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.
goalkeeper schrieb:
I prefer to keep control myself – that is absolutely not an option.And how do you plan to accomplish that? Do you want to become the client? What happens if they don’t pay – you would be liable, etc. I wouldn’t put anything past your neighbor.G
goalkeeper5 Oct 2021 11:21tomtom79 schrieb:
And how do you plan to manage that?
Do you want to become the client? What happens if they don’t pay—you would be liable, and so on. I wouldn’t put it past your neighbor.Something like this could only be done in the neighbor’s name and on their invoice—possibly even with advance payment. Above all, liability issues would need to be clarified in case any settling causes damage. I would have that recorded in a contract, perhaps even notarized.
This could only work within very narrow limits.
However, that doesn’t mean the rest of the construction phase will proceed without problems. Now he wants something from us and is finally ready to talk—almost a year ago he wasn’t. For example, there are issues like compensation for the damaged terrace, the additional costs caused by the now more difficult landscaping (since all the neighbors have taken care of their gardens), who will handle the roof connection, what about the crane work (swinging loads over occupied buildings is not allowed), and so on.
I’m not going to let myself be pushed around this time!
Take your time first to check whether you are legally required to communicate with him at all.
After a proper legal review (at his expense?), I would grant him exactly what you are definitely obliged to allow—no more—and only with appropriate guarantees (secured by third parties!) and with every possible detail documented in writing in advance.
For example, I wouldn’t care about a crane if it’s unusable for any reason; he would have to find another solution. It’s not your problem who carries what or where.
I suspect you currently hold the stronger position and can make demands, such as addressing unresolved issues like repairing the excavations, in my opinion. If you’re lucky, he might run out of steam along the way, and you could end up with a reasonable neighbor after all. If any relevant deadlines are missed, keep your fingers crossed.
After a proper legal review (at his expense?), I would grant him exactly what you are definitely obliged to allow—no more—and only with appropriate guarantees (secured by third parties!) and with every possible detail documented in writing in advance.
For example, I wouldn’t care about a crane if it’s unusable for any reason; he would have to find another solution. It’s not your problem who carries what or where.
I suspect you currently hold the stronger position and can make demands, such as addressing unresolved issues like repairing the excavations, in my opinion. If you’re lucky, he might run out of steam along the way, and you could end up with a reasonable neighbor after all. If any relevant deadlines are missed, keep your fingers crossed.
borxx schrieb:
For example, I wouldn’t even care about a crane if it can’t be used anyway, no matter the reason. They’ll just have to figure something else out. It’s not your problem but theirs who carries what and where. [...] If you’re lucky, they’ll run out of steam on the way, and you might still get a decent neighbor if the relevant deadlines are missed, Honestly, from my point of view, the ideal solution would be to have three visitor parking spaces at the front of the property, followed by a green area called "Mayor Dumbhead Square." Plan B on my wish list would be for the clueless neighbor to build exactly the house they are legally entitled to without risk, then get divorced soon after, and during the partition auction, the property would be acquired by a more pleasant person.
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G
goalkeeper5 Oct 2021 12:51After the phone call with our construction supervisor, he possibly sees the stability of our house at risk since the entire foundation was fully excavated – therefore, together with our construction supervisor, we arranged an on-site appointment with a geotechnical engineer who has to assess whether any action is actually necessary.
Normally, according to the construction supervisor, the foundation should have remained embedded 20-30 cm (8-12 inches) in the "sand."
Normally, according to the construction supervisor, the foundation should have remained embedded 20-30 cm (8-12 inches) in the "sand."
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