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
goalkeeper20 Apr 2020 19:46Pinky0301 schrieb:
I really like the "dark" grey tiles, which ones are they? Why did you tile up to the ceiling?They are Villeroy & Boch (Northfield series).
The wall tiled up to ceiling height continues to the left towards the shower – we found it logical to tile all the way across to the toilet. The rest will be 1.20m (4 feet) high or just a skirting, like in the entrance area.
11ant schrieb:
Nevertheless, the neighbor was already aware back then of the seriousness of his intention to buy and therefore the relevance of your suggestion for his project. Thus, he disregarded it at his own responsibility and must now accept the consequences in case of a conflict.That is not necessarily the case; not everyone does their research beforehand or understands what is meant by cautionary words. Hearing and understanding are still two completely different things,G
goalkeeper26 Apr 2020 21:41After being confronted with the statement "oh, we are going to underpin your building now," we felt compelled to communicate several points to our neighbor in writing. This was especially necessary because, during a phone call with their architect, he claimed that with a 30cm (12 inches) difference, underpinning would not be required and they could simply dig deeper.
Seeking legal advice also proved to be quite helpful. According to the neighborhood law in Baden-Württemberg, we are not obliged to accept underpinning. For such a project, we would also need to be informed at least two weeks before construction begins, including all necessary documentation detailing what will happen to our foundation. They claim to be close to starting construction—but nothing has happened yet. A soil survey, which should include foundation recommendations, has not been conducted. There has also been no request for our or the neighbors’ civil engineering plans. This is despite the fact that they are building within a gap between existing buildings.
As a precaution, we have now formally opposed the underpinning and clearly stated what their and our rights are, emphasizing our concerns regarding the safety of our building. If they proceed regardless, we will seek a stop-work order.
Our suggestion is that we jointly hire a planner to develop a reasonable foundation proposal, which, according to DIN 4123, will be implemented by a specialized company and supervised by an independent expert. Before construction begins, the current undamaged condition of our house must also be documented and approved by the expert in case of any settlement issues. Of course, the costs must be covered by the neighbor.
We really did not want to take this step. However, after hearing the statements made by the architect and neighbor and their professional shortcomings, we saw no other choice.
Seeking legal advice also proved to be quite helpful. According to the neighborhood law in Baden-Württemberg, we are not obliged to accept underpinning. For such a project, we would also need to be informed at least two weeks before construction begins, including all necessary documentation detailing what will happen to our foundation. They claim to be close to starting construction—but nothing has happened yet. A soil survey, which should include foundation recommendations, has not been conducted. There has also been no request for our or the neighbors’ civil engineering plans. This is despite the fact that they are building within a gap between existing buildings.
As a precaution, we have now formally opposed the underpinning and clearly stated what their and our rights are, emphasizing our concerns regarding the safety of our building. If they proceed regardless, we will seek a stop-work order.
Our suggestion is that we jointly hire a planner to develop a reasonable foundation proposal, which, according to DIN 4123, will be implemented by a specialized company and supervised by an independent expert. Before construction begins, the current undamaged condition of our house must also be documented and approved by the expert in case of any settlement issues. Of course, the costs must be covered by the neighbor.
We really did not want to take this step. However, after hearing the statements made by the architect and neighbor and their professional shortcomings, we saw no other choice.
G
goalkeeper26 Apr 2020 22:02tomtom79 schrieb:
Everything was done correctly, but how do you want to rule out settlement cracks? Every new building has them, or are you going to blame everything on them now?Of course not. However, we were strongly advised to have the current condition of the house examined by an independent expert.
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