Building cleaning: How much time is wasted by bureaucracy

A third of working time in the building cleaning industry is spent on bureaucracy. Read on to find out what causes the most work and why employers long for the return of the "sick note" (a form of sick leave).

This article is part of the special feature on bureaucratic madness in the skilled trades.

As part of its regular autumn economic survey, the Federal Guild Association of the Building Cleaning Trade (BIV) asked companies how much working time their employees at company headquarters spend on formalities, i.e., bureaucracy. Federal Guild Master Thomas Dietrich described the result as "alarming." On average, it's 32 percent.

Around one-fifth of the companies state that their staff spend 50 percent or more of their working time solely on bureaucratic requirements, 11,9 percent speak of 40 to 45 percent of their working time, 26 percent say it is in the range of 30 to 35 percent, and 26,7 percent say it is in the range of 20 to 25 percent.

These tasks cause the greatest bureaucracy:

• Instruction/risk assessment

• electronic sick note

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• Checking residence and work permits for non-EU citizens

• Sustainability reporting

• Data protection

• recurring statistical information to state and federal authorities

Documentation and evaluation effort is becoming increasingly complex

"We want to shape things rather than manage them," says Federal Guild Master Thomas Dietrich, owner of Gebäudeservice Dietrich West KG in Wuppertal. "The task of politics is to simplify things, eliminate unnecessary regulations when in doubt, and please do so digitally whenever that makes sense and is possible.

The widespread criticism from the surveyed companies regarding the topic of instruction and risk assessment is striking . "On the one hand, the companies are resisting the increasing documentation and evaluation effort, which has become ever more complex over the years. On the other hand, they want more opportunities to use digital media and e-learning programs."

Criticism of electronic AU: well-intentioned but not well-executed

In the context of the electronic sick note (eAU), companies believe that digitalization has led to an increase in bureaucracy: "Good intentions are not always well implemented. The system brings discontent, time expenditure, and stress into companies, so that the industry, absurdly, longs for the yellow paper slips," says Thomas Dietrich.

Background: When an employee is ill, they go to the doctor, who then informs the health insurance company. However, the company is not automatically notified. The employee still has to report their illness manually. Companies criticize that the HR department has to actively retrieve each individual case of illness digitally from the health insurance company – often multiple times, because the data is not yet available. Several days can pass between the doctor's visit and the data retrieval. The company doesn't know whether the employees have actually seen a doctor or how long they are on sick leave.

Economic situation and outlook for 2026

The mood in Germany's most employing skilled trades remains tense. 

• 23,1 percent of the 300 companies surveyed (spring 2025: 24,3 percent) are positive about the current financial year

• 52,6 percent (spring 2025: 48,2 percent) only expects business to remain the same

• 24,3 percent (spring 2025: 27,5 percent) look to 2025 with negative signs

outlook

• 19,4 percent of companies are positive

• 41,7 percent expect only the same business

• 38,9 percent expect a negative development in 2026

Source: The building service providers

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