The Bremen Court of Auditors has published its report.

In it, it also criticises Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences in the areas of construction and space management as well as energy controlling. The university management has commented on the points.

The report initially reads very harshly: the inadequate space management at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences has ‘already caused the state a financial disadvantage of well over €100 thousand’. The documentation of construction measures and maintenance requirements is inadequate. In addition, the university is not fulfilling its duty of energy controlling. Potential energy savings thus remained unutilised. However, what is not clear from the report is that many of the announced measures had already been started before the audit by the Court of Audit.  

Statement by the university management on the criticism of the Court of Audit 

The university management has commented on the criticism of the Court of Audit: "The points criticised by the Court of Audit are partially justified. Although the report essentially reflects the facts of the case, the university believes that there are inaccuracies in several places. The State Court of Auditors also fails to take sufficient account of the structural underfunding of the university, which of course also has an impact on building management. The universities in the state of Bremen lack a total of 1.5 billion euros for refurbishment. Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences is also affected by this, meaning that insufficient funds are available in the basic budget for necessary measures. This underfunding also leads to inadequate staffing levels. Nevertheless, the university has of course used the audit to review its internal procedures and realise the resulting efficiency gains."

The university management has also commented on the individual points criticised by the Court of Audit:

Building maintenance requirements and construction management

The Court of Audit criticises the inadequate documentation in the area of building maintenance requirements. During the audit by the State Court of Auditors, the university pointed out that documentation had already taken place. However, this was not done in a coherent document. Larger construction measures in particular were primarily financed from special funds (e.g. the Bremen Fund or the so-called ‘Fastlane’) and planned and documented in coordination with the technical supervisor. It goes without saying that requirements were determined and prioritised. This was based on the usual evaluation criteria. The university also reported its funding requirements for building refurbishment in accordance with the instructions on the methodology for recording refurbishment requirements for buildings. Smaller measures were implemented according to urgency.
If insufficient documentation is criticised for measures, this does not mean that no documentation was carried out, nor that the principles of the state budget regulations were disregarded when implementing these measures.

Space management

The Court of Audit criticised the long-term lease of a building that had been vacant since the contract was signed in 2022. This resulted in unnecessary expenditure of around €114 thousand until the end of 2024. The building in question was rented at Fährstraße 21 and at the time the contract was concluded, there were registered requirements and a corresponding utilisation concept. However, the planned use could not be realised. The space was also not suitable for other uses by the university. The university therefore endeavoured to sublet the space in the meantime and, in the long term, to lease it out even before the audit by the State Court of Auditors. However, due to the difficult economic situation in the state of Bremen, the search for new tenants turned out to be more complicated than expected. Several potential new tenants were not approved by the landlady, who must always be involved. 

The lease has been sublet to cover costs since February 2025. The university will terminate the lease when the current lease expires. Subsequent utilisation by the current subtenant is being sought. In the meantime, the space has been used for smaller projects. After the planned use was discontinued, however, the vacancy was more favourable than the refurbishment measures that would have been necessary if the premises had had to be prepared for teaching. Following the Science Plan 2025, which had promised considerable growth, the focus is now on consolidation and space efficiency. The university would therefore like to avoid more expensive investments for rented properties. Due to the subletting, the state no longer incurs any further costs for renting.

Energy controlling 

According to the Court of Audit's report, Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences is not fulfilling its obligation to carry out energy controlling. However, a position for energy controlling was already created in 2023, i.e. before the audit by the State Court of Auditors. Of course, the results fell short of expectations, as the State Court of Auditors assumed that energy controlling had been in place since 2016. The university already had the relevant data before the position was created. The new position has now professionalised the collection and evaluation of this data so that targeted measures can be derived from it. The university is currently preparing the implementation of measures (e.g. the introduction of QANTEON software) for the continuous collection of energy data and better analysis. The university has also already identified potential energy savings and implemented them in individual areas. In addition to PV systems, the university has already installed new ventilation systems that are significantly more energy-efficient, thus realising energy-saving potential, to mention just two measures.