Technical map view of the Trier and West Palatinate area, marking Trier as a reference point for explosive ordnance investigation and surveying by FONTANA-EOD

Explosive ordnance surveys in Kaiserslautern

Planning alterations or an extension in Kaiserslautern? Existing construction plans and investigation reports can help preparation. Compare the investigation areas and depths described in earlier reports with the new structural elements. FONTANA-EOD helps you compare explosive ordnance documents and plan investigations still required.

Building files

Distinguish construction plans, approvals and survey reports.

New structural elements

Mark new foundations, shafts and utilities.

Comparison

Compare investigated areas with the extension.

Discuss documents for your extensionExplosive ordnance assessment in Rhineland-Palatinate
Assess the construction project

Relate existing records to the new groundworks

For your alterations in Kaiserslautern, we compare existing explosive ordnance reports with new structural elements and intervention depths. Construction drawings and approvals are assessed according to their actual content. Missing knowledge and areas with investigation limitations remain visible so that further specialist work can be related to the specific extension.

Project references

Selected project examples

Project site

Connect the site with the specific construction task

Schematic map with coat of arms, beside a tablet, hard hat, notebook and pen.

Read the Morlautern planning guidance within its limits

The explanatory statement for the partial amendment Kalckreuthstraße – Neue Straße describes two spatially separate areas and contains explosive ordnance guidance for this planning area. For a project there, the relevant planning documents are read alongside investigation results actually available. New groundworks are located within these. This creates a specific task for the property rather than transferring the statement to the entire district.

Kaiserslautern is an independent city in Rhineland-Palatinate and does not belong to the district of the same name. For an enquiry, identify the precise location, for example Innenstadt, Innenstadt-West, Bännjerrück, Gartenstadt, Hohenecken, Erfenbach, Siegelbach or Morlautern. This connects building files, previous uses and present groundworks with the correct construction area. Projects in the Kaiserslautern district, Ramstein-Miesenbach, Landstuhl or Enkenbach-Alsenborn are assigned to their respective project location. Pirmasens and other municipalities in West Palatinate also have their own local documents and contacts. Municipal building-file and planning information is therefore used for the property actually affected. For longer routes or several construction sections, site plans show where municipal boundaries and differing project responsibilities must be considered in coordination.

The overview of the SGD Süd provides further local information for the regional context of your construction project.

Rhineland-Palatinate
Local context

Kaiserslautern's history and present groundworks

Use building files and city history for the project

The city of Kaiserslautern describes access to building files for entitled persons, particularly owners. Authorised representatives can also obtain access under the published conditions. The building archive may thus be a source of existing building records. Whether it contains documents relevant to the specific project and what they establish must be checked against the actual file content.

The city chronology records the first air raid of the Second World War in 1940 and several major raids in 1944/45. It also describes the development of railway connections and industrialisation involving Kammgarnspinnerei and Pfaff. For a present construction area, these documented circumstances are connected with its specific usage history. For former production, storage or supply areas, the installations and ground changes actually documented are decisive. In rail and route locations, earlier tracks, transport corridors and changed access are located using available records and images. For conversion projects, previous military or infrastructure uses and subsequent alterations are researched for the land affected. For urban works, reconstruction, fill and relocated soil may add documented changes. Which of these circumstances affects the individual construction area follows from local documents and specialist investigation.

Assign the planning guidance for Kalckreuthstraße and Neue Straße

The municipal explanatory statement for the plan amendment “Kalckreuthstraße - Neue Straße, Teiländerung 1 und südliche Erweiterung” of 2025 recommends surveys before construction and clearance of existing explosive ordnance for the planning area in Morlautern. The guidance concerns the two defined areas A and B, not all of Morlautern. If your property is in this area, you should have the relevant plan extract and existing investigation reports available together to coordinate groundworks.

Assess specialist evidence according to its content

For explosive ordnance investigation, a document's content and purpose are decisive. An approved drawing does not thereby document a technical subsurface investigation. If earlier analyses or survey reports exist, their areas, objectives and limits are compared with the current project. Identify missing evidence. Its absence alone establishes neither explosive ordnance contamination nor that the area is safe.

