Association of Consulting Engineers
The Verband Beratender Ingenieure eV VBI , with around 2,000 member companies and around 40,000 employees, is the leading professional political and economic interest group for planning and consulting engineers in Germany . Its members are active in all areas of technical, scientific and technical-economic consulting regardless of manufacturer and supplier interests . The headquarters of the VBI is in Berlin.
Members
Ordinary association members are companies of consulting engineers and freelance companies that are independently active in the fields of engineering or in other technical, technical-economic or scientific fields in an advisory, planning, monitoring, coordinating, appraising or auditing manner. They must be represented by at least one personal representative. These representatives are consulting engineers or other persons who work independently and professionally as sole owners, shareholders, board members, managing directors, authorized signatories or authorized representatives. Professionally qualified is anyone who has successfully completed a technical, technical-economic or scientific degree and has then worked in his or her field for at least 5 years.
tasks and goals
The association represents the professional political and economic interests of the independent advisory and planning members.
This happens in particular through:
- Informing the public about the value of qualified independent advice and planning in the fields of engineering and in technical-scientific and technical-economic fields for the benefit of the general public.
- The promotion of future-oriented independent advice and planning, taking into account the interests of the environment and the quality of life of the people.
- The influence on decisions of legislative bodies, governments, administrations or other institutions in the national and international area.
- The promotion of qualified training and further education.
- The promotion of the professional exchange of experience.
- Advice and support for association members as employers and freelance entrepreneurs.
history
On October 3, 1903, six engineers specializing in electrical engineering founded the Association of Consulting Engineers for Electrical Engineering in Berlin . According to the statutes, the association should serve to “secure and maintain or perfect and expand electrical systems through independent advice”. It was entered in the register of associations on November 21, 1903.
In 1911, the members decided to open the association to other disciplines and shortened the name to “Association of Consulting Engineers”. The consequences of the global economic crisis led to a decrease in the number of members to almost 100 after 1929.
1933 began phasing by the Nazis. In 1941 the association's status was finally withdrawn and it was incorporated into the “group of consulting engineers” in the Nazi Association of German Technology.
In November 1945 the VBI was re-established in Düsseldorf. A revitalization of the association's activities in Leipzig was prevented by the Soviet military occupation . In 1990 the VBI regional associations in East Germany were founded. In 1999 the VBI head office returned to Berlin. In January 2009 the Association of Independent Consulting Engineers and Consultants VUBIC joined the VBI as part of a merger agreement.
Association management
- President: Jörg Thiele, Chemnitz
- Chief Executive: Roland Engels, Berlin
The seat of the association is Berlin, where the federal office is also located.
Structure and main bodies
The highest decision-making body is the VBI Association Day (general assembly ). It elects the President and the Board of Directors every three years . The VBI Board of Directors and representatives of the regional associations form the VBI Association Council .
The VBI is subdivided
geographically in:
- State associations (Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin-Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, Thuringia)
technical in:
- Committees (structural engineering, foreign countries, transport, water management, energy)
- Specialist groups (acoustics and thermal building physics, occupational safety and medicine, architecture and technology, elevator and conveyor technology, tendering-awarding accounting, renewable energies, electrical, lighting and information technology, geotechnical engineering, GIS and surveying, industry, infrastructure, structural engineering, Publicly appointed and sworn experts, project and facility management, taxes abroad, technical equipment, technical and economic management consulting)
- Working groups (railways, building information modeling, energy efficiency, geothermal energy (deep and close to the surface), IT and rationalization, municipal advice, procurement and contract law, waterways).
Further working groups and working groups will be set up temporarily to deal with current issues.
The full-time federal office in Berlin supports the VBI members and VBI specialist committees in their voluntary activities.
Young professionals have a special status in the VBI . The YP form a network of entrepreneurs and employees from the VBI member companies up to 45 years of age with their own structure within the association.
Memberships
The VBI is a member of the Federal Association of Freelance Professions BFB and the Federal Association of German Industry BDI. It is a member of the European umbrella organization EFCA and the World Association of Consulting Engineers FIDIC.
Publications
The association issues the following regular publications:
- Journal BERATENDE INGENIEURE BI, journal for planning and building, KÖLLEN DRUCK + VERLAG GmbH, Bonn
- VBI-Nachrichten, online member information, Berlin
- VBI series of publications, working aids for engineers and architects
- VBI-Praxisinfo, information for clients
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ R. Machemehl: 50 years of the Association of Consulting Engineers . In: Journal of the Association of German Engineers . tape 95 , no. 28 , October 1, 1953, p. 954 .