total follows from the unit price multiplied by the quantity actually…
- unsealing Unsealing means removing sealed surfaces such as concrete, asphalt or tight paving, or making them permeable. Rainwater can then soak into the ground again, and soil and plants…
- URL A URL is the address of a page or file on the internet. It appears in the address bar at the top of the browser. It consists of the protocol, for example https, the domain name…
- UStG The UStG is the German VAT Act and governs value added tax on supplies and services in Germany. For landscaping firms it is relevant, for example, to invoices, construction…
- UV Ultraviolet radiation is an invisible part of sunlight. Over time it can make plastics, membranes and coatings outdoors brittle or faded.
- UWG The German Act Against Unfair Competition governs which advertising and business claims towards customers and competitors are permitted. For a firm's website it concerns, for…
V
- variation A variation (German: Nachtrag) is additional or changed work that was not part of the original order, together with its payment. In landscaping it arises from unexpected ground…
- VAT Value added tax is a tax on goods and services supplied by businesses, usually borne in the end by the customer. Offers to businesses often show net prices, while private…
- VOB The VOB is the German set of construction contract procedures for awarding and carrying out building work. Part A covers public procurement, while Part B contains contract terms…
- VSBG The VSBG is the German Consumer Dispute Resolution Act and governs out-of-court settlement of disputes between businesses and consumers. Depending on company size, it can require…
- VTA Visual tree assessment is a tree inspection method in which a tree is first examined from the outside for signs of damage. More detailed investigations follow only if something…
- VVG The VVG is the German Insurance Contract Act, which governs the rights and duties of insurers and policyholders. These include reporting a loss promptly and keeping the damage as…
W
- warranty Warranty here means the client's rights when work turns out to be defective. Usually the contractor first gets the chance to put the defect right; a price reduction or damages may…
- WCAG The WCAG are international guidelines for accessible web content. They describe testable requirements, for example for contrast, for text alternatives to images and for keyboard…
- WEG A WEG is the German community of all owners of flats in a building. It decides jointly on shared areas such as gardens and is often represented by a property management company.
- WHG The Federal Water Act is the main German federal law on the management of surface water and groundwater. In landscaping it matters, for example, when rainwater from paved surfaces…
- WLAN A WLAN is a wireless local network through which devices connect to the internet without cables. Anyone who tests their website only on the office WLAN often misses how slowly it…
Z
- ZDH The German Confederation of Skilled Crafts is the umbrella organisation of the chambers of crafts and trade associations in Germany. It represents the interests of craft…
- ZTV ZTV are German additional technical contract conditions that add specific technical requirements for certain work to construction contracts. In landscaping they exist, for…
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