Hello,
we are building a Rensch prefabricated house and have contracted the foundation slab as a private job to a foundation specialist. He requires both rough and fine staking out to prepare the foundation slab.
We hired a licensed surveyor to carry out the rough and fine staking. The requirement was "[...] floor plan and site plan with the planned building marked [...]". We provided the plan from our architect, and there were no further questions.
The fine staking was done according to the building’s outer dimensions, but according to the foundation specialist, this is incorrect. He said the staking should have been done according to the foundation slab plan, which is a few centimeters smaller than the actual building.
Now I wonder, shouldn’t the surveyor know this if they do it every day? The correction was charged to me, but is the fault mine? Has anyone had similar experiences or can offer advice?
Max
we are building a Rensch prefabricated house and have contracted the foundation slab as a private job to a foundation specialist. He requires both rough and fine staking out to prepare the foundation slab.
We hired a licensed surveyor to carry out the rough and fine staking. The requirement was "[...] floor plan and site plan with the planned building marked [...]". We provided the plan from our architect, and there were no further questions.
The fine staking was done according to the building’s outer dimensions, but according to the foundation specialist, this is incorrect. He said the staking should have been done according to the foundation slab plan, which is a few centimeters smaller than the actual building.
Now I wonder, shouldn’t the surveyor know this if they do it every day? The correction was charged to me, but is the fault mine? Has anyone had similar experiences or can offer advice?
Max
hausnrplus2522 May 2021 18:56I agree with the previous speakers.
Construction projects vary so much that you should have explicitly and in writing—either in the plans, the contract, or at least in an email—noted how many centimeters the survey for the building permit / planning permission needs to be reduced.
If there was a phone call where you EXPLICITLY mentioned this, you could ask if the person remembers and maybe hope for goodwill. But as others have said: don’t get upset over the amount! Be glad that pipes haven’t already been installed incorrectly or concrete poured based on the wrong measurements.
And learn from this for the future: always agree on everything in writing, think ahead yourself because the other party won’t, and double-check everything (which obviously worked this time 😉).
Something similar happened to us. We had an email specifying which plan contained which data, but the workers on site still missed it. Since I was there in person, it was noticed and corrected immediately. In the end, I stood there for 3 hours and preferred to check every measurement myself (and treated everyone to coffee 😉).
That’s building 😀
Construction projects vary so much that you should have explicitly and in writing—either in the plans, the contract, or at least in an email—noted how many centimeters the survey for the building permit / planning permission needs to be reduced.
If there was a phone call where you EXPLICITLY mentioned this, you could ask if the person remembers and maybe hope for goodwill. But as others have said: don’t get upset over the amount! Be glad that pipes haven’t already been installed incorrectly or concrete poured based on the wrong measurements.
And learn from this for the future: always agree on everything in writing, think ahead yourself because the other party won’t, and double-check everything (which obviously worked this time 😉).
Something similar happened to us. We had an email specifying which plan contained which data, but the workers on site still missed it. Since I was there in person, it was noticed and corrected immediately. In the end, I stood there for 3 hours and preferred to check every measurement myself (and treated everyone to coffee 😉).
That’s building 😀
To be honest, I would now be worried that the concrete slab contractor is doing everything correctly if they can’t even manage to compensate for a few centimeters of insulation or similar over the formwork. I had a bad feeling about a defect notice because of something like this...
hausnrplus2522 May 2021 19:37Tolentino schrieb:
Honestly, I would be worried now that the foundation slab contractor isn’t doing everything correctly if they can’t even manage to compensate for a few centimeters (inches) of insulation or similar over the formwork. I sensed trouble with a defect report because of something like that... I think you haven’t understood the issue. If the surveyor takes incorrect measurements, that doesn’t say anything about the quality of another trade... And in prefab house construction, the dimensions of the slab are indeed very relevant due to the prefabrication process.
No. The surveyor provided the fine setting-out according to surveying standards (house dimensions). However, the foundation slab is supposed to be narrower according to the execution plans. And the foundation slab contractor is unable to form the slab based on the correctly established house dimensions. To me, this is simply a poor performance. Even the structural builder of my general contractor managed this, and I tend to consider them a below-average structural builder...
maxx004 schrieb:
Unfortunately, there is no written documentation defining it. Then the foundation slab contractor can’t claim that it’s wrong.
maxx004 schrieb:
But isn’t it the case with (almost) all prefab houses that the foundation slab is slightly smaller than the house? Yes, but it varies—sometimes 2cm (1 inch), sometimes 4cm (1.5 inches). And with basements it’s different again. Plus there are facing bricks, full clinker bricks, panels, plaster, etc. Often there are also changes between the building permit / planning permission phase and the execution planning.
The foundation slab contractor should have specified precisely what he expected. Did he perform the groundworks after the rough setting-out? Then he should have been able to see on the rough setting-out sketch which measurements the surveyor marked and could have clearly indicated what measurements he expected for the fine setting-out.
maxx004 schrieb:
The surveyor did the fine setting-out again or corrected it. 200€ That’s fair. It’s really not worth arguing with the foundation slab contractor over that.
Tolentino schrieb:
Honestly, I would be concerned about whether the foundation slab contractor is doing everything correctly if he can’t even manage to compensate for a few centimeters (inches) of insulation or similar over the formwork. That is indeed concerning. At least he saw that finished dimensions were set out.
hausnrplus25 schrieb:
If the surveyor takes incorrect measurements The surveyor did not take incorrect measurements. The surveyor and builder simply need to agree. Many builders prefer finished dimensions exactly to avoid such misunderstandings. Then the few centimeters (inches) are measured back on site with a tape measure. That way the strings don’t get in the way during formwork.
Here, the communication just went wrong—surveyor, client, builder—either no one or everyone is at fault.
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