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
goalkeeper16 Sep 2020 14:19UpperEast schrieb:
How high are the additional costs that the neighbor has brought upon himself?Hard to say. The costs for underpinning will be covered by the shell builder.
The procedure including the other costs is estimated to be between 4,000 and 8,000 euros, without knowing for sure.
tomtom79 schrieb:
I don’t think the general contractor will cover it. No matter what happens, they are definitely always the party liable, or they charge a premium for the work.Liability in case of damage will still shift to the neighbor, in one way or another.
tomtom79 schrieb:
Has the new neighbor come to realize this, or have the conflicts escalated further?No...he was actually quite rude at times...even to the judge, who then had to admonish him. I would say that he is mostly upset with himself. We could prove how often we made him reasonable offers, like for example, before our construction started, regarding the deep foundation on his side.
goalkeeper schrieb:
I would say that he is mostly angry at himself.Well, I would rather think that self-reflection and the ability to acknowledge mistakes are not exactly his strong suits.https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
goalkeeper schrieb:
Liability in case of damage will still shift to the neighbor, in one way or another. As a private individual, are you really responsible for damages caused by potential construction defects from the company YOU chose?
Sorry, but I think that will remain just a dream on your part...
G
goalkeeper16 Sep 2020 14:27Golfi90 schrieb:
Sorry, but I think that will remain a dream on your part...This will be stated in the agreement as such because even with properly executed underpinning according to DIN standards, settlement cracks can still occur, which someone will have to pay for. Since the neighbor demands the underpinning, they must also take responsibility for it. This is not a dream but the result of negotiations and is actually common practice (see attachment).
Golfi90 schrieb:
Is a private individual liable for damages caused by construction defects from the company YOU chose? Of course, the neighbor, as the party causing damage, is also responsible for their contractor even if they did not have free choice in selecting them — even if the right to propose the contractor was given to the injured party. If the injured party had arranged the damage with the neighbor’s contractor, that would be a separate criminal act, also punishable, but the burden of proof would not lie with the injured party. But try discussing your doubts with a law professor; that should at least be an interesting topic for a term paper.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/