Mukran, Wilhelmshaven, Stade, Brunsbüttel — four cryogenic project sites, one welder-Charpy spine.
Cross-border pressure-part welder mobilisation against the FSRU and onshore terminals — EN ISO 9606-1 + Charpy 27J/-196°C, EN 1473:2021, PED 2014/68/EU Cat III/IV — on top of the §14 AEntG no-fault cascade and SOKA-BAU 20.2%.
Request Technical BriefingRegulator exposure profile
- EN ISO 9606-1 + PED32%
- SOKA-BAU 20.2%26%
- §14 AEntG / SchwarzArbMoDiG24%
- BG-ETEM / BG RCI scope split18%
Welder Charpy qualification follows the temperature.
The Mukran FSRU regasification corridor and the Wilhelmshaven / Stade / Brunsbüttel onshore terminals share the EN ISO 9606-1 + Charpy-impact spine. Qualification at the design temperature is the gate.
▲ Ambient · +20°C
- +20°C unfulfilled
Ambient piping
- EN ISO 9606-1 baseline
- ASME B31.3 normal-temp scope
- −50°C partial
Low-temp piping
- Charpy 27J / −50°C
- EN 13480-4 design
- −101°C partial
Cryogenic transition
- Charpy 27J / −101°C
- API 620 Annex Q
- −163°C fulfilled
LNG storage operating
- Charpy 27J / −196°C qualified
- EN 1473:2021 onshore-LNG
- EN 13645 plant safety
- ASME B31.3 Ch.IX
▼ LNG storage · −163°C
Named projects in this jurisdiction
- Mukran FSRU (Deutsche ReGas) Deutsche ReGas
- Wilhelmshaven LNG terminal 1+2 (Uniper / TES) Uniper · TES
- Stade onshore LNG (HEH consortium) Hanseatic Energy Hub 2027
- Brunsbüttel LNG terminal (DET / RWE / Gasunie) Deutsche Energy Terminal · RWE · Gasunie 2027
Germany activated four LNG import points between 2022 and 2027. Mukran (FSRU) and Wilhelmshaven 1+2 are operating; Stade and Brunsbüttel commission in 2027. The cryogenic-piping welder pool is the binding constraint on every one of them.
01. Pre-pricing — Mindestlohn-Bau LG2/LG3 against process predominance
Pressure-part welders working on cryogenic piping sit between two tariff regimes. Where the work is process-mechanical and PED Category III/IV scope predominates, BG RCI carries employer-liability and IG Metall ERA-equivalent tariffs apply at the receiving Niederlassung. Where shell-and-core civil work predominates — foundations, structural steel for the tank bunds, EXC3/EXC4 stair towers — Mindestlohn-Bau LG2/LG3 carries (€23.97/h LG3 from 1 April 2026), SOKA-BAU 20.2% applies, and BG-Bau is the relevant Berufsgenossenschaft.
The predominance test is per-worker, per-deployment, verified at mobilisation. A welder priced against the wrong tariff carries the §14 AEntG no-fault delta back to the Tier-1 Generalunternehmer.
02. Meldeportal-Mindestlohn + A1 + PED Cat III/IV operator-qualification
Every posted welder arrives with a Portable Document A1 from the home-state social-security authority, a German-language employer-of-record contract suitable for §17 ArbZG inspection, and the welder-qualification documentation that PED Article 13 + Annex I Section 3.1.2 require. The Meldeportal-Mindestlohn digital filing predates site arrival; the per-worker fine ceiling under §23 AEntG reaches €30,000.
The PED Cat III/IV scope adds the notified-body angle: TÜV Nord, TÜV Süd or DEKRA must hold the operator-qualification records and the WPQR scope match against the installed pipework. Welder identities, qualification expiry dates and Charpy-impact-test reports go into the project quality dossier before the first cryogenic weld.
03. SOKA-BAU + BG RCI dual onboarding
Where the welder’s scope-of-work is principally cryogenic-piping erection, BG RCI carries: registration is required before site presence, and BG RCI verifies the contractor’s GFB-arbeitsmedizinische scope. SOKA-BAU enrolment runs in parallel for the civil-trade share — Urlaubskasse 14.25% West reimbursement, Berufsbildung 1.9%, Zusatzversorgung 3.2% on the construction-classified portion of the workforce.
The Baustellenausweis carries the determining classification per individual worker; dual-membership for TGA-style scope is administratively normal but must be assembled before site access, not at audit.
04. SchwarzArbMoDiG-defensible evidence pack
SchwarzArbMoDiG took effect on 1 January 2026. The Finanzkontrolle Schwarzarbeit now operates with independent §266a StGB investigative authority, biometric on-site identity capture, mandatory live access to payroll IT, and automated cross-matching across A1, DRV, Meldeportal-Mindestlohn and Landesfinanzbehörden. The cryogenic-piping pool is a recurring inspection target because PED-scope work attracts elevated scrutiny.
The minimum survivable evidence: SEPA-traceable remuneration on a German bank account, ArbZG timesheets archived continuously, retrievable German-language contract, accommodation proof, the Anerkennung-in-Deutschland qualification recognition trail, and per-worker WPQR scope-match documentation linked to the Charpy-impact-test report.
05. India and Gulf sourcing corridors — the pressure-part pathway
The Indian welder pool delivers EN ISO 9606-1 + ASME IX qualified pressure-part trades through BHEL, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Projects and the IIW-affiliated training network. The Gulf corridor reaches ARAMCO, ADNOC and QatarGas-served NORSOK / API contractor pools. Both routes activate against bilateral social-security agreements (India-Germany SVA 2024; Gulf via Doppelbesteuerungsabkommen).
Anerkennung in Deutschland recognition is scoped per worker before mobilisation. The 8 to 14-week corridor lead-time delivers the Charpy-qualified pool against the receiving terminal’s WPQR scope — Wilhelmshaven, Stade or Brunsbüttel — so the qualification gate is closed on day one of cryogenic welding.