ᐅ Building an End-Terrace House as a Self-Managed Project with a General Contractor
Created on: 27 May 2019 10:48
G
goalkeeper
Hello everyone,
some of you might have already followed one of my threads about us having to or being allowed to build our end-terrace house on our own responsibility – depending on how you look at it. This means that we are buying an end-terrace plot (215 sqm (2315 sq ft)) in a new development area in the Rhein-Neckar district and will be building on it ourselves – but in coordination with our two terrace neighbors.
The municipality, which sold the plots through a local resident model, ideally wanted applicants to apply as a complete housing group with several families and then build accordingly with a general contractor, construction manager, or architect. Of course, that didn’t really work out, so now there are only individual applicants and also homeowners.
After we were awarded the plot, the addresses of the other terrace neighbors were shared to discuss certain matters, such as roof style, whether or not to have a basement, etc. It was immediately clear that everyone preferred to do their own thing. However, we were still able to agree that the housing group will have a gable roof with a pitch of 35 to 40 degrees (within this 5-degree range).
As the end house, we will build without a basement, while the middle house and the other end house will have basements. This obviously presents a challenge as we would have to make a deep foundation or simply skip it, and the middle house would have to support us, as we will start construction first. The current agreement with the middle house is that we will build a deeper foundation at his expense, as supporting our house later on would be considerably more expensive for him.
We are currently close to signing with the construction manager, the notarization appointment for the plot is at the end of June, and we hope to start construction in the fall of this year. Meanwhile, several other freely planned housing groups are being built around us, which might get in the way with their cranes.
I will document the progress here from time to time – such a self-planned terraced house doesn’t come along very often.
some of you might have already followed one of my threads about us having to or being allowed to build our end-terrace house on our own responsibility – depending on how you look at it. This means that we are buying an end-terrace plot (215 sqm (2315 sq ft)) in a new development area in the Rhein-Neckar district and will be building on it ourselves – but in coordination with our two terrace neighbors.
The municipality, which sold the plots through a local resident model, ideally wanted applicants to apply as a complete housing group with several families and then build accordingly with a general contractor, construction manager, or architect. Of course, that didn’t really work out, so now there are only individual applicants and also homeowners.
After we were awarded the plot, the addresses of the other terrace neighbors were shared to discuss certain matters, such as roof style, whether or not to have a basement, etc. It was immediately clear that everyone preferred to do their own thing. However, we were still able to agree that the housing group will have a gable roof with a pitch of 35 to 40 degrees (within this 5-degree range).
As the end house, we will build without a basement, while the middle house and the other end house will have basements. This obviously presents a challenge as we would have to make a deep foundation or simply skip it, and the middle house would have to support us, as we will start construction first. The current agreement with the middle house is that we will build a deeper foundation at his expense, as supporting our house later on would be considerably more expensive for him.
We are currently close to signing with the construction manager, the notarization appointment for the plot is at the end of June, and we hope to start construction in the fall of this year. Meanwhile, several other freely planned housing groups are being built around us, which might get in the way with their cranes.
I will document the progress here from time to time – such a self-planned terraced house doesn’t come along very often.
G
goalkeeper25 Feb 2020 11:23We have been seeking good neighborly relations from the very beginning. We provided our neighbor with all the documents, including those for our underground construction, as early as November. At that time, I also sent an email with all the documents and details of the situation to his architect. When the submitted documents contain errors, it does frustrate me somewhat – and when I hear from the neighbor that he believes his architect took everything into account, I find that hard to understand.
We’ve already been in contact about this topic in the past few days. In addition, I have to file a formal objection as a precaution, since there is a two-week deadline for this. His architect should plan properly then. It’s not going to be good neighborliness that fails here.
Because then our foundation will have to be underpinned, which is expensive (for the neighbor) and, if done improperly, could cause our house to settle at that point.
We’ve already been in contact about this topic in the past few days. In addition, I have to file a formal objection as a precaution, since there is a two-week deadline for this. His architect should plan properly then. It’s not going to be good neighborliness that fails here.
kaho674 schrieb:
I’m not familiar with this at all. Can you explain why this becomes a problem?
Because then our foundation will have to be underpinned, which is expensive (for the neighbor) and, if done improperly, could cause our house to settle at that point.
G
goalkeeper25 Feb 2020 11:26halmi schrieb:
That would really be the very first step. Immediately initiate a conversation, then you can figure out what to do next.
They are building townhouses, and everyone wants to be the biggest individualist. That was written quite carelessly: my main intention is to protect our property. From the beginning, we informed the neighbor about the most important steps. If they don’t adapt accordingly, then I don’t want to be put on the spot here.
The only unwise thing here would be if you just rush to the building authority / planning office. Besides, later you’ll have to sit just 3-4m (10-13 feet) away on the terrace. Nothing has happened yet, so you can still have a calm conversation together.
Maybe it was simply a mistake.
Maybe it was simply a mistake.
G
goalkeeper25 Feb 2020 11:44halmi schrieb:
The only thing that would be unwise here is if you just rush to the building authority. Besides, you have to sit 3-4 m (10-13 feet) further away on the terrace later. Here in Baden-Württemberg, there is a notification procedure (simplified building permit application). It costs about 200 € and notifies neighbors when construction is planned nearby. After that, you have two weeks to either approve the application or raise an objection. If I do nothing, the building application is automatically considered approved by us.
Therefore, I have to formally file an objection. Of course, only if our general contractor also believes there is something wrong. Our neighbor has already been aware of our concerns regarding his building application since last week. So he won’t be surprised by this.
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