Abstract: System and method for building a software application by defining an application specification (10) which allows execution of the software application by entering the application specification (10) in a generic application engine (5) running on a computer system. To this end, the application specification (10) comprises a specification (7) of a plurality of data classes, a data class being a description of objects relevant within the software application, the plurality of data classes forming a structure by means of relations, a specification of at least one user group of the software application, a user group being defined as a group of users having common roles with regard to the software application, and an assignment of permissions to the at least one user group with respect to the plurality of data classes.