Working together

Distinguish the tasks of client, designers and specialist contractor

Client and operator

The client describes the project and provides the existing project documents. The operator adds the requirements for use, access and timing. A coordinating contact agrees the assigned tasks with those responsible. Before commissioning, a clear record is made of which information is missing, who will obtain it and which decision the results are intended to inform.

Planning and construction management

The specialist designers describe areas, depths, construction methods and changes. Site management coordinates the planned sequence with the construction contractors and agreed specialist works. Results are assigned to the respective intervention. A technical plan change is communicated early enough for its effect on the survey task to be assessed before construction. Organisational construction stage boundaries remain distinguishable from technical survey boundaries.

Specialist company and competent bodies

The private explosive ordnance specialist carries out the agreed investigation and documentation scope. Official requirements and decisions are clarified with the competent authorities concerned. The documents needed for a particular procedure depend on the location and project. The technical report describes the specialist service performed; its conclusions are not presented unchecked as general authorisation for further groundworks or as an authority's decision.

Investigation task

Which specialist task comes next?

Derive the investigation question from the new structural element

The location and scope of proposed groundworks and existing knowledge are decisive. Method selection considers actual conditions within the existing site. An earlier equipment name does not automatically determine the appropriate approach for the extension. First, the findings still required and the prerequisites under which they might be obtained are clarified.

Assess historical documents

Consider limitations within the existing site technically

Installations, metallic interference sources and limited access may affect investigation. Describe these conditions during preparation. Areas with insufficient interpretability are documented clearly. An absent signal must be assessed in relation to the suitability and limits of the method used, rather than as a blanket statement about the property.

Compare investigation methods
Project types

Show the existing building and new interventions together

Illustration: two people review plans and documents at a table beside a construction vehicle.

Record the origin of the existing drawing

A drawing may show an approved plan, a draft or documented execution. Identify its recognisable purpose and date. For comparison with the extension, what information is actually documented matters. Unclear installations are recorded as outstanding information rather than adopted from the drawing as certain existing conditions.

Document findings and their limitations
Illustration: a person wearing a hard hat and holding a tablet beside a cordoned-off excavation with an excavator.

Distinguish new foundations from the existing building

Show new structural elements clearly on the current plan. Location, dimensions and depths permit comparison with earlier investigations. Even an extension directly against an existing wall may affect ground not previously covered. Comparison therefore uses the specific geometry and documented scope of findings.

Provide specialist supervision of excavation
Illustration: two people review plans and documents at a table beside a construction vehicle.

Clarify differing elevation information before assessment

A depth is understandable only with its elevation reference. Compare old report information with current terrain and the planned construction elevation. Identify contradictions and clarify their basis. Unchecked adoption may distort spatial comparison even if the property designation and structural element initially appear to match.

Document findings and their limitations
Preparation

Prepare the scope and commission together

Establish what needs to be known before commissioning the work

For the Kaiserslautern commission, construction drawings, approvals and explosive ordnance reports are compiled separately according to actual content. New foundations, shafts and utilities receive location, depth and construction method. This determines which findings can be used for the alterations and which further permissible specialist task is needed. The commissioned service and results required receive this scope. Filing in a building record does not in itself confirm either that an explosive ordnance investigation occurred or its spatial findings. A missing results report remains identifiable as a missing source.

Define the specialist task

Coordinate preparatory work with the investigation

Before execution, actual measurement access, known utilities and interfaces with other trades are clarified. Old building plans are compared with the condition recognisable today. Preparatory work required follows the method and location. Additional breaking out or other interventions to create investigation access are prepared by specialists and are not undertaken independently. Contradictions between plan and existing conditions are assigned to the area affected. The existence of an older drawing is not assumed to confirm unchanged local conditions.

Clarify preparatory work in the programme

Agree a clear scope and schedule

The commission describes the outstanding explosive ordnance specialist task for the alterations and results required. Assessment and result handover form part of the workflow. Work involved and dates follow actual access, documents and coordination. File documents still outstanding and additional structural elements are recorded with their processing status. Accessing a building file is not treated as a technical investigation already performed. Plan updates are compared with reports actually available; they do not automatically extend their findings.

