The regional building regulations and the regulations related to garages passed for that purpose serve as the legal basis for parking facilities in Germany. These regulations form the foundation with regards to building-law and commercial-law and thus represent the minimum standard. Whilst below the traffic- and customer-related aspects are explored, compliance with ventilation and fire protection requirements, set out in the regulations related to garages, must not be disregarded; this includes the test cycles for technical equipment.
The recommendations for stationary traffic facilities EAR 05, issued by the FSGV, extensively depict the state of the technology from the traffic-planners’ standpoint and they are significantly more detailed concerning the standard dimensions due to driving geometry, the design suited to traffic conditions and the traffic-related dimensioning.
As a specific tool, the “Dimensioning vehicles and tractrices for testing trafficability of traffic zones” (FGSV, current edition 2001) are available to the traffic planner. These tractrices are the basis for the design of running and stationary motor vehicle traffic facilities. They enable the examination with respect to trafficability of layouts which deviate from the regulation papers. That way, the varied specific conditions of each construction are addressed.
The professional appliance of the rules and regulations forms the indispensable basis for the planning of user- and operator-friendly parking facilities, which can be seen as advanced state of the technology. The ADAC has developed and constantly updated criteria for the assessment of the user-friendliness of car parks. The evaluation mode assumes that the entire process of a parking event is assessed by the user. In this respect, the following points are considered:
Furthermore, general features and special facilities are included and evaluated.
The national "Car Park Test 2010" and "Car Park Test 2011" of the General German Automobile Association ADAC pursue the goal of a stocktaking in contrast to certifying in each case 50 car parks in the centers of 10 German large cities. GIVT mbH carried out these tests.
Since 1987, the ADAC has assigned the label of “user-friendly car park” to more than 200 public car parks. Moreover, more than 10 P+R facilities and 4 automated parking systems have been certified by the ADAC.
Especially from the operator’s point of view, the recommendations of the Federal Parking Association give significant suggestions with respect to the planning, construction and running of car parks. The complex location and demand analysis, the planning, the technology, the organization and legal and economic aspects play a prominent role. The paper “The modern car park” is based on the nationwide experiences gained by the car park operators of the Federal German Parking Association.
The requirements for a professional operation are to be considered depending on the usage. Additionally to the below mentioned points, the premises for the car park attendant and corresponding equipment, the linkage to the parking control center of the car park operator and the installation of compatible software for the traffic-related and operational management are also included.
The following criteria are based on the EAR 05, the recommendations of the ADAC and the Federal Parking Association, but are not always formulated identically:
The different user groups make varying demands on parking facilities and put different emphasis on the individual quality features. This is to be taken into account during the planning process:
In particular for public parking facilities the following points should be considered:
In addition, the user-friendliness can be improved with further features, such as the locally adequate background-music, additional services (umbrella rental service, bicycle rental service etc.) and upgraded presentation and advertising systems.
Requirements that differ from these criteria are applied to non-public parking systems, especially in connection with long-term parking. Although certain reductions in user friendliness are thereby accepted for economic or constructional reasons, the fundamentally safe trafficability must be provided.
For the certification of automated parking systems, the ADAC’s traffic engineering division closely collaborates with the GIVT mbH. We have designed the criteria concerning this matter and support their updating. This catalogue, which orientates itself towards user-friendliness and sustainability issues, strives for an evaluation of the quality of automated parking systems, which is impartial as much as possible, and that demonstrates itself to the user and the operator especially with a maximum availability and a minimal breakdown frequency over a long operational time period.
For our planning and advisory services we generally apply the above mentioned rules and regulations and the criteria for user-friendly parking facilities. Insofar as variations to this are desired or necessary due to economic or constructional reasons, we explicitly indicate these issues. For projects outside of Germany, bearing in mind the relevant laws and regulations, we look for possibilities to optimally implement and adapt the philosophy of user-friendliness according to your wishes.
Specific services that we offer relating to the subject of “user-friendly parking” are:
Testing of plans and objects
with respect to regulatory compliance and user-friendliness
Derivation of recommendations