The federal regulation on civil service careers sets guide values for appraisals. Among the officials appraised in a pay grade, the share soll bei der höchsten Note zehn Prozent und bei der zweithöchsten Note 20 Prozent nicht überschreiten, should not exceed ten percent for the top grade and 20 percent for the second. For fairness in a single case, each limit may be exceeded by up to five percentage points.
The limits were once looser. In 2008 the Federal Administrative Court described an older rule that allowed 15 and 35 percent. In the case before it, the Federal Intelligence Service had set its own limits at 5 and 15 percent. The service said that its new rules were meant to counter Noteninflation, grade inflation.