ᐅ The planner does not carry out any cost calculations according to DIN 276.

I have been reading diligently here and searching the forum – but I am simply overwhelmed.

We have the following problem. My father bought a listed (heritage-protected) house five years ago. The project was overseen by an architect.
An initial survey was conducted, and the renovation costs were estimated at around 400,000 euros.

Unfortunately, there is only one email in which the architect confirms that my father cannot spend more than 400,000 euros and that the costs would definitely stay within that range.

However, this is not the (current) main issue. The renovation, after four years spent in a holiday apartment and a planned duration of two years, has finally been completed.
The costs have, of course, gone completely out of control – my father raised this issue with the architect several times.
Towards the end of the project, he simply gave up and paid the invoices because he just wanted the house to be finished.

Now we have asked the architect to provide us with the cost estimate, calculation, and cost determination according to DIN 276, so that we can understand the costs and especially the overruns.
This request has simply been ignored – to this day, no estimate, calculation, or anything similar based on DIN 276 has been prepared. She even said she was not familiar with this standard.

She is now issuing her final invoice, claiming that she has fulfilled all her obligations.

This simply leaves me speechless. We were never informed about any warranty periods, even though defects have already appeared and we have asked about this.

Furthermore, there is still an unresolved invoice from a roofer who set up scaffolding here for weeks, which was not used. (However, I do not think this is my father’s fault.)

Do we have to pay all of this and really have no right to any calculation or clarification of the costs so that we can understand them? And does my father really have to pay the 10,000 euros for the scaffolding? The planner is actually responsible for scheduling – isn’t that why we hired her?!

I would be truly grateful for help – after all the trouble and the construction period, we are slowly at our limit – and the architect’s behavior cannot be lawful. Is she really allowed to present the final invoice without us having any claim to the services mentioned above?
This is a normal architect contract according to HOAI – she was responsible for work phases 1–9.

Check the HOAI website under the basic services (links are not allowed here). You will already find this in service phase 2.

Was she really a qualified architect?

nordanney schrieb:
Take a look at the HOAI homepage, under the basic services (links are not allowed here). You can already find this in service phase 2

Was she really a qualified architect?

I have pointed this out to her—several times. She claims she does not have to provide all the services, so the phases are billed proportionally. She’s either playing dumb or thinks we’re stupid and insists she doesn’t have to fulfill them. (She holds a diploma from a university of applied sciences—supposedly a specialist planner?!) When I look at the HOAI, it makes me sick what she hasn’t delivered. That would go beyond the scope here.

But I can still request the calculations (which I have done multiple times already, including referencing the HOAI and mentioning that this is listed there as a basic service).

I have never heard of an architect guaranteeing the construction cost.

That’s not the point. And I never said that either. At the beginning, she did send an email confirming that she was aware we couldn’t spend more than 400,000 (approximately 440,000) and that the project could be completed for much less, which she has consistently emphasized in conversations. But that was it.

What I mainly want to know is whether she can really refuse to provide all calculations, estimates, etc., according to the applicable DIN standards, or claim that she only has to deliver some of the services.

There is surely an offer from the architect with a detailed breakdown of costs for design, permits (building permit / planning permission), construction supervision, etc., and presumably there are also quotes from the contractors specifying what is included. If the scaffolding was commissioned separately because it is used by several contractors, it must be paid for the entire duration.

After four years, it is impossible to determine who did what wrong and when. The only leverage left is to withhold payment of the architect’s final invoice and see what happens.