16 
Part A - General 
2.4 Additional standard specifications for offshore structures 
The “Standard Ground Investigations - Minimum requirements for geotechnical surveys and 
investigations into offshore wind energy structures, offshore stations and power cables” in its 
current version, published by the BSH, represents an integral part of this code of practice. 
The environmental impact assessment shall be drawn up using a project description for the 
common pile foundation types listed in the application based on the verified preliminary draft. 
In the case of new foundation types or foundation types not yet tested in the German EEZ, 
further documentation may be required. 
Planning principle 5.3.2.9 set down in the Spatial Offshore Grid Plan (2K criterion) shall be ob 
served. The existing standardised calculation method was included on the BSH Internet page 
as an addition to the current version of the Standard “Investigation of the Impacts of Offshore 
Wind Turbines on the Marine Environment (StUK)”. 
Safety and precautionary measures are defined in a separate regulation. A corresponding 
standard for a protection and safety concept may be incorporated. Structural requirements 
resulting from the provisions set down in the German Labor Protection Act (ArbSchG) incl. the 
German Construction Products Act {BauPG), the Product Safety Act (ProdSG) and their res 
pective directives, as well as from the involvement of the responsible occupational safety or 
ganisations, must be taken account at an early stage of the development and construction 
phase. In this connection, the applicant, resp. approval holder, shall ensure right from the be 
ginning that both an operational and occupational safety concept, as part of the overall safety 
and protection concept, and a fire protection concept are drawn up and regularly updated; 
with respect to the corresponding approvals, the appointed inspectors shall review both do 
cuments extensively with regard to structural considerations. With a view to fire protection 
issues, reference is herewith made to the information contained in the guidelines published by 
the German Insurance Association (GDV). The provisions stipulated by the Federal Ministry of 
Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMW) and the Waterways and Shipping Directorate-Ge 
neral (GDWS) on all issues related to transport safety remain unaffected hereby. 
With respect to the observance of the 160 dB SEL noise limit at a distance of 750 m from the 
emission source during noise-intensive foundation work, respective noise-reducing measures 
- if required - shall be allowed for early on in the construction phase. The noise control con 
cept, incl. the chosen work method and the considerations justifying this selection, as well as 
the planned ¡mission-minimisation and/or damage prevention measures and the up-to-date 
noise forecast based on these measures, must be presented in writing to the approval autho 
rity together with the documentation required for the 2 nd release for the purpose of examina 
tion. At the latest upon entering the 3 rd release phase, the documents detailing the operational 
structure of the noise-reducing measures with respect to each of the foundation types to be 
applied must be submitted. 
Generally, recognised rules of technology that already exist specifically for certain individual 
components or systems are listed as basic standard provisions in the corresponding regula 
tion materials. If applicable to offshore structures, the provisions set down in the respective 
Eurocodes and German technical regulations shall take precedence. Omitted regulations can 
be supplemented from other codes of practice if these are analysed for admissibility by an 
expert. It is generally not allowed to mix different codes of practice. The combination or mu 
tual supplementing of different or competing codes of practice, or of individual provisions 
therein, shall always be analysed for admissibility and assessed accordingly by an expert. The 
hierarchy of norms must be determined and presented at an early stage - as a rule together 
with the documents for the 1 st release.