If no route fits, or the permit was granted only in restricted form, the most predictable option remains: sit the master examination and settle the authorisation question for good. Preparation works alongside a job — distance schools such as sgd↗ and ILS↗ run courses preparing for Meister, Techniker and Fachwirt examinations. The chamber administers the examination itself, the school only prepares you for it — and Aufstiegs-BAföG covers part of the preparation costs.
After the entry: chamber, apprentices and the master route as plan B
Entry opens more than the right to work. It brings chamber membership, touches the right to train apprentices, and makes the master examination worth discussing.
✓ Verified: 11/08/2026
WHAT TO DO
› Details and tips
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Max recommends:
Count not only course fees but the jobs you turn away: if you regularly decline work outside a restricted permit, the examination pays for itself sooner than expected.
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Lea recommends:
The right to train apprentices is an underrated asset: your own journeyman after three years is often cheaper than hiring on a market short of skilled workers.
Useful Tools
- Weiterbildungssuche der Bundesagentur education
Official training search: shows courses that the employment agency funds through a voucher.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Does chamber membership arise automatically? ▾
Membership and the contribution follow from the trade registration rather than the entry itself: the chamber writes to you with payment details. The amount depends on profit, and small earners can be exempted — our self-employment route covers that.
Does entry also allow you to train apprentices? ▾
The two are connected but not identical: the right to train rests on professional and pedagogical suitability. A master certificate normally covers it; with other bases it is examined separately.
Is a restricted permit permanent? ▾
No, it can be widened, and the master examination closes the question entirely. It helps to write down which jobs you have to decline and put an annual figure on them.
What does the master examination bring besides authorisation? ▾
The right to train apprentices, weight in tenders and negotiations, and independence from someone else acting as technical manager. Aufstiegs-BAföG partly funds the preparation — we have a separate route on it.
What happens if the technical manager resigns? ▾
The basis of the entry goes with them, and without a basis the activity in an Anlage A craft is not permitted. A replacement is therefore found in advance and reported to the chamber, not afterwards.