Berufsgenossenschaft: Register Within 1 Week

After Gewerbeanmeldung — mandatory registration with the Berufsgenossenschaft (BG) within one week. Fine for missing the deadline: up to €10,000.

✓ Verified: 15/08/2026

WHAT TO DO

Find your industry's Berufsgenossenschaft via the DGUV portal (Spitzenverband)

Register within 1 week of starting your activity (§ 192 SGB VII)
Receive your Unternehmernummer — needed for reporting and insurance claims
Keep the registration confirmation — useful for inspections

AUTHORITY

Berufsgenossenschaft (gesetzliche Unfallversicherung)

Public body

Which BG covers you depends on your industry — look it up via the DGUV portal.

Website

What it is and when to act

Right after your Gewerbeanmeldung (or starting work as a Gewerbetreibende/r), you must register with your industry’s Berufsgenossenschaft — the statutory occupational accident insurance system. The deadline is tight: one week from the start of your activity (§ 192 SGB VII), and it applies regardless of whether you employ staff — solo self-employed people are covered too. ⚠️ An important qualifier from the same provision: § 192 (1) sentence 2 SGB VII treats the duty as discharged if the Gewerbeanmeldung was filed within that same week. In the normal sequence of steps you therefore clear it automatically.

Why the deadline matters

The Berufsgenossenschaft receives information about new businesses from several sources (Gewerbeamt, Finanzamt), so registering “at some point later” is risky: missing the one-week deadline counts as an administrative offence and can result in a fine of up to €10,000.

How to find your BG

Berufsgenossenschaften are organized by industry (construction, trade, transport, services, etc.). The DGUV portal (the umbrella body for all industry-specific BGs) helps identify the right BG for your activity and links directly to registration.

› Details and tips

👨🏻‍💻

Max recommends:

I registered with the BG on the same day I got my Gewerbeschein — it took 15 minutes online via the DGUV portal. Better to do it right away than to remember the deadline later.

👩🏼‍💼

Lea recommends:

I thought BG registration was only needed if you have employees — wrong. A friend ran into trouble during an inspection because of exactly this. Better to check in advance than guess.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Do I need a Berufsgenossenschaft if I work alone, without employees? ▾

Registering with the BG is mandatory for almost all Gewerbe regardless of whether you employ staff — it is a statutory reporting duty tied to occupational accident insurance, not optional coverage. Even solo self-employed people must register.

What happens if I miss the deadline? ▾

First the good news, which is rarely spelled out: under § 192 (1) sentence 2 SGB VII the duty **counts as fulfilled** if you filed your Gewerbeanmeldung under § 14 GewO within the same one-week window. In the normal order of steps — Gewerbeamt first — it is therefore already done. A separate registration matters only if you did not register a Gewerbe, or did so after the week. If the deadline really is missed, it is an administrative offence under § 209 (1) no. 8 SGB VII, and the fine under § 209 (3) is **up to €2,500**, not €10,000: the ten-thousand tier applies to breaches of accident-prevention rules, not to late registration.

How do I find out which Berufsgenossenschaft is responsible for my business? ▾

Responsibility is determined by industry. The DGUV portal (the umbrella organization for all industry-specific BGs) offers a search by activity type that points you to the correct BG.