How much does commercial buildings insurance cost per square metre in Germany?
In short
How much commercial buildings insurance costs in Germany is usually about EUR 1 to 6 per square metre of floor space a year. An office building with a rebuild value of EUR 2,500 per square metre and a rate of 1 to 2 per mille costs EUR 2.50 to 5. A simple warehouse often comes to EUR 1 to 2, while production with a high fire load costs more.
Published premiums for commercial buildings are rare. The ranges combine building cost figures from the sources with rates from day to day quoting practice.
Example
Typical range
Mixed use building, value EUR 570,000, excess EUR 500 (published example)
about EUR 930 a year, around 1.6 per mille
Office building, 800 m², rebuild value EUR 2.0 million
about EUR 2,000 to 4,000 a year
Insulated warehouse, 1,500 m², rebuild value EUR 1.2 million
about EUR 1,500 to 3,500 a year
Workshop with wood or paints, 600 m², rebuild value EUR 700,000
about EUR 1,800 to 4,000 a year
As of October 2026.
The first example is a published sample calculation;
the other rates of 1 to 4 per mille are a guide value from quoting practice, without flood cover.
Your exact premium comes with the quote.
Worked example
Office building of 800 square metres in a mid-sized German city
This is how the premium per square metre comes together when the sum insured is based on rebuild cost.
Floor space
800 m²
Rebuild value (800 × EUR 2,500)
EUR 2,000,000
Fire, mains water, storm and hail at 1.5 per mille
about EUR 3,000
Flood and heavy rain add-on, guide value
about EUR 300 to 750
Together about EUR 3,300 to 3,750 a year, roughly EUR 4.10 to 4.70 per square metre.
Price per square metre is a yardstick, not a tariff
German insurers price commercial buildings insurance (gewerbliche Gebäudeversicherung) as a rate per mille on the sum insured. You get a figure per square metre by dividing the annual premium by the floor space. That makes it easy to compare quotes for the same building.
Two halls of the same size can still differ by a factor of three, because one stores pallets and the other is used for spray painting. Floor space tells you little; rebuild value per square metre and use tell you a lot.
Rebuild value per square metre by type of building
The sum insured should cover rebuilding today (Neuwert), not the purchase price. Trade sources put turnkey halls at about EUR 300 to 600 per square metre for an uninsulated cold hall and EUR 900 to 1,500 for an insulated production hall with offices.
For office buildings, the Bremen building cost regulation uses about EUR 734 per cubic metre of gross volume from October 2025. With normal storey heights that is roughly EUR 2,000 to 3,000 per square metre.
Type of building
Rebuild value per m²
Premium per m² a year
Cold hall, simple storage
EUR 300 to 600
about EUR 0.50 to 1.50
Insulated system hall
EUR 600 to 900
about EUR 0.90 to 2.70
Production hall with offices
EUR 900 to 1,500
about EUR 1.80 to 6
Office or retail building
EUR 2,000 to 3,000
about EUR 2 to 6
What pushes the rate up or down
The rate depends mainly on the activity in the building, the construction, fire protection and location. Timber, combustible insulation and open flames push it up; fire compartments, a fire alarm system and solid masonry bring it down.
Flood and heavy rain cover (Elementarschutz) costs extra and is expensive near rivers. An excess of EUR 1,000 or more noticeably lowers the premium for a commercial building.
When an estimate per square metre misleads
For cold stores, halls with sandwich panels or buildings with large solar arrays on the roof, a per square metre estimate is of little use. The insurer's site survey decides the price.
Very large properties are priced differently too: above a few million euros, several insurers often share the risk and the rate is negotiated building by building.
Step by step
Take floor space and construction type from the building file or sales brochure.
Use the rebuild value per square metre, not the purchase price.
Write down exactly what every occupant does in the building.
Decide consciously on flood cover and loss of rent.
Compare quotes with the same sum and scope, then divide by floor space.
Checklist
Sum insured based on rebuild value, not purchase price
Waiver of underinsurance after a valuation
Use by every tenant reported to the insurer
Loss of rent for at least twelve months
Flood cover for flat roofs, slopes or nearby rivers
Common mistakes
Applying the per square metre price of a warehouse to an office building
Basing the sum insured on the purchase price and ending up underinsured
Comparing quotes with different add-ons on price alone
Questions and answers
Frequently asked
How much does it cost to insure a warehouse in Germany?
For a simple hall without risky activity, usually about EUR 1 to 2 per square metre a year.
For 1,500 square metres that is roughly EUR 1,500 to 3,500, depending on construction and location.
Is a commercial building more expensive to insure than a house?
Usually yes, because business use brings more fire risk and the sums are higher.
A plain office building in solid masonry is often not far above a residential building of the same
size.
Why does my hall cost more than the identical hall next door?
Because the insurer rates the building by the most hazardous activity inside.
Paints, wood shavings, plastics or a tenant with a kitchen raise the rate even if the floor space
is the same.
Does the premium go up every year?
With contracts linked to the construction price index,
the sum and premium rise with building costs.
That is intended, otherwise the sum would fall short after a few years.
Can I pass the premium on to my tenants?
For residential tenants buildings insurance is a recoverable service charge (Betriebskosten) if
the lease says so.
For commercial tenants it depends on the lease.
Mixed use buildings have their own rules for splitting it.
