Higher demands placed on the security, flexibility and convenience of electrical instal- lations combined with the need to optimize energy efficiency have already led to the development of building management systems at the beginning of the 1990s like the European Installation Bus (EIB). A similar development with the same goals was run- ning in the French-speaking areas in particular and led to the development of Batibus. The European Home Systems Association (EHSA) in turn was already working on the principles of networking household appliances (white goods). The KNX Association was formed to achieve a common worldwide standard. This merger of the previous associations smoothed the way to the KNX standard. KNX is worldwide the only open STANDARD for Home- and Building Control fulfilling the ISO/IEC (14543-3) as well as the CENELEC (EN50090) and also the CEN (13321) requirements. In this „Handbook for Home and Building Control, Basic Principles“, craftsmen, design- ers, wholesalers and operators are introduced in a neutral way into the system and the principal applications and are also informed about the essential issues of design, installation, commissioning and extension of KNX installations. The sixth edition of the „Handbook for Home and Building Control, Basic Principles“ takes into account the extended possibilities of the KNX system in applications, products and functions. In this way, market potential for manufacturers of hardware and software, electrical wholesalers as well as electro-technical and IT trades has grown. In writing this handbook, we would like to extend our thanks to all the employees involved in the ZVEI/ZVEH „Handbook“ and „Training measures“ working groups, whose com- mitment and competence enabled our common concept to be realised.