Discuss the scope and schedule
Tasks at the site

Compare existing plans with new groundworks

01

Check the date and purpose of construction plans

Classify drawings by date, plan designation and recognisable purpose. Distinguish planned from actually documented construction states as far as the documents allow. Clarify conflicting information before using the plan for further investigation. Relevant plan versions are kept together for the alterations. A revised foundation or changed excavation receives an identifiable revision status. If an older elevation is converted, the basis used and current reference belong in the documents. Specialist planning can then determine which parts of the new construction task an existing investigation actually fits.

02

Mark new structural elements and intervention depths

Mark new foundations, shafts or utility connections, for example, in relation to the existing building. State intended depths and their elevation reference. That a property is already developed does not answer the investigation question for a previously untouched area or deeper new intervention. Lateral connections, work areas and preparatory drilling points are also shown where groundworks occur. For a utility, the ground volume actually occupied matters alongside the route. Before drilling a geotechnical investigation point, the explosive ordnance task required for it is agreed. The geotechnical purpose and explosive ordnance question each receive their described scope.

03

Show the investigated area on the new plan

A survey report for earlier construction does not become evidence for the extension merely through the same address. Compare its area addressed with the new plan. Also check limitations in the report and whether its task actually fits the intervention now proposed. If several reports exist, their investigation volumes are entered separately on the current plan. Transitions and gaps not yet covered thus remain identifiable. Specialist assessment considers the method used and conditions under which the earlier findings arose. Further investigation for a section not previously addressed is agreed before the interventions planned there.

04

Missing information about existing installations

If the location or structure of installations is unclear, this must inform investigation planning. Record the information missing and who can clarify it. The explosive ordnance investigation commission has an agreed scope. It does not automatically replace utility research, geotechnical investigation or a building-law assessment. For a property in use, utility information required and access are clarified with those responsible. Existing facilities may limit measurement areas or working times. Before deployment, the specialist company receives available information on actual conditions. Site management identifies changes affecting the proposed investigation area or agreed preparation.

Project documents

Documents that establish the next step

Identify the older report used unambiguously

Record which earlier investigation was used for the current comparison, including its appendices and spatial limits. New documentation can then distinguish adopted knowledge from additional services performed. Reference to existing building files alone identifies neither the investigated area nor scope of findings. Supplements record which earlier findings were extended or reassessed. If only an extract is available, record which parts are still needed for interpretation. Positional reference, depth addressed and limitations are assigned to the area affected. Results can thus be used for the specific construction decision and compared again if plans later change.

Keep new results with the associated alteration plans

The current report is linked to the version for which investigation was planned and performed. After clearance work, the clearance record, stating actual scope and results, is assigned to the area addressed and associated alteration plans. If a foundation or connection later changes, the difference remains traceable. Earlier findings are not silently extended. Further needs can be determined from the area affected and specific change. The project file combines previous knowledge and additional work with their respective areas. If a previously inaccessible section becomes accessible, specialist planning determines its outstanding investigation scope. On resumption or a company change, report version, plan version and outstanding tasks are handed over together. Subsequent participants thus receive a traceable status for their work area.

Construction sequence

Coordinate investigation and construction sections

Compile older documents and changes before commissioning

Provide available drawings and specialist reports with the current alteration plan. Identify new structural elements and unresolved information on existing conditions. Additional knowledge needs follow from these. The commission can thus consider existing results without treating planning permission or an earlier property use as evidence of technical investigation. For commissioning on an existing site, information to be supplied by the client is distinguished from specialist work required. It may include utility plans, operator contacts, usable work areas and existing investigation results. If information is outstanding, its actual processing status is identified. The specialist company can relate preparation, investigation and result-document requirements to this basis.

Coordinate the construction phase with us

Assign the planned alterations again after investigation

Check which new groundworks are covered by the documented result. Outstanding areas and limitations remain visible at handover. Site management receives the relevant reports and plan versions. If further structural elements are later added, their investigation needs can be determined specifically against the scope already addressed. A new utility connection, relocated foundation or changed construction period is compared with the previous service scope. Usable results remain with their area. Additional specialist work and handover timing required for the changed task are agreed. Site management can coordinate these steps with the next earthworks and trades involved.

