ᐅ Building an End-Terrace House as a Self-Managed Project with a General Contractor
Created on: 27 May 2019 10:48
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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
goalkeeper5 Oct 2021 17:01Fortunately, the stability of the house is assured. However, the soil expert advises that the foundation must be insulated against frost with a few square meters of soil. So, the neighbor can take action first. However, this is likely to cause disputes again regarding who will cover the costs.
Our independent construction supervisor is currently no longer willing to carry out the underpinning, due to potential warranty claims – understandably.
Our independent construction supervisor is currently no longer willing to carry out the underpinning, due to potential warranty claims – understandably.
@goalkeeper ... I think it’s really great that you’re keeping us updated here. I believe there are many users who would like to know how this story will eventually turn out.
I completely understand your general contractor’s point of view, and given the current workload, it will definitely be very difficult for your neighbor to find a builder who is willing to take on the risk. I fully agree with you—after all the delays, it should only proceed under your supervision and the advice of your experts. And I totally second @11ant ... for mayor.
I wish you lots of strength 🙂
I completely understand your general contractor’s point of view, and given the current workload, it will definitely be very difficult for your neighbor to find a builder who is willing to take on the risk. I fully agree with you—after all the delays, it should only proceed under your supervision and the advice of your experts. And I totally second @11ant ... for mayor.
I wish you lots of strength 🙂
goalkeeper schrieb:
Fortunately, the house’s stability is assured. However, the soil expert says that the foundation needs to be insulated against frost with some square meters of soil. So the neighbor can take action first. But again, there will likely be disputes over who should cover the costs.
Currently, our construction manager is reluctant to carry out the underpinning due to possible warranty claims—which is understandable. You should, apart from the fact that the party responsible should pay, possibly also look around yourself to find someone who can handle it otherwise. Would your construction manager possibly do it? Because in that case, protecting your property would be my priority, and I would be willing to pay for it myself.
It’s understandable that your construction manager is no longer eager to do it. Knowing the background, I probably wouldn’t want to work with the neighbor either, even if your construction manager is otherwise supportive of you. He will weigh the risks himself, as there could be trouble, both immediately and possibly later if problems arise and it might be blamed on the underpinning. The question, of course, is what you are legally obliged to allow. Depending on the federal state and local neighbor law, I believe you cannot prevent the underpinning.
goalkeeper schrieb:
Fortunately, the house’s structural stability is assured. However, the soil engineer says that the foundation needs to be properly insulated against frost with a few square meters of soil. So the neighbor can start working on that first. However, there will likely be disputes again regarding who bears the costs.In my opinion, no. Winter is approaching, and I think it’s time to file an urgent motion requiring the neighbor to cover the exposed sections of your foundation again. The “referee in robes” should be asked to remove the offending party from the field. I wouldn’t hold back on the final shot here.https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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goalkeeper6 Oct 2021 13:3811ant schrieb:
From my point of view, no. Winter is approaching, and I would consider it time to file an urgent request for an order requiring the neighbor to properly cover the exposed reinforcement bars of your foundation. This is where the colleague "referee in robes" should step in and remove the offending party from the field. I wouldn't hold back on taking decisive action here. Following our lawyer’s recommendation, we have now granted him a deadline until October 20th. After that, the person in robes will indeed become necessary again.
