ᐅ Construction Phase – What Should Best Be Avoided During This Stage

M4rvin schrieb:

The major issues that caused us sleepless nights:
- House built too low
- Mechanical ventilation system doesn’t fit inside the house
- Because of that, no gas heating but an air-to-water heat pump instead
- Wooden staircase doesn’t fit

Thank you for your valuable advice. I hadn’t expected that even such things could be done wrong. Prompted by your post, we will definitely have the planning checked by a professional, in addition to the chamber of commerce building supervisor. We absolutely do not want an air-to-water heat pump, so we need to pay special attention to ensuring that a gas heating system can be installed. It’s unfortunate that we now also have to deal with this, as I had not anticipated it.

It's just like with insurance...
you have it and don’t need it, or you don’t have it and (would have) needed it.

Also, the utility room was so poorly planned that we only got electricity two days before moving in. (And there was no temporary construction power during the heating-up phase.)
The utility company didn’t want to install the electrical meter box at the planned location, so special meter cabinets had to be installed.

Pinkiponk schrieb:

I understand the idea of a building supervisor; it should be an "Independent Expert for Construction Supervision (IHK), publicly appointed and sworn in by the court."

There are no experts specifically for construction supervision. They are sworn in by the IHK. A construction expert is the most expensive option in terms of cost. There are plenty of civil engineers with the appropriate experience (expertise) who offer this service. With about 10 minutes of effort, you should be able to find someone like this near you.

What to avoid:

• Fundamental distrust
• Blind trust
• Nervousness
• Making phone calls or writing and sending messages in the middle of personal stress
• Not asking emerging questions—no matter how "stupid" they might seem
• Accepting answers without being satisfied if the question wasn’t actually answered or the response wasn’t understood
• Trying to understand everything better than the experts
• Neglecting to gain a basic understanding of the trades involved
• Making spontaneous design changes during the construction phase when working with a tight budget
• Accusatory language
• Looking for someone to blame instead of focusing on solutions
• Not taking time to visit the construction site (including during daytime)
• Forgetting to say thank you and give praise
• Ignoring the workers on site and only speaking with the supervisors

For our first build, we were very busy—the second child was on the way, and due to the dotcom crisis, I had to find a new job three times during the construction phase. We spent too little time maintaining close contact with the construction site and the people involved. Although the outcome was decent (developer-built townhouse with interior work managed by ourselves through subcontracting), some things could have gone better. We should have verified the sales representative’s statements more carefully; then we would have gotten a better-located house and moved in earlier. She simply lied to us.

With our second build, it was the opposite—I paused working for a few months, resumed in a reduced capacity after three months, and took all the time needed for construction management, presence, and maintaining a positive attitude. I can’t say what mistakes we made, as there were no significant errors or defects. We probably also chose the right building partners. Only the electricians were very slow and unresponsive.

Construction Phase – What Should Be Avoided During the Construction Phase

Treating tradespeople dismissively and forgetting that they are human beings. From some personalities in this forum, it can be read that tradespeople are seen as lower in the hierarchy than themselves.

ypg schrieb:

Construction Phase – What to Avoid During the Construction Phase

Treating tradespeople dismissively and forgetting that they are human beings. You can sense from some personalities in this forum that tradespeople are seen as lower down the social hierarchy than themselves.

This is about respect, and every person should be treated equally regardless of their background, profession, or other characteristics. The only exception is if the other person does not consider this behavior necessary.