Coordinate the construction phase with us
Method selection

Select methods according to the task and survey conditions

Historical records and aerial photographs

Historical aerial photograph analysis and other old records help locate a basis for suspected ordnance spatially. Photographs, interpretability and area boundaries are connected with the present alterations. The absence of a visible finding is not a technical investigation of the present ground. Other existing knowledge is included. Building files may indicate earlier buildings and changes where documented. An approval or drawing retains its own purpose. Historical sources and technical results required for the explosive ordnance question are assigned separately.

Understand aerial photograph assessment

Magnetometric survey

Magnetometry methods record magnetic anomalies. Suitability is assessed according to expected objects, ground conditions, interference and the investigation volume required. Utilities, fences and existing structures may affect interpretation. Signal strength alone does not identify explosive ordnance. Measurement, assessment and further clarification are connected with the specific specialist task. An existing survey report is read with its measurement areas and limitations. The building footprint drawn alone does not show which ground volume was actually investigated.

Understand the scope of magnetometry

Electromagnetic methods

Electromagnetic investigations may suit particular metallic target objects and site conditions. Selection considers findings required, accessible measurement areas and interfering installations, not merely equipment availability. Results are documented with location and actual investigation conditions. Supplementation required follows from specialist assessment. Available existing plans are considered in preparation. A drawing without an associated investigation report does not alone confirm coverage of the areas needed for new foundations or utilities.

Understand electromagnetic surveying

Ground-penetrating radar

Under suitable conditions, ground-penetrating radar can provide information about subsurface structures and reflections. Ground, moisture and installations affect interpretation. A reflection is not automatically explosive ordnance; an unremarkable area does not confirm arbitrary depth. Specialist interpretation and limits are documented with the commission. A radar report in the building file is read according to investigation purpose and coverage. Further specialist tasks build on its actual findings, not merely the document's title or filing location.

GPR and limitations

Deep-ground and downhole surveys

For deeper interventions, it may be necessary to assess whether surface investigation achieves the findings required or another approach is needed. Positions, depths, reference elevations, drilling-point layout and known utilities are prepared for this. Suitable investigation access is also planned by specialists. A standard grid or general depth figure does not replace this task. Old and new structural elements are linked to their actual elevations. An earlier floor plan or planning permission does not replace the findings required for the new intervention depth.

Prepare deep interventions

Survey during construction

If necessary advance investigation cannot be completed, the suitability of a specialist-planned approach during construction is assessed. Investigation, interpretation and communication of findings are connected with groundworks actually proposed. Merely observing excavation does not replace a necessary survey. Site management receives allocation of specialist work and outstanding areas to the workflow. Supervision recommended in old documents is checked for whether it actually occurred. A planning recommendation from that time is not adopted as a result for today's extension.

Agree the approach during construction
Technical assessment

Further knowledge and investigations required

Assess historical investigation needs

A historical aerial photograph analysis may form part of preventive investigation. Its need and findings must relate to the specific project. ADD Rhineland-Palatinate refers preventive historical research to suitable private specialist companies; the official explosive ordnance clearance service is distinguished by its task of preventing specific hazards.

Measurement conditions on the developed property

For a surface survey, metallic installations, fill and limited access may affect investigation conditions. Whether the construction area can be investigated and which results are achievable must be assessed using actual conditions.

Include new depths in planning

For the survey, it must be clear which ground volume is relevant to the new structural element. Method selection follows the investigation task and local conditions. A single statement in an older report cannot establish a general range or clearance for arbitrarily deeper work.

Next steps

Prepare investigation for the alterations

01

Collect documents

Organise building files, existing analyses and investigation reports with their dates and status. For the initial enquiry, show the address, new structural elements and proposed groundworks together. Construction area, intervention depth and schedule information belong in the documents. The participants use these to clarify the decision required before the next work step and sources already available.

02

Mark changes

Show new structural elements and deeper or laterally shifted interventions on the current plan. Existing explosive ordnance reports, official responses and aerial photograph analyses are checked for currency, spatial coverage and limits of findings. Specialist planning compares areas and depths covered with the present extension. Missing appendices or conflicting information on existing conditions are clarified for the area affected. Geotechnical reports retain their own investigation purpose.

