ᐅ Is Base Plaster Not Considered Part of a House?

A lot was also missing in the scope of work description for our project.
I made a list of what we wanted included, which ended up nearly two pages long.
I showed it to the company, making it clear it was either this way or not at all.
They accepted it and it was added to the contract as an additional agreement.

This added up to a few thousand euros, which could have caused us problems later on.
I’m sure I overlooked some things as well, but I believe that more careful reading and consideration can prevent a lot of trouble.

Nordlys schrieb:
You are both right. Still, I see a duty to provide advice when it comes to the building contractor (BU).

Imagine your wife wants a dryer. You don’t know much about it. You look on Amazon, sort by lowest price, see a vented dryer by Beko for $199. Cool, you think, why spend $699 on a Bosch when $199 works fine? That’s enough for our towels... Then you go to an electronics store with the same idea. Again, the big price difference. You tell the salesperson, we’ll take the $199 one. They should inform you that the cheap model requires a wall penetration to vent the exhaust hose outside. Oh, you think... We don’t have that. So that won’t work....Karsten

The contractor wants to make money, and the fact that this didn’t come up earlier is just how it is.

Later on, they charge very high, almost outrageous prices for these things. And since you can’t just hire another company at that point, you have to pay. In the end, it’s a kind of rip-off, but as I said before, if you’re spending this much money, you should take the time to read and understand things properly.

Nordlys schrieb:
You are both right. Still, I believe there is a duty to advise in the case of the building contract.
Imagine your wife wants a dryer. You know nothing about it. On Amazon, you see the lowest price first: a vented dryer for $199. Cool, you think, why pay $699 for a Bosch when $199 works fine? That’s enough for our towels…. You go to an electronics store with the same idea. Again, you see that price difference. You tell the salesperson you want the $199 one. They should inform you that for the cheap one, you need to make a wall opening to vent the exhaust hose outside. Oh, you think…. We don’t have that. So it won’t work… Karsten

Your example is very low in complexity. The appliances differ only in a few key features, and whether it’s vented or condenser is clearly stated at the top of the product description. As a liberal person, I believe everyone should be able to understand that on their own with their own mental capacity.

Building a house is a highly complex undertaking, and expensive on top of that. For the average person, it’s by far the most costly project in their life. Why approach it as naively as buying a dryer? I have no sympathy for that. It seems like the special features catalog for a golf car is studied (and researched) more thoroughly than a construction specification.

I personally sat down once with a general contractor (you want to compare to architect-led construction) and was surprised at how detailed his cost breakdown was for the construction-related services. Almost (subjectively) complete; I think the only thing missing was the construction connection fees for utilities (which are uncertain anyway but can be a significant amount). I thought that was pretty good and inspired confidence, even if I felt some items were underestimated.
But he was no low-budget option, his figures were close to the architect’s estimate. Whether Town & Country or Danwood apply reasonable flat rates for landscaping or painting work, I don’t know.

This was mostly based on trust. There was a scope of construction work and a very realistic cost estimate for things that are usually additional when handled through contractors. The builder also offered to recommend or arrange companies for these tasks. However, the scope of construction work was rather brief. So I asked: Mr. S., is everything included? Many details are not clearly defined. For example, does the tiler also do the silicone joints? His answer: We could write a small booklet as a detailed scope of work. No, trust me, everything that belongs to a house is included. Everything needed to move in, live in, and use the house.
Okay, I agreed to that. Karsten

Well, it usually doesn’t go as smoothly as it did for you. Who really knows their future construction company in advance? For example, I had the contract and the scope of work reviewed by a lawyer and an expert through the Homeowners’ Protection Association (around 600€) and then agreed on an eight-page list of additional services with the (smaller) general contractor. Now, everything is probably 99% finalized. What was quite surprising: the necessary extra earthworks were included. Removal of about 12 cubic meters (15.7 cubic yards). I hadn’t considered that beforehand, but it made sense—the excavation contractor had good ideas and advice regarding level alignment with neighboring properties; in the Thuringian Forest, there are always some changes in elevation... :-) In your area up north, it’s mostly quite flat, isn’t it?

In spring, we’ll see if everything worked out as planned.

The usual argument is that the general contractor (GC) cannot know how the surrounding area will be designed. Whether there will be paving close to the base, a gravel strip, ground level height, protection, drainage mat, waterproof slurry...

Partly this is probably correct, but it is frustrating when these details are overlooked in the scope of work.