Association of Consulting Engineers (VBI)

The Verband Beratender Ingenieure e. V. (VBI), rendered in English as the Association of Consulting Engineers, is the leading professional-policy and economic interest representation of planning and consulting engineers in Germany. With roughly 1,600 member companies employing more than 46,000 people, it speaks for firms that work independently of manufacturer and supplier interests across the full range of technical, scientific and technical-economic consulting. Its headquarters and federal office are located in Berlin. Ordinary members are consulting engineering firms and independently run practices that advise, plan, supervise, coordinate, appraise or audit in engineering and related technical, technical-economic or scientific fields. Each member must be represented by at least one personal representative who is a consulting engineer or an owner, partner, board member, managing director, authorized signatory or proxy acting on their own responsibility and professionally qualified — normally through a completed technical, technical-economic or scientific degree plus at least five years of work in the field. The association pursues a broad set of goals: informing the public about the value of qualified independent consulting and planning; promoting forward-looking, independent consulting that respects environmental concerns and quality of life; influencing legislation, government, administration and other institutions nationally and internationally; supporting qualified education and training; fostering professional exchange of experience; and advising members in their roles as employers and freelance entrepreneurs. VBI is organized geographically into regional associations (Landesverbände) covering the German states, and functionally into committees, specialist groups and working circles spanning structural engineering, transport, water management, energy, acoustics and building physics, renewable energies, geotechnics, GIS and surveying, industry, infrastructure, project and facility management, BIM, and more. A Young Professionals network gives members under 45 their own structure within the association. The highest decision-making body is the Verbandstag (members' assembly), which elects the president and board every three years; the board and regional representatives form the Verbandsrat. The president is Jörg Thiele and the chief executive is Sascha Steuer. VBI is a member association of the Bundesverband Freier Berufe (BFB) and the Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie (BDI), and is a member of the European umbrella body EFCA and the world federation of consulting engineers FIDIC. It publishes the magazine Ingenium and runs services including a planner database, an expert database, free legal advice, support for business succession, and programs for young engineers. Its public-facing work includes the Ausdenker image campaign and events such as the VBI-Bundeskongress.

The organization that became the Verband Beratender Ingenieure was founded on 3 October 1903 in Berlin, when six electrical engineering specialists established the Verein Beratender Ingenieure für Elektrotechnik. According to its statutes, the association was to serve the "securing and preservation, or perfection and expansion, of electrical installations through independent consulting." It was entered in the association register on 21 November 1903. In 1911 the members decided to open the association to other engineering disciplines and shortened its name to "Verein Beratender Ingenieure." The aftermath of the world economic crisis after 1929 caused membership to fall to almost 100. In 1933 the National Socialists began the process of Gleichschaltung (coordination), and in 1941 the association finally lost its status as a registered association and was incorporated into the "Gruppe der Beratenden Ingenieure" within the NS-Bund Deutscher Technik. In November 1945 the VBI was re-founded in Düsseldorf. An attempt to revive association activities in Leipzig was prevented by the Soviet military occupation. Werner Zeller served as president of the association from 1950 to 1966. In 1990 VBI regional associations were founded in eastern Germany. In 1999 the VBI federal office returned to Berlin. In January 2009 the Verband Unabhängig Beratender Ingenieure und Consultants (VUBIC) joined VBI under a merger agreement. Today VBI describes itself as the leading professional-policy and economic interest representation of planning and consulting engineers in Germany, with around 1,600 member companies and more than 46,000 employees. Its members work independently of manufacturer and supplier interests across all fields of technical, scientific and technical-economic consulting. The association's headquarters is in Berlin, where the federal office is also located. It is organized geographically into regional associations covering the German states and functionally into committees, specialist groups and working circles, with a Young Professionals network for members under 45. The highest decision-making body is the Verbandstag, which elects the president and board every three years; the board and regional representatives form the Verbandsrat. The president is Jörg Thiele and the chief executive is Sascha Steuer.

• 2009

  Verband Unabhängig Beratender Ingenieure und Consultants (VUBIC) joined VBI under a merger agreement in January.

• 1999

  VBI federal office returned to Berlin.

• 1990

  VBI regional associations founded in eastern Germany.

• 1950

  Werner Zeller began serving as president (until 1966).

• 1945

  Re-founded in Düsseldorf in November; an attempt to revive activities in Leipzig was prevented by the Soviet military occupation.

• 1941

  Final loss of registered association status and incorporation into the "Gruppe der Beratenden Ingenieure" within the NS-Bund Deutscher Technik.

• 1933

  National Socialists began the Gleichschaltung (coordination) of the association.

• 1929

  Aftermath of the world economic crisis caused membership to fall to almost 100.

• 1911

  Opened to other engineering disciplines and renamed Verein Beratender Ingenieure.

• 1903

  Founded on 3 October in Berlin as Verein Beratender Ingenieure für Elektrotechnik by six electrical engineering specialists; entered in the association register on 21 November.

The leading professional-policy and economic interest representation of planning and consulting engineers in Germany, representing independent firms free of manufacturer and supplier interests.

• Planner database (Planerdatenbank)

  A database service offered to VBI members.

• Expert database (Sachverständigendatenbank)

  A database of experts offered to VBI members.

• Legal advice

  Free legal advice for members.

• Business succession support

  Support for member firms in managing business succession.

• Young engineer programs

  Programs for the next generation of engineers.

• Ingenium magazine

  The association's magazine for planning and construction.

• VBI-Bundeskongress

  The association's federal congress bringing together leading figures from the sector.

1. 1Verband Beratender Ingenieure - VBIvbi.de
2. 2Services - Verband Beratender Ingenieurevbi.de
3. 3Association of Consulting Engineerswikidata.org
4. 4Verband Beratender Ingenieurede.wikipedia.org