ᐅ Are the costs justified?

HilfeHilfe schrieb:
he is allowed to have a look here to see what can happen. with his 405,000 house, we will see something like this again

The idea that he is checking what can happen is good. Especially since he wants to estimate costs quite tightly (that’s my impression from his thread).

However, I wouldn’t generally assume this, as it always depends on the construction company. In the end, we had about 10,000 euros (approximately 11,000 US dollars) in additional costs – of which around 7,000 euros (approximately 7,700 US dollars) for upgrades were on us.

HilfeHilfe schrieb:
Here’s a sneak peek at everything that can go wrong. We’ll probably see something like this again with his 405m² (4,355 sq ft) house.

Feel free to copy this thread link into Henrik’s post

K1300S schrieb:
Does this happen that rarely?

Yes, unfortunately. I’m glad it worked out for you!

f-pNo schrieb:

@Bauexperte: Noted.

You lucky one

Regards, Bauexperte

ypg schrieb:
You are welcome to copy this thread link into Henrik's post

@HilfeHilfe has actually already done that a long time ago.

Bommeraner schrieb:
Hello everyone,

I hope I’m asking my questions in the right place.

The first question is whether we just have to accept the increased costs for the foundation slab without any prior discussion. At first, we were told that 40 cm (16 inches) needed to be excavated. After the soil survey, it turned out to be 70 cm (28 inches), and during excavation it was 92 cm (36 inches) ... without any prior information. The entire foundation slab is now almost 9,000 euros more expensive than originally quoted. What bothers us is that we were presented with a done deal.

Then there’s the telecom company. They will reopen the street for this connection, and of course, we have to pay for that as well. The basic connection costs around 700 euros. The contractor who opens the street for the telecom also sends a bill, but we don’t understand why this has to be done multiple times and can’t be better coordinated.

The surveyor or the architect, we’re not sure who exactly, also made a mistake. Our house was planned 37 cm (15 inches) too low, so it now has to be “set” higher. That means we will need to add more soil in the garden to maintain the planned level with the terrace. Again, these are costs that were not planned in advance. Do we simply have to accept this, too?

We contacted our local utility company to ask what applications we need to connect a new build to the supply network. The utility company sent us applications for electricity and water connections. Costs total almost 7,000 euros. Then, last week, we heard from several neighbors (the whole area is a new development) that the sewer connection must be done by a subsidiary of the utility company. One neighbor’s house had to pay an additional 11,000 euros on top of the house connection costs. The invoice did not come from the subsidiary but from the utility company itself. We feel quite taken advantage of. For us, that means nearly 8,500 euros extra on top.

Do we just have to accept all this, or what should we do? At the moment, we’re quite desperate, and the cost increases keep coming. We cannot judge whether all of this is justified or what else might come. We thought we had planned well. We also sat down with several consultants and friends with building experience ... but right now, we really feel lost, and more payments are looming.

Best regards

From my point of view, the question is why deeper excavation was necessary. In our case, they also went deeper than planned because the soil did not have the required bearing capacity. I don’t remember the exact amount, but it was probably a similar range. Then additional gravel was installed to compensate.

For a 10 x 10 m (33 x 33 ft) house, I was told you can estimate about 350 to 400 euros per 10 cm (4 inches) of gravel added. So, for us, it was about 30 cm (12 inches). If I assume about 50 cm (20 inches) for you, that would mean additional costs of around 2,000 euros (which you probably can’t avoid).

Regarding planning errors, some architects and planners believe you should have noticed that on the plans since you signed them as is. As for the backfilling later, sand isn’t expensive, so that’s not a big cost factor.

With the utility connections, one often faces challenges. Gas and water companies typically don’t coordinate well with the telecom company; who is to blame is unclear.

Peanuts74 schrieb:


Regarding planning errors, some architects and planners think you should have noticed that on the plans and signed off on it. As for filling later, sand doesn’t cost much, so it’s not a big deal...

That is, to put it mildly, nonsense. You hire professionals for a significant amount of money. Their sole responsibility is not to let you take the blame for mistakes. If I am signing off on the accuracy of their work, I might as well measure the building layout myself! You hire the surveyor for €600 for 30 minutes of measuring, not so that they do the work badly, but because their head is on the line if they mess it up. The signature is only there to confirm that the work was completed and to allow invoicing. The signature NEVER relieves the contractor of their duty of care and liability. That is simply nonsense. The client is a layperson and cannot verify the accuracy. No contractor would ever get away with that in court.

To the thread starter:

- Excavation and soil replacement costs are generally known to be significant. You already know this can get expensive. But €9000 extra for a 90cm (35 inches) deep excavation? Bungalow? At 10x10 meters (33x33 feet), it should be considerably cheaper. The actual depth only becomes apparent once you start digging. I consider soil testing a waste of money. You could have just added the €500–1000 directly to the excavation budget (everyone has a different opinion on this…)
- The plot needs to be filled? Use the excavated soil for that. This saves in several ways. It doesn’t need to be hauled away, no disposal costs, and less (or no) soil needs to be brought in. Also consider whether it might make sense not to raise the entire plot by 34cm (13 inches), but instead have the terrace or entrance landing a step or two down.
- No one can tell you who is responsible for the planning error regarding height without more information.
- Utility connections cost money—this is no secret and could have been checked in advance. With proper planning, providers like the telecom company can run their cables in at the same time. This worked perfectly for us. I ordered water service Monday, notified gas, electricity, fiber optic providers and telecom Tuesday to lay their cables on Monday or Tuesday. By Tuesday midday, the cable was already installed. The water utility’s planner knows the city utilities planner (I do too, I trained with him at the city utilities), and they coordinate. Water digs the trench, the city utilities connect theirs. The trench near the street remained open for 1–2 weeks until all connections were finished. So it is doable…

Oh, and: welcome to building and the unexpected costs. If the utility connection fees already shock you, I wonder how well you actually prepared.