ᐅ Have we considered everything? Looking for experiences and advice :)

Hello dear forum members, we registered today to exchange information.

The financing is secured, the plot is purchased, the house is planned, and construction should (hopefully) start in summer. Currently, we have a feeling that we might have forgotten or overlooked some important details...

Regarding the timeline:
The construction contract and building permit / planning permission documents are to be signed in April.
The plot will be cleared for building from July onward (new development area).

We have contacted the telecom provider and sent the necessary documents today.
This brings us to a major uncertainty: the utility connections. No one (neither the municipality nor the site manager) has informed us about the utility connection process, costs, or timeline.
After a meeting at the building authority, we now know that we must fully handle the connections from the plot boundary to the house ourselves.
We are completely unsure about this and no one can give us clear answers. One person says, “You have to coordinate this with so and so,” another says, “You first need to apply for this and that,” and so on.
Can someone please explain in simple terms how the entire utility connection process usually works?
We want to ask the site manager if he can also take care of the civil engineering work for the 4 meters (13 feet) from the street to the house as part of his contract. This should probably save costs compared to hiring a separate company.
But at what stage of construction does the utility connection typically take place?
Of course, we will ask the site manager about all this, but it’s good to gather some information and knowledge beforehand. 😉

Are there any other important things that absolutely should be considered?

The plot purchase is fully finalized (purchase price paid, land register and mortgage recorded, tax office payments done).
Only the soil survey is still missing.

Are there any hidden costs that might be overlooked due to excitement, or simply unknown to us?

Maybe someone has time and interest to answer a few questions 🙂 We would appreciate it.

Best regards

I don’t see any mention of a building permit / planning permission. Depending on where you live, that process can take quite a long time. And if your company then has to fit the house into their schedule, it can delay things so much that you’ll already have to start paying interest. Usually, there is only a one-year interest-free period. A few hundred dollars (or euros) in interest per month can really add up...

By the way, my building permit / planning permission includes information on where to apply for water, electricity, and gas connections.

The best approach is to call your local municipality and ask which utility provider is responsible for your area.

Then you can apply for a connection of the last few meters to your house directly with that provider.

The question of having the trench dug beforehand is always tricky, as it depends both on when your excavation contractor is available and when the utility company will come.

For example, with my utility provider, you receive a credit of €10 per meter on your property if you dig yourself for gas and electricity connections. However, you need to keep in mind that you have to handle the sand filling yourself, etc.
For the mentioned 4 meters, I wouldn’t even consider doing it. In another case, our water supplier includes 10 meters in the connection price, so it wouldn’t make any sense to have your excavation contractor do it.

“Hidden” costs would also include your excavation. You don’t have a soil report yet, and if you have, for example, Z2 soil type, disposal at the landfill will become quite expensive!

I have submitted an application for temporary construction power / house connection with the utility provider. Water and wastewater are managed by the local municipality in our area.
I believe the flat fee for the telecom connection is around $800 (or equivalent).

danixf schrieb:
I don’t see any mention of a building permit / planning permission. Depending on where you live, that process can take quite a while. And if your company then has to schedule the house into their timeline, it can drag out so long that you end up having to pay interest. Usually, there is only one year without advance payment fees. And a few hundred euros in monthly interest can really add up...
By the way, my building permit / planning permission includes information on where to apply for water, electricity, and gas connections.

A building permit / planning permission is not required here because we are following the designated development plan. This has been confirmed by both the building authority and the construction manager.

gmt94 schrieb:
The best thing is to call the local municipality and ask which utility providers are responsible for your area.

Then you can apply for a connection for the last few meters to your house directly with them.

The question about doing the excavation yourself beforehand always depends on two things: when your civil engineer or excavator is available and when the utility provider will come.

For example, my utility provider credits you 10€ per meter on your property if you do the digging yourself for gas and electric connections. However, you have to consider that you have to handle tasks like adding sand yourself and so on. For the mentioned 4 meters, I would definitely not consider doing it myself. In our case, for the water provider, the connection price already includes 10 meters, so it wouldn’t make sense to have your excavator do it.

Luckily, we already know which utility companies are responsible for us. Our main concern is more about what, how, where, and when 😉
The house construction company will also install the inspection chamber for us, so we thought we might be able to coordinate that together.

So, should the civil engineering work related to site development be scheduled so that the utility providers (electricity, telecommunications, and water) can lay their lines promptly?
This is currently a big question mark for us—when exactly will all of this happen…