ᐅ How much additional cost is expected based on the structural engineer’s calculations?

WilderSueden schrieb:

With a production house, the "architect" naturally has much less to do compared to custom planning. It’s basically assembly-line work.

The provider is not obligated to inform you in advance about the necessary extras for your plot. They only have to clearly state what is included in the contract. You are overwhelmed by the situation and urgently need someone experienced in construction contracts who can advise you on the additional costs you may face and whether you have any chances to cancel the contract, make sensible changes (if you remove trades, the planned profit usually remains with the company), modify the planned construction, or arrange for additional financing.

The construction company recommended that we remove some trades, but that doesn’t put us in a better position either.

kati1337 schrieb:

Could you please share the relevant sections here? Especially the part about the basement and the additional costs?

I still find what they mean by this quite unclear. As I understood you, they told you that a bitumen membrane waterproofing was included, then you were supposed to pay extra for a black tank, and now even more extra for a white tank?

That seems strange to me because I always thought the bitumen membrane was the black tank. And a white tank is not automatically an upgrade: they are two different methods, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. One disadvantage of the white tank method, as far as I know, is that it is more difficult to construct and must be executed very precisely; otherwise, your basement might not be waterproof.

Please correct me if I’m wrong. I’m not 100% familiar with this, but it does sound questionable.

If you have to go through with the contract, it’s even more important to have someone with construction expertise on your side to support you. Trying to handle this alone with the money involved, which is a lot, seems risky to me. In the worst case, you could lose your money and end up with a half-finished house or a construction ruin.

Having someone knowledgeable in construction law wouldn’t hurt either, but that doesn’t necessarily make things easier financially. Regarding the contract, it seems things have already gone too far.

"Could you please share the relevant sections here? Especially the part about the basement and extra costs?"

We don’t have it in writing yet, but as soon as I do, I’ll post it.

Lauralila88 schrieb:

I have to say that h&h mentioned in the documents that it might be necessary to have a bathtub, which could lead to significant additional costs.

Lauralila88 schrieb:

We don’t have this in writing yet, but as soon as I do, I will share it here.

That doesn’t really add up, does it?
What do you mean by "documents"? You have signed a contract with them, and you must have received a copy of that contract, right?
Everything is legally regulated in that contract—assuming their contract complies with the law. Only a knowledgeable lawyer can confirm that for you.

Usually, the contract specifies which documents are part of the agreement. For example, in our case a detailed scope of work was included as the basis of the contract, and we received a copy of it, of course. It clearly outlined which work was included in the contract. Anything not included is at your expense. We would be very interested to see what those signed documents (not marketing brochures) say about the basement.

I don’t understand you. You are walking straight into disaster with your eyes wide open and digging yourselves in deeper and deeper. At first, you were incredibly naive, which is unfortunate. But now, you aren’t even making an effort to tackle the problems and get out of the hole. It doesn’t matter when the detailed planning starts. What matters is that you can afford to pay for the construction.

WilderSueden schrieb:

I don’t understand you. You’re heading straight into disaster and only digging yourselves in deeper. At first, you were incredibly naive, which is unfortunate. But now you’re making no effort to address the problems and climb out of the hole. It doesn’t matter when you start detailed planning. What matters is that you can afford to pay for the construction.

Yes, I don’t get it either. At least five people here have probably said that it would be wiser to exercise the right of withdrawal rather than waive it. If the person seeking advice then does exactly the opposite, there’s no way to help them.

Lauralila88 schrieb:

but they could have told us beforehand that we are in earthquake zone 3, or we should have informed ourselves better.

Isn’t the company a nationwide one? How are they supposed to know at the contract signing that you are located in earthquake zone 3? They only start dealing with everything once the soil report is available and the planning begins. Step by step.

Lauralila88 schrieb:

I have to say, h&h stated in the documents that it might be necessary to have a waterproof basin and that would cause significant additional costs.

Of course: a house or home construction is sold. According to the scope of work description, the house is initially without a basement. The clause for the basement (if desired) then states that this and that may cause additional costs.

kati1337 schrieb:

Please correct me if I’m wrong. I’m not 100% familiar with this topic, but it sounds suspicious.

In principle, I don’t find it suspicious. Just like, for example, TeamMassiv promises a “more-than-affordable price” but after two years, with a plausible excuse, says that the bricks or whatever are no longer available and therefore significant additional costs come up for the builder.
Basically, the construction company is not obliged to repeatedly explain every possible additional cost in detail. Otherwise, they would spend several more days at the contract negotiations. It is stated in the contract and in the scope of work description. The client is also responsible to have the contract reviewed if unsure or, like many of us, to ask here in a forum.
What exactly H&H stated in their contract, we don’t know. To me, it just reads like a lot of naivety.
I can relate somewhat, though in our case it was not the basement, but additional costs for the foundation slab and soil disposal.

Lauralila88 schrieb:

they said they can’t start with the construction drawings otherwise.

This also sounds like a lot of naivety here. I can only say that it surprises me, after so many warnings here, that you just blindly continue, not only proudly looking into the financial abyss but also taking a step forward.

kati1337 schrieb:

a scope of work description was also mentioned as part of the contract basis, and of course we received it.

That is even mandatory.