The English edition of VOB 2016 contains translations by Beuth Verlag of all the standards of the VOB, originally drafted in German on behalf of the Deutsche Vergabe- und Vertragsausschusses für Bauleistungen (DVA) (German Committee for Construction Contract Procedures).

The following is a translation of the Foreword to the original German-language VOB:

The primary reason for this revision of VOB/A (DIN 1960) is to implement Di-rective 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement. Together with Directive 2014/23/EU (on conces-sions) and Directive 2014/25/EU (on public sector and utilities procurement), this directive represents a comprehensive revision of European procurement law.
The focus of the revision is on Section 2 of VOB/A. Here the provisions of Euro-pean procurement law have been implemented, where they are not governed by Part 4 of the Gesetz gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen or the general provisions of the German Vergabeverordnung. The high level of detail of the EU Directives has made it necessary to expand Section 2 of VOB/A. The DVA has decided to only slightly change the structure to make the overall presentation of VOB/A more transparent. Therefore the previous subheadings are now independent subsections designated "§". To keep as many familiar aspects as possible, in the interests of users of this standard the subsections have not been renumbered; instead, the resulting additional § subsections are labelled a, b etc.
Section 1 of VOB/A has also been changed in view of the amendments to the Directive. The purpose is to harmonize provisions regarding the awarding of contracts above and below the EU thresholds. A comprehensive and systematic revision of Section 1 will follow.
As Directive 2009/81/EU was not amended, Section 3 of VOB/A was able (and obliged) to retain largely the same content. Here, the changes are mainly editorial in nature. As in the previous edition, the structure of Section 3 follows that of Section 2.
The reform of procurement law has also necessitated slight modifications in VOB/B, as the EU Procurement Directive dealt with a number of aspects that are better accommodated in Part B of the VOB. The changes are in §§ 4 und 8 of VOB/B.
In VOB/C, 15 general technical specifications have been technically revised. 48 have been editorially revised, and one new document included. In addition, the reference to VOB/A has been updated in Section 0 of all the documents.
In the name of the DVA Board I should like to thank everyone who has been involved in the publication of the 2016 VOB for their hard work and commitment. They continue a tradition that began with the first issue of a VOB 90 years ago, in 1926. I wish all those using the VOB every success in their work.
The Board of the Deutscher Vergabe- und Vertragsausschuss für Bauleistungen (DVA)

Günther Hoffmann
Chairman