ᐅ Construction Contract Additional Costs for Foundation Reinforcement?
Created on: 11 Nov 2019 09:51
P
phill1.
Hello, we are currently building a new house with a construction company, with the building permit / planning permission, drawings, structural engineering, and energy certification included in the contract. BEFORE signing the contract, I sent them an email asking them to please check the plot, attaching a soil report.
After completing the foundation slab, they informed me that the slab needs to be thicker. I then received the following via email:
"
We assumed the soil conditions were normal before signing the contract, but after inspections by our structural engineer, it turned out that poor soil conditions exist.
Due to the poor conditions, the foundations need to be reinforced and the slab thickness increased from 18cm (7 inches) to 30cm (12 inches).
Unfortunately, this will result in additional costs of €5,600.00 including VAT. We ask you to confirm this.
The additional cost breakdown now shows 5600 + 19% VAT....
In my construction contract it states:
“Foundations and slab”
Concrete and dimensions according to structural engineering calculations. The slab is a concrete slab with appropriate insulation, complying with technical regulations. The foundation is formed with strip footings made from C20/C25 concrete according to the requirements of the structural design. A galvanized steel strip for foundation grounding is embedded in the foundations. According to the structural design, a concrete slab is poured on a compacted sand fill on top of an underlying construction foil.
Further in the contract, it states that the Client (owner of the plot, i.e. myself) also bears all applicable fees, e.g., shell inspection, building inspection, chimney sweep, as well as additional costs arising during construction for structural engineering, architect, etc.
Now the question is: are these additional costs justified? Am I required to pay them? This should have been identified by them or the architect before signing the contract.
The contract does not mention an 18cm (7 inches) slab thickness anywhere...
Thank you.
After completing the foundation slab, they informed me that the slab needs to be thicker. I then received the following via email:
"
We assumed the soil conditions were normal before signing the contract, but after inspections by our structural engineer, it turned out that poor soil conditions exist.
Due to the poor conditions, the foundations need to be reinforced and the slab thickness increased from 18cm (7 inches) to 30cm (12 inches).
Unfortunately, this will result in additional costs of €5,600.00 including VAT. We ask you to confirm this.
The additional cost breakdown now shows 5600 + 19% VAT....
In my construction contract it states:
“Foundations and slab”
Concrete and dimensions according to structural engineering calculations. The slab is a concrete slab with appropriate insulation, complying with technical regulations. The foundation is formed with strip footings made from C20/C25 concrete according to the requirements of the structural design. A galvanized steel strip for foundation grounding is embedded in the foundations. According to the structural design, a concrete slab is poured on a compacted sand fill on top of an underlying construction foil.
Further in the contract, it states that the Client (owner of the plot, i.e. myself) also bears all applicable fees, e.g., shell inspection, building inspection, chimney sweep, as well as additional costs arising during construction for structural engineering, architect, etc.
Now the question is: are these additional costs justified? Am I required to pay them? This should have been identified by them or the architect before signing the contract.
The contract does not mention an 18cm (7 inches) slab thickness anywhere...
Thank you.
All relevant information is included in your initial post. Regarding the structural requirements, blah blah additional costs. I also don’t see any goodwill or compromise here. It’s all just a matter of good will, nothing more. These are standard phrases in a general contractor contract that protect the contractor. This is exactly why fixed prices from general contractors are unrealistic.
He can hope for a compromise in the sense that the costs for the reinforced slab should have been clear BEFORE signing the contract. This was possible in our case as well. That allowed us to arrange our financing quite differently (in our case, soil replacement was also involved).
As part of the house cost calculation, the general contractor (GC) failed to include possible additional costs indicated by the existing soil report in the fixed price.
This is certainly frustrating; however, these costs would have occurred regardless, so this is not really a "GC problem," as it is currently being portrayed here.
One can protect themselves against this by contractually agreeing with the GC that all extra foundation costs based on a previously submitted soil report are included in the fixed price, provided that soil conditions throughout the entire building do not deviate.
This is certainly frustrating; however, these costs would have occurred regardless, so this is not really a "GC problem," as it is currently being portrayed here.
One can protect themselves against this by contractually agreeing with the GC that all extra foundation costs based on a previously submitted soil report are included in the fixed price, provided that soil conditions throughout the entire building do not deviate.
phill1. schrieb:
Soil survey report.
After completing the concrete slab, he informed me that the slab needed to be thicker. Then I received an email stating this.It confuses me that the general contractor (GC) did not insist on having a soil report.
By now, this is the guarantee the house has.
And yes: everything is legal!
The fixed price of the house that you signed is based on the scope of work, which typically includes something like this:
phill1. schrieb:
In my construction contract it says:
"Foundations and slab"
Concrete and measurements according to structural engineer’s calculations. The slab is a concrete slab with appropriate insulation that meets technical regulations. The foundation is based on strip footings….However, it is possible that deviations are necessary. Most of the time, this depends on the plot of land, over which the GC has no control.
Simply put: you should have bought a plot with better soil conditions.
The construction contract relies on standardized procedures. It may still happen that the intermediate soil cannot be used for backfilling. It would have to be removed, and this is not included in your contract.
We had the same situation: thicker slab after soil investigation. Additional cost: 3800€.
If you want to turn sh*t into gold, you have to invest more. And the plot is supplied by you, on your part.