Duration
The required total duration of the internship is 8 weeks, but at least 290 working hours. The internship can be divided into individual sections of at least 2 weeks each (at least 70 working hours). It is strongly recommended that all or most of the internship is completed before the degree programme.
Internship content
The internship must be completed directly on construction sites or in construction companies. Practical work on the construction site (e.g. bricklaying, shuttering and striking, etc.) is required. Site manager and office activities as well as activities from the areas of responsibility of engineering offices cannot be recognised. It is recommended that you work in different areas of construction (building construction, road construction, etc.).
Suitable internship companies
The internship should take place in companies that are primarily involved in structural engineering in building construction, civil engineering and road construction. This also includes traditional craft businesses such as carpentries and bricklayers. Companies that mainly deal with refurbishment, renovation, interior work or installations are unsuitable.
Under Downloads you will find the document "Classification of Economic Activities", in which you can look up the suitable fields of activity under F41.2, F42, F43.1 and F43.9 on pages 3 to 5. The relevant sections are marked in green.
Please contact the Internship Office in advance if you are unsure whether a chosen internship company falls into the above-mentioned economic sector classifications.
The following can also be recognised as a complete internship:
- a journeyman's examination in a building trade
- an internship recognised by the Internship Office of another university
Periods of military service with pioneer units can only be recognised to a limited extent and for a maximum of 4 weeks (maximum 40 working hours per week).
Participation in courses and training programmes that impart special knowledge for construction work (e.g. on welding and formwork technology) can be partially credited towards the duration of the internship, depending on the objective of the course or training programme. Credit will be granted by the Internship Office on a case-by-case basis.
Internships in university institutes or laboratories, in public sector construction administrations and in companies that do not fall into the above-mentioned economic classifications cannot be recognised.
Interns apply independently and directly to suitable companies.
Suitable internship companies can be found as follows:
- Search for companies using a search engine with a combination of several keywords:
- Desired focus of activity (e.g. carpentry, road construction, reinforced concrete construction, bricklaying, roofing, or more generally: building construction, civil engineering, construction companies, etc.)
- Desired region
- Keywords such as "construction site internship" can help, but internships are not actively advertised by every suitable company. If in doubt, it helps to call the company in question.
- Search for the desired trade in the map view of a search engine
- Local Chamber of Crafts and Federal Employment Agency
- Job portals such as Indeed, LinkedIn, Stepstone, Monster, Xing etc.
If in doubt, it is strongly recommended that you contact the internship office before starting your internship.
Special regulations for health reasons
If a construction site internship is not possible for documented health reasons, a special arrangement can be agreed with the Internship Office.
Internship folder
The following entries must be made by hand:
Interns record their activities and the experience they have gained in an internship portfolio. This folder must contain the following:
- the completed "Internship record" form
- a work placement certificate from the respective company confirming the type and duration (weekly working hours and period of employment) of the work carried out
- a work placement report in which the following entries must be made by hand:
- Indication of the daily work in keywords (daily reports)
- details of the hours worked each day
- a weekly, fully formulated report (at least one A4 page of text per week) of the work, observations and experiences gained on the construction site, possibly with explanatory sketches (weekly reports)
The daily and weekly reports must be submitted to the site manager of the training company on a weekly basis, stamped and signed by him. Otherwise the internship cannot be recognised.
It is recommended that you download the blank pages of the internship report, the internship certificate and the "Internship certificate" form from the Internship Office website and use them to prepare the internship report.
Recognition of the internship
Only internships completed in full, i.e. after completing all 8 weeks, will be recognised. Recognition is granted by the Internship Office after submission of the internship certificates and the internship booklet or the internship portfolio with the reports for the entire period. If the certificates are not in German or English, certified translations must be submitted.
The formalities of the internship booklet (see above) must be observed for recognition.
Please note that the internship booklet must be submitted to the Internship Office in good time for recognition, i.e. at least 4 weeks before registering for the Bachelor's thesis.
Posting of the internship certificate
Once the internship has been recognised by the Internship Office, the internship certificate will be issued for the Examination Office.
Insurance
Please note that there is no insurance cover from the university during the internship.
