ᐅ Prefabricated House: Ceiling Height Lower Than Agreed – Points of Reference for Damage Assessment

Which federal state does this concern?
In our case, the ceiling height is 2.48 m (8 ft 2 in),
in the Berlin building regulations, the minimum height for living and commercial spaces is set at 2.5 m (8 ft 2.5 in).
The construction company was from Brandenburg, where the minimum height for living spaces is 2.4 m (7 ft 10.5 in).
Our surveyor said the 2 cm difference is not a point of contention as long as it is a living space.
For commercial spaces, however, the permit would not be granted.
If you are in a federal state where 2.4 m (7 ft 10.5 in) is required as the minimum height for living spaces and your contract does not include changes to 2.5 m (8 ft 2.5 in),
things don’t look good for you; you have to accept it,
in my opinion.

It doesn’t help anyone, but I’m curious how such a deviation can occur in a prefab house? Aren’t standardized components just assembled together?

Nida35a schrieb:

If you are in a state that requires a minimum ceiling height of 2.4m (7 ft 10.5 in) for living spaces, and your contract does not include modifications to 2.5m (8 ft 2.5 in), the situation is not looking good for you—you will have to accept it, in my opinion.

I also think it will be difficult to get anything changed since it wasn’t checked in time and the ceiling height is still within the allowed standard.

chand1986 schrieb:

It doesn’t help anyone, but I’m curious how such a deviation could happen in a prefabricated house? Aren’t the components standardized?

That’s an interesting point. I’m considering whether the clear height was specified without including the beams, and then the ceiling was insulated and enclosed underneath.
We would need to see a cross-section of the design here @SchreinerKl.

ypg schrieb:

I also think it will be difficult to achieve anything since it was not checked in time and the ceiling height is still within the standard range.

Okay. So if you want particularly generous rooms with a height of 300cm (118 inches) and this is also contractually agreed, then 240cm (94 inches) is acceptable because it is within the standard? Where do you draw the line? I wouldn’t complain about a 2cm (0.8 inch) difference either, but a 10cm (4 inch) difference is a clear deviation and actually results in a measurable decrease in the value of the house – and there must be compensation for that (case law also clearly confirms this).

ypg schrieb:

I also think it will be difficult to achieve anything since it was not checked in time

That is a separate issue. But legally, it is not decisive.

ypg schrieb:

You would have to show the section of the plan here, @SchreinerKl

Maybe this will help. So, let’s see it.

SchreinerKl schrieb:

We built a prefab house with 144 sqm (1,550 sq ft) of living space. The ground floor’s unfinished ceiling height is 2.68 m (8 ft 9 in) according to the contract. The floor structure is 16 cm (6 inches) high. We wanted to place a wardrobe and realized that including the tiled floor, the ceiling height is only 2.42 m (7 ft 11 in) instead of 2.52 m (8 ft 3 in). So there is a difference of 8.5 cm (3.3 inches), even after subtracting 1.5 cm (0.6 inches) for the tile thickness.

Most prefab houses are built with timber frame panels, and production errors of this size are uncommon. The processing tools can be calibrated accurately to the millimeter, manufacturing tolerances are usually around half a centimeter (0.2 inch), and it’s not possible to misalign by eight or ten centimeters during assembly. Therefore, I suspect a reading error in the plans (by the original poster regarding which measure is supposed to be 2.68 m). As clear ceiling height, that would usually be a special request.

chand1986 schrieb:

This doesn’t help anyone, but I’m curious how such a deviation can occur in a prefab house? Don’t they use standardized components?

They are not standardized, but computer-controlled and made to measure. A flat 10 cm (4 inches) error due to a typo in the tool settings would be the most likely cause. Or 81 mm (3.2 inches) as a digit transposition.

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Maybe you should consult a specialized lawyer for this issue instead of relying on questionable references to isolated court rulings from higher regional courts found quickly with keywords in a forum.

In case of doubt, you will likely have to fight for a ruling in your specific case before your competent higher regional court yourself, as the contractor will hardly say, "Yes, you are right, I'll give you a 5% discount."

It is advisable to consult a lawyer beforehand to assess your chances.