Pyrotechnics Company License (Pyrotechnikunternehmen)
Key Facts
- Type: Regulated trade (reglementiertes Gewerbe)
- Qualification: Professional competence + pyrotechnics-specific certification
- Explosives license: Required under the Pyrotechnikgesetz 2010
- Insurance: Mandatory liability insurance (Haftpflichtversicherung)
- Registration cost: Free (€0) at the trade authority
- Note: Each event typically requires a separate municipal permit
What Does This Trade Cover?
The pyrotechnics trade license covers professional firework displays and pyrotechnic services:
- Planning and executing professional firework shows for events and celebrations
- Stage pyrotechnics for concerts, theater, and film productions
- Industrial pyrotechnics (demolition charges, signal devices)
- Sale of professional-grade pyrotechnic articles (categories F3, F4, T2, P2)
- Storage, transport, and handling of pyrotechnic materials
- Safety planning and risk assessment for pyrotechnic events
Insurance Requirements
Pyrotechnics companies must carry mandatory liability insurance that covers:
- Property damage: Fire, explosion, and debris damage to surrounding buildings or vehicles
- Personal injury: Coverage for injuries to spectators, crew, or third parties
- Environmental damage: Contamination from pyrotechnic residues
- Minimum coverage: Sums vary by insurer, but must be adequate for the scale of operations
Event-Specific Permits
Each pyrotechnic display typically requires additional approvals:
- Municipal permit: The local Gemeinde must approve the firework event
- Safety distances: Minimum distances to spectators, buildings, forests, and protected areas
- Fire brigade notification: The local Feuerwehr must be informed and may need to be on standby
- Nature protection: Restrictions near wildlife reserves, especially during nesting seasons
Qualification Requirements
- Pyrotechnic specialist certification (Pyrotechniker-Ausbildung) from an accredited provider
- Reliability check (Verlässlichkeitspruefung) — criminal record review
- Practical experience in pyrotechnic operations, typically under supervision
- Individual assessment (§19 GewO) with proof of professional competence
- Qualified manager (§39 GewO) who holds the required certifications
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Related Guides
Qualification: how to prove it
Pyrotechnik is a regulated trade under §94 Z.18 of the Austrian Trade Act (GewO 1994). The standard route is the qualification exam (befähigungsprüfung).
- Examined by: WK
- Exam modules: 5
- Exam fee: €0 — exam fees are covered by the federal government
If you cannot sit the exam, these routes are open to you:
- Individual assessment under §19 GewO
- Appointing a qualified managing director
Registering the trade
- Cost: Free — registration itself carries no fee
- Where: District administrative authority (Bezirksverwaltungsbehörde)
- Decision within: max. 3 months
- Typically takes: 2-6 Wochen (Zuverlässigkeitsprüfung)
You can register in these ways:
- Online via GISA (the trade register)
- Online via USP (the business service portal)
- In person at the authority
Who may register
- Minimum age: 18
- Citizenship or residence: Austria, EU, EEA or Switzerland
- Clean record: no disqualifying convictions (checked by the authority)
Documents to bring
- Photo ID
- Certificate of competence (Befähigungsnachweis)
- Criminal record certificate
Terms shown in German are the ones printed on the Austrian forms — you will meet them exactly like this at the authority.
Where to go, by province
| Province | Competent authority |
|---|---|
| Vienna | Magistrat der Stadt Wien, MA 63 |
| Lower Austria | Bezirkshauptmannschaft |
| Upper Austria | Bezirkshauptmannschaft / Magistrat Linz/Wels/Steyr |
| Styria | Bezirkshauptmannschaft / Magistrat Graz |
| Tyrol | Bezirkshauptmannschaft / Magistrat Innsbruck |
| Salzburg | Bezirkshauptmannschaft / Magistrat Salzburg |
| Carinthia | Bezirkshauptmannschaft / Magistrat Klagenfurt/Villach |
| Burgenland | Bezirkshauptmannschaft |
| Vorarlberg | Bezirkshauptmannschaft / Magistrat Bregenz |
Sole trader, GmbH, or partnership?
Trade law does not prescribe a legal form — but it does draw one line. Under § 9 (1) GewO, legal entities and registered partnerships (GmbH, OG, KG) may hold a trade licence, but they „must have appointed a managing director (§ 39)“ — a named person who carries the qualification and the legal responsibility for the trade. As a sole trader you are that person yourself.
Whether a GmbH pays off financially depends on profit, drawings, SVS contributions and allowances. There is no general profit threshold, and that question belongs to a tax adviser, not to this page.
Running this trade alongside a job
Nothing in Austrian law forbids running a trade as a side business. Two things about social insurance are regularly misremembered, and both cost money.
- The obligation follows Chamber membership, not profit. Under § 2 (1) 1 GSVG compulsory SVS insurance attaches to membership of the Economic Chamber, which you acquire with the trade licence itself. It therefore applies in a year in which you make no profit at all.
- There is an exemption — but only on application. § 4 (1) 7 GSVG lets very small businesses be exempted while turnover and income stay under the limits it refers to. Nothing happens automatically: without the application, the obligation stands.
If you are employed, check your employment contract separately for a secondary-activity clause — that is a matter between you and your employer, not trade law.
Legal basis: GewO 1994 §94 Z.18 . Last reviewed April 2026. This is not legal advice.
Rule-change alerts
Austrian trade rules change through amendments, new regulations and new thresholds. Every day we check the Federal Law Gazette for changes to the Trade Act and its regulations. When one affects this trade, you get an email: what changes, from when, and where it is written. Otherwise we do not write.
First you get one email to confirm. No advertising, no tracking.