ᐅ Building an End-Terrace House as a Self-Managed Project with a General Contractor
Created on: 27 May 2019 10:48
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goalkeeper
Hello everyone,
some of you might have already followed one of my threads about us having to or being allowed to build our end-terrace house on our own responsibility – depending on how you look at it. This means that we are buying an end-terrace plot (215 sqm (2315 sq ft)) in a new development area in the Rhein-Neckar district and will be building on it ourselves – but in coordination with our two terrace neighbors.
The municipality, which sold the plots through a local resident model, ideally wanted applicants to apply as a complete housing group with several families and then build accordingly with a general contractor, construction manager, or architect. Of course, that didn’t really work out, so now there are only individual applicants and also homeowners.
After we were awarded the plot, the addresses of the other terrace neighbors were shared to discuss certain matters, such as roof style, whether or not to have a basement, etc. It was immediately clear that everyone preferred to do their own thing. However, we were still able to agree that the housing group will have a gable roof with a pitch of 35 to 40 degrees (within this 5-degree range).
As the end house, we will build without a basement, while the middle house and the other end house will have basements. This obviously presents a challenge as we would have to make a deep foundation or simply skip it, and the middle house would have to support us, as we will start construction first. The current agreement with the middle house is that we will build a deeper foundation at his expense, as supporting our house later on would be considerably more expensive for him.
We are currently close to signing with the construction manager, the notarization appointment for the plot is at the end of June, and we hope to start construction in the fall of this year. Meanwhile, several other freely planned housing groups are being built around us, which might get in the way with their cranes.
I will document the progress here from time to time – such a self-planned terraced house doesn’t come along very often.
some of you might have already followed one of my threads about us having to or being allowed to build our end-terrace house on our own responsibility – depending on how you look at it. This means that we are buying an end-terrace plot (215 sqm (2315 sq ft)) in a new development area in the Rhein-Neckar district and will be building on it ourselves – but in coordination with our two terrace neighbors.
The municipality, which sold the plots through a local resident model, ideally wanted applicants to apply as a complete housing group with several families and then build accordingly with a general contractor, construction manager, or architect. Of course, that didn’t really work out, so now there are only individual applicants and also homeowners.
After we were awarded the plot, the addresses of the other terrace neighbors were shared to discuss certain matters, such as roof style, whether or not to have a basement, etc. It was immediately clear that everyone preferred to do their own thing. However, we were still able to agree that the housing group will have a gable roof with a pitch of 35 to 40 degrees (within this 5-degree range).
As the end house, we will build without a basement, while the middle house and the other end house will have basements. This obviously presents a challenge as we would have to make a deep foundation or simply skip it, and the middle house would have to support us, as we will start construction first. The current agreement with the middle house is that we will build a deeper foundation at his expense, as supporting our house later on would be considerably more expensive for him.
We are currently close to signing with the construction manager, the notarization appointment for the plot is at the end of June, and we hope to start construction in the fall of this year. Meanwhile, several other freely planned housing groups are being built around us, which might get in the way with their cranes.
I will document the progress here from time to time – such a self-planned terraced house doesn’t come along very often.
Winniefred28 Mar 2021 20:08This would really start to annoy me by now. How much longer is it going to go on that his hole makes it impossible to use the neighboring gardens? I wouldn’t even let children play there, not mine either, and they are almost 6 and almost 8 years old.
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goalkeeper28 Mar 2021 20:33The problem is that, with the preliminary injunction, we are more or less responsible for the construction delay ourselves. And if things continue like this, the middle house will run right into another preliminary injunction dispute with Viebrockhaus at the start of construction.
There’s nothing that can be done since the construction obligation applies within two years after purchase—and that deadline doesn’t expire until November.
The building authority and the higher-level planning office don’t consider themselves responsible because it’s a private legal matter. We really feel a bit taken advantage of—from all sides. At the moment, there’s nothing we can do, as frustrating as that is. We’re staying calm, because as Karl Valentin said:
“I’m happy when it rains. Because if I’m not happy, it still rains.”
There’s nothing that can be done since the construction obligation applies within two years after purchase—and that deadline doesn’t expire until November.
The building authority and the higher-level planning office don’t consider themselves responsible because it’s a private legal matter. We really feel a bit taken advantage of—from all sides. At the moment, there’s nothing we can do, as frustrating as that is. We’re staying calm, because as Karl Valentin said:
“I’m happy when it rains. Because if I’m not happy, it still rains.”
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AllThumbs28 Mar 2021 20:4611ant schrieb:
Right to build up to the property boundaryJust came across this this week while researching regulations regarding building on the property boundary in Berlin. After 14 days, you can at least charge rent for the part being used. I would definitely check this out. Preliminary injunction or not. It wasn’t issued without reason...
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goalkeeper28 Mar 2021 20:53We have currently exhausted all legal options – I lack the time and motivation to pursue this further. I prefer to spend that time with my kids.
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Isokrates28 Mar 2021 21:05goalkeeper schrieb:
There’s nothing you can do since the building obligation expires two years after purchase – and that’s only in November. That probably isn’t correct.
As an owner, you are not required to tolerate such an intrusion on your property for such a long period, especially when there has been a standstill for months.
goalkeeper schrieb:
The problem is that, with the interim injunction, we are more or less responsible for the building delay. Again, it’s unlikely that a judge would find you responsible for the delay.
From my perspective, the middle house was poorly planned, and you would have suffered even more harm if you hadn’t applied for the interim injunction.
The standard procedure here would be to set a reasonable deadline for the neighbor to remove the disturbance on your property, referring to § 1004 of the Federal Building Code (Baugesetzbuch).
If applicable, claims for damages may also be asserted under §§ 823 and 249 of the Federal Building Code.
goalkeeper schrieb:
…that only ends in November. I would definitely not wait for that, as it would mean relying on the authorities to take action – and they usually act very slowly.
Of course, I understand that this situation is extremely unfortunate for you and that further legal steps can be stressful and time-consuming.
However, otherwise, I don’t see you being able to use your garden for a long time to come.
After all you have had to endure with this municipality and this neighbor, I sincerely hope you will at least be able to complete and enjoy your own space soon.