03

Supplement historical information

If sources are missing, historical research or aerial photograph analysis required is performed for the specific construction area. Earlier development, industrial, rail or military uses and subsequent ground changes are located using available records and imagery. Knowledge is combined with present interventions and assessed for investigation planning. Sufficient existing sources can continue to be used.

04

Compare investigation areas

Compare investigated areas and existing limits with the new works. Method selection follows the investigation objective, depth, installations and actual measurement conditions. On the agreed basis, specialist personnel perform the suitable investigation or agreed supervision within the permissible scope. Data are recorded with positional reference and limitations. Changed conditions or a possible find are handled through the coordination and reporting channels provided.

05

Assess and document findings

Recorded data and findings are assessed by specialists using the investigation objective, method and local conditions. The report documents areas and depths actually addressed, results, interference and limits of findings. Associated plans remain clearly linked to the statements. Further clarification needs are assigned to the construction section affected and agreed with the responsible participants.

06

Coordinate further investigation

Specifically agree the knowledge still required, investigation and handover. At handover, the report and plan appendices are given together to those responsible. Site management assigns findings to the next interventions. Outstanding work remains identifiable with its spatial reference and contact. For an additional construction phase, supplementation required before execution is clarified.

Documentation

Keep results and the associated intervention plan together

Findings and their scope

The new specialist report should identify existing knowledge considered and investigations actually performed. It relates to the task described with its spatial limits. Site management can thus check which questions about the new structural element are answered and what remains unresolved.

Project responsibilities

Also keep the associated intervention plan with the results. If planning later changes, differences from the investigated scope can be checked. FONTANA-EOD documents the agreed service; this replaces neither planning permission nor an official hazard-prevention decision. Outside their direct scope, the BFR KMR provide specialist guidance for planning and documentation.

Working approach

How FONTANA-EOD works

Document the agreed specialist service clearly

FONTANA-EOD handles the agreed specialist task for the specified alterations in Kaiserslautern. Before execution, existing explosive ordnance reports and missing knowledge are compared with new structural elements. Accessible areas and results required are agreed. Changes to planning or local conditions are checked before the work affected. The report documents actual work and its limits. Site management can use building documents, approvals and actual investigation results according to their respective purpose.

Discuss the investigation task

The task before the equipment

Method selection starts with the knowledge missing for the new construction task. Specialist planning considers existing results, ground conditions and actual circumstances. Available equipment or similar earlier construction is insufficient as the sole basis. Selection is justified for the ground volume required. An old report is read with its appendices and limits. What the building file does not establish is treated as an outstanding question rather than replaced by an assumption that investigation had already taken place.

Keep limitations visible

Inaccessible and partly interpretable areas are identified with their actual limits. Site management can assign outstanding specialist work and additions required to them. A general total-area figure does not replace this distinction. Planning and execution agree when a suitable investigation becomes possible. For the new extension, it remains clear which areas are actually documented and where suitable result documents are missing. A shared property address does not confirm a previous investigation of the entire area.

Clarify changes before intervening in the ground

A new location, additional depth or different construction method is compared with existing results before the work affected. Specialist planning receives the identifiable change from the structural element or construction section previously considered. Its response and additions required are assigned to the ground volume affected. This also applies where a new drawing bears the same approval or file reference. Document allocation helps comparison; it does not replace assessment of the changed specialist scope.

Hand over the report and plan together

At handover, reports and associated plan appendices are provided with the structural element, specialist task and processing status. Construction drawings and approvals remain distinguishable from actual explosive ordnance result documents. An overview may list usable findings and outstanding tasks; it does not replace documented investigation scope. If planners, site management or companies change, complete appendices and knowledge gaps remain retrievable. The next construction phase receives sources appropriate to its own intervention, without passing on the contents of a building file as comprehensive evidence.

Understand the results

Use technical statements for the next decision

A building file may contain different types of evidence

Approvals, drawings and specialist reports answer different questions. Check what each document actually established or decided. Being part of the same building file does not create uniform investigation evidence. For the explosive ordnance question, specialist content, spatial reference and limits identifiable in each report matter.

