A design method for current-carrying bolted joints based on mathematically describable relationships between mechanical and electrical parameters is presented in the article. A possible coupling to the mechanical design according to VDI 2230-1 is shown. Influencing factors such as e.g. B. the design of the contact surface and different joining elements are considered. In addition, selected, physically based findings on aging and the long-term behaviour of current-carrying bolted joints under different loads from more than 40 years of research are presented and the resulting limit temperatures of typical conductor and coating materials are derived. The aim of the contribution is to achieve knowledge transfer from power engineering to the field of joining technologies and to initiate a discussion on the possibility of a coupled electrical and mechanical design guideline.