Hello everyone,
I hope I’m posting my questions in the right place.
The first question is whether we simply have to accept the increased costs for the foundation slab without consultation. At first, we were told that 40 cm (16 inches) of excavation would be needed. After the soil report, it was 70 cm (28 inches), and during excavation, it turned out to be 92 cm (36 inches)... all without prior notice. The whole foundation slab is now about 9,000 euros more expensive than initially quoted. What bothers us is that we were presented with a fait accompli.
Then there is the telecommunications provider. The road will have to be reopened for this connection, and of course, we are expected to pay for that as well. The basic connection also costs around 700 euros. The civil engineer who opens the road for the telecom provider invoices separately, and we don’t understand why all these tasks have to be done multiple times instead of being better coordinated.
The surveyor or the architect—we’re not quite sure—also made a mistake. Our house was planned 37 cm (14.5 inches) too low and now has to be set higher. This means we’ll have to bring in more soil in the garden to maintain the planned ground-level access to the terrace. Again, more costs that were not anticipated. Do we just have to accept this as well?
We checked with our local utilities about what applications are required to connect a new build to the supply network. They sent us applications for electricity and water, costing nearly 7,000 euros. Then, last week, we heard from several neighbors (in a complete new development) that the drainage work must be done by a subsidiary of the utilities. One neighboring property had to pay an extra 11,000 euros on top of the house connections for this—and the invoice came from the utilities, not the subsidiary. We feel quite taken advantage of. For us, this means about 8,500 euros more on top.
Do we just have to accept all of this, or what can we do? At the moment, we’re quite desperate, and the cost spiral keeps turning. We are not in a position to judge whether all this is justified or what’s still coming. We thought we had planned well. We even consulted various advisors and friends with building experience... but right now, we really feel lost, and more financing is looming.
Best regards
I hope I’m posting my questions in the right place.
The first question is whether we simply have to accept the increased costs for the foundation slab without consultation. At first, we were told that 40 cm (16 inches) of excavation would be needed. After the soil report, it was 70 cm (28 inches), and during excavation, it turned out to be 92 cm (36 inches)... all without prior notice. The whole foundation slab is now about 9,000 euros more expensive than initially quoted. What bothers us is that we were presented with a fait accompli.
Then there is the telecommunications provider. The road will have to be reopened for this connection, and of course, we are expected to pay for that as well. The basic connection also costs around 700 euros. The civil engineer who opens the road for the telecom provider invoices separately, and we don’t understand why all these tasks have to be done multiple times instead of being better coordinated.
The surveyor or the architect—we’re not quite sure—also made a mistake. Our house was planned 37 cm (14.5 inches) too low and now has to be set higher. This means we’ll have to bring in more soil in the garden to maintain the planned ground-level access to the terrace. Again, more costs that were not anticipated. Do we just have to accept this as well?
We checked with our local utilities about what applications are required to connect a new build to the supply network. They sent us applications for electricity and water, costing nearly 7,000 euros. Then, last week, we heard from several neighbors (in a complete new development) that the drainage work must be done by a subsidiary of the utilities. One neighboring property had to pay an extra 11,000 euros on top of the house connections for this—and the invoice came from the utilities, not the subsidiary. We feel quite taken advantage of. For us, this means about 8,500 euros more on top.
Do we just have to accept all of this, or what can we do? At the moment, we’re quite desperate, and the cost spiral keeps turning. We are not in a position to judge whether all this is justified or what’s still coming. We thought we had planned well. We even consulted various advisors and friends with building experience... but right now, we really feel lost, and more financing is looming.
Best regards
S
Steffen809 Jun 2016 08:22Sounds quite normal, without knowing the details. Therefore, homeowners should have an appropriate buffer. Additional financing is, of course, the worst case and probably at very unfavorable terms.
B
Bauexperte9 Jun 2016 09:46
Bauexperte schrieb:
If the public utility companies ever manage to complete all work in one existing open shaft, let me know. Does that happen very rarely? Or do you mean this only for that specific construction project? In my experience, it has worked well several times, with the telecom company in particular proving to be very customer-oriented and flexible.
Good luck
K1300S
Bommeraner schrieb:
The first question is whether we have to simply accept the increased costs for the foundation slab without prior consultation. Initially, we were told that 40 cm (16 inches) would need to be excavated. After the soil report, it was 70 cm (28 inches), and during the excavation it ended up being 92 cm (36 inches)... all without any prior notification. The entire foundation slab is now nearly 9,000 euros more expensive than originally quoted. What bothers us is that we were presented with a done deal.
Then there’s the telecom installation. The street will have to be reopened for this connection, and of course, we are expected to cover that cost as well. The basic connection fee is about 700 euros. The civil contractor who opens the street for the telecom company also sends a separate invoice, but we don’t understand why all of this has to be done multiple times and why there isn’t better coordination.
The surveyor or the architect— we’re not entirely sure which— also made a measurement error. Our house was planned 37 cm (15 inches) too low, meaning it has to be "raised." This leads to the need to add more soil in the garden to maintain the planned level access to the terrace. Again, these are unplanned costs. Are we expected to just accept this as well?
We asked our local utility providers which applications are needed to connect a new building to the supply network. They sent us applications for electricity and water, costing nearly 7,000 euros. Last week, we heard from several neighbors (it’s a whole new development) that the drainage must be handled by a subsidiary of the utility company. One neighbor’s house had to pay an additional 11,000 euros on top of their house connection fees... the invoice came not from the subsidiary but from the utility company itself. We feel quite taken advantage of. For us, that means about 8,500 euros additional costs on top.
Do we just have to accept all of this, or what should we do? We are currently quite desperate, and the cost spiral keeps turning. We cannot judge whether all of these charges are justified or what further costs might come. We thought we had planned well, sat with various advisors and friends with building experience... but at the moment, we really feel lost and the need for additional financing is looming.
Best regards Bauexperte schrieb:
If public utility providers ever actually manage to do all the work in a single existing open trench, let me know. Hello,
I can’t comment on many of the issues.
I consider it normal that, based on the soil report, the foundation needed to be reinforced by underpinning to 70 cm (28 inches). The only thing that could have been done differently beforehand would be to have the soil report done BEFORE project planning and contract setup. Then the 70 cm would have been known and the cost fixed. I can’t explain why they went another 22 cm (9 inches) deeper later. I would ask for clarification on that.
In our case, all utilities and water supply were laid in a single trench. Our builder coordinated this, and we made sure there was not too large a gap between the dates for telecom and cable company work.
You mention the street has to be reopened – am I right to assume you are not building in a new development (probably infill development)? In new construction areas, it’s common for the service connections to already be located at the property boundary.
Regarding the error with measurement/planning by the surveyor or architect, I would suggest talking kindly with your builder. Since it’s their error, perhaps they can provide some support, such as delivering extra fill material (you likely aren’t their only client nearby), or supplying some gravel for underpinning the terrace, etc.
This thread shows well how quickly unplanned additional costs can arise and that things don’t always go smoothly as hoped.
@Bauexperte : Will do.
Bauexperte schrieb:
???
Greetings, BauexperteThe reference is to user Henrik0817123, who was looking for the mistake in the financing...
H
HilfeHilfe9 Jun 2016 10:21Abzahler schrieb:
By User Henrik0817123, who blamed his financing for the mistake...He can take a look here at what can go wrong. With his 405,000 (approximately 891,000 US dollars) house, we will see something like this again.
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