Understand investigation reports and their limitations

An existing building does not replace comparison of new interventions

Earlier development initially describes a usage history. Whether planned deepening or extension has already been investigated by specialists follows from existing documents. Compare the new area with their scope of findings. Missing documentation is recorded as an outstanding question; it permits neither a blanket statement of contamination nor one of safety.

Understand the service scope
Design and findings

Documents for the next construction decision

Illustration: aerial photographs and maps on two screens and printed on a desk.

Historical evidence and the current design

Aerial photograph interpretation is related to the actual groundworks. Its purpose and geographical scope remain distinct from a technical investigation of the ground as it is today.

Understand aerial photograph assessment
Illustration: two people review plans and documents at a table beside a construction vehicle.

Specialist reports for site management

The findings, their locations and limitations are handed over together. This makes clear to those carrying out the work which area has been investigated and which task remains outstanding.

Assess investigation reports
Person in an orange high-visibility vest with a MALÅ survey cart on a meadow.
Person in a high-visibility vest in front of a marked construction area with piles of soil.
Questions from planning

Questions about building files and explosive ordnance investigation in Kaiserslautern

Who can inspect the city's existing building files?

The city of Kaiserslautern identifies entitled persons, particularly owners, and describes access through authorised representatives. Evidence required and details of the procedure follow from current municipal information. This does not guarantee availability of particular documents for every property.

Does old planning permission establish investigation of the extension area?

Not merely because the permission exists. What would matter is actual specialist evidence covering the relevant area and proposed intervention. Construction drawing, approval and explosive ordnance report must be distinguished according to their respective content.

Can an existing survey report remain useful?

Yes. It may contain important knowledge if location, investigation objective and limits of findings are traceable. For the new task, it must be checked which part fits and where supplementary clarification remains necessary. Transfer to the entire property is not automatically permissible. Clarify investigation needs and interfaces required before the drilling, foundation or earthworks affected.

Must alterations without ground intervention always involve a new survey?

Not as a blanket rule. First clarify the work actually proposed and whether it affects the ground. Work described as alterations may still include additional foundations or connections; the specific work and existing knowledge are decisive.

What if comparison reveals conflicting depth information?

Mark the contradiction and clarify the plan version and elevation reference to which the information refers. Use the clarified depth for investigation planning and document the associated elevation reference.

How are planned and actually constructed conditions distinguished?

Through the document's recognisable purpose, date and any supplementary evidence. Unresolved information remains explicitly outstanding for further planning.

What should I do if I find a possible item of ordnance?

If possible explosive ordnance is found, stop the affected works immediately. Leave the object untouched, keep your distance and warn others without putting yourself at risk. Notify the police immediately on 110 and follow their instructions. Do not attempt your own investigation or recovery.

What does an additional foundation mean for work and costs?

Its location and depth are compared with the documented scope. This determines whether existing knowledge fits or additional investigation is required. Work involved depends on area and intervention depth, usable previous findings, installations, interference and available working times. Preparation, data recording, assessment and reporting are agreed with their specific scope. Privately commissioned services remain distinguishable from the tasks and costs of state hazard prevention.

Project enquiry

Compare existing building documents with your alterations in Kaiserslautern

Compare old and new planning

Send the current alteration or extension plan, available building documents and existing explosive ordnance reports. Identify new structural elements, intended depths and unresolved information on existing conditions. FONTANA-EOD agrees with you the additional investigations required for the planned groundworks.

Identify outstanding information

Identify missing reports, unclear installations and differing elevation references. Also state which earthworks are due to begin first and which areas are not yet accessible. Preparatory work required and result handover can then be coordinated in good time.

Project enquiry

Have your project assessed

Whether historical aerial photograph analysis, explosive ordnance surveying, surface surveying using GPR, magnetometry or TDEM, deep-ground surveys, downhole surveys, excavation supervision, area clearance or ordnance recovery is needed depends on the location, ground disturbance, depth, ground and existing documents. An early ordnance assessment provides clarity for tendering, programming, occupational safety and construction.

FONTANA-EOD combines its Section 7 SprengG licence, specialists holding Section 20 SprengG certificates of competence, suitable survey and clearance methods, and traceable documentation. Send the site plan, depth of ground disturbance, construction phase and existing documents for an initial technical assessment.

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