ᐅ Next Steps for a New Single-Family Home Construction Project

Hello everyone,

I am currently considering the next steps for our new construction project. I want to avoid having services duplicated or committing too early—for example, by commissioning the structural engineering—while the exact construction method is still unclear (prefabricated house, turnkey solid construction, individual contracting with an architect, etc.).

The current status is that I have just submitted the building permit / planning permission application with an architect, who has been hired in phases according to HOAI. The architect has now sent me their first invoice (10,000€), and I have received an offer for the structural engineering (also possible to commission in phases). Should I commission this now, or should I first obtain quotes from construction companies to understand which construction method will be used and what services might already be included? However, the structural engineering also includes the structural supervision of the demolition.

So, would it be appropriate to commission the structural engineering at this stage already?

Should the architect also begin with the execution planning?

By the way, the project is a single-family house (terraced house with 180m² (1,940 sq ft) of living space).

Best regards,
Martin

fyaylmf schrieb:

By the way, a single-family house (terraced house) is being built.

How should one imagine that? The other builders each have their own architect or different construction companies, so they start without coordinating with each other?
Having a structural engineer doesn’t make sense if you don’t yet know whether the house will be built with solid masonry or timber frame construction. Accordingly, different building materials with varying unknown load-bearing properties are used. Also, every general contractor, if you are using one, usually has their own structural engineer, or it’s often included in the price. The same applies to architects, but well… you can often forget about those.

fyaylmf schrieb:

just submitted the building permit.

You mean the planning application 🙂

ypg schrieb:

You mean the building permit / planning permission

Exactly, the building permit / planning permission.
However, I’m wondering what was actually submitted when you don’t even know if it’s a solid construction or timber frame, etc., and therefore the wall thicknesses and ultimately the exact living area are not known. 🙄

driver55 schrieb:

I am just wondering,

I was wondering the same. I thought this would be clarified during the discussion here. It might also be that under certain conditions and requirements it doesn’t matter. After all, there are boundaries on both the left and right sides.

That will be quite a challenge for the masons when stones need to be cut at every corner and around every opening. The first thing I see is the decision on the construction method. Under certain circumstances, it seems that not all prefab manufacturers are willing to build extensions onto other houses.

ypg schrieb:

How should we imagine this? The other builders each have their own architect or building company, so there are different ones who start without coordinating?

Yes, exactly, and whoever starts last has the biggest noise. And if the last one builds a basement, the neighbor will have to do the same, see @goalkeeper 😉

So the area is exactly 182 m² (1,957 sq ft). And of course, I meant the building permit / planning permission…

By the way, the neighbors are not building. It’s all existing buildings. And in case the basement question comes up again with references to the well-known forum posts… I’m already familiar with those…

Otherwise, I’ll probably have to talk to the architect again about why he already needs the structural engineer involved. He knows the situation, and I’ll have to trust him on that. He’s no scammer or anything… I just thought I might get some additional perspectives or explanations here.

Thanks anyway.