ᐅ Developer charges high fees for redesign – is this justified?

Hello,
I am still in negotiations and already have the first issue:
The utility room in the basement had to be relocated for technical construction reasons. Now, I would like to move the bathroom on the upper floor to achieve a slightly different layout similar to the neighboring semi-detached house.
In my opinion, the builder should actually be happy that the piping will be shorter, but instead, this adjustment would cost me $5,000. Is this overcharging, or does this really require that much effort from the builder?

Are you still negotiating or have you already signed something?

If it’s already signed, you’ve lost all negotiating leverage...

The building contractor already has this house design ready, complete with structural engineering and all prices (from his tradespeople). So it doesn’t require any more work from him. The tradespeople have probably built this house many times before and can do it by feel—any change causes additional effort. If the building contractor charges extra for this additional work, that’s up to him. You either accept that or not. Unfortunately, you cannot change the building contractor for this project; he is likely building his own house on his land, which you will buy, with contractually agreed changes in advance. This means, if you want to avoid unpleasant surprises later, you should request all possible changes from your side (electrical outlets, plumbing, materials, windows, etc.) before signing the contract, so you’re not hit by unexpected price increases.

However, I find it odd that one semi-detached house is being built differently from its counterpart right from the start.

I am still in negotiations and have reserved the house until a notary appointment for now. The crucial question is: can I argue that the new design is simpler to build and should therefore be less expensive than the original plan, so it shouldn’t incur an additional cost of $5,000!? It has already been signed off!

ypg is not entirely wrong. Such changes probably need to be checked structurally again.

With the trades, it’s not quite the same. They can still apply their usual routine because it does not differ from the next door project.

However, developers calculate strictly with such projects, and changes tend to cost disproportionately more.

Hello,

vosahaus schrieb:
I am still in negotiations and have reserved the house for now until a notary appointment. The key question is: can I argue that the new design is simpler to build and should therefore be cheaper than the old design, so it should not incur an additional cost of 5000,-?! It is already signed, after all!

You can negotiate a lot, but whether it helps is highly questionable. If you don’t want to, someone else will take over – is the plot also from the same provider?

It reads to me as if you chose a very low-cost (to put it gently) provider. Therefore, it is logical that they are trying to adjust their margin this way; especially since they probably have to purchase additional services for the changes (they can’t just transfer the structural calculations from the neighboring house to your semi-detached house).

For you, this means: "take it or leave it" 😎

Regards, Bauexperte