Hello everyone,
we are having a standard house (formerly kfw70 standard) built without a basement.
After endless disputes with the site manager, he was replaced, and the new site manager discovered that the perimeter insulation was forgotten.
We are now completely uncertain whether our build can still be saved, as demolition has even been mentioned...
It is now being investigated whether this insulation can be installed retroactively on the foundation slab.
Does anyone here have solid experience with this and can offer advice on how we should proceed? Should we agree to retrofitting the insulation, or is that not viable at all?
we are having a standard house (formerly kfw70 standard) built without a basement.
After endless disputes with the site manager, he was replaced, and the new site manager discovered that the perimeter insulation was forgotten.
We are now completely uncertain whether our build can still be saved, as demolition has even been mentioned...
It is now being investigated whether this insulation can be installed retroactively on the foundation slab.
Does anyone here have solid experience with this and can offer advice on how we should proceed? Should we agree to retrofitting the insulation, or is that not viable at all?
Payday schrieb:
I have read all 10 pages. It’s really hard to understand who is who and where. You immediately introduce clear terms like developer, main contractor, and building company, and then the meaning gets reversed two pages later. That doesn’t work. That’s probably because I’m not an expert and had considered both terms to mean the same thing.
Sorry for my ignorance...
We signed the contract with a "general contractor," as far as I could find out. They, in turn, hired a subcontractor for the shell construction.
So far, we have paid about €22,000 for administration/architect fees and the foundation slab.
The floor slab was commissioned and poured just in time—however, it also has defects. (According to the structural engineer, the reinforcement in the upper floor for a later conversion is partly missing.) The invoice for this "milestone" arrived four days before completion with a payment deadline of three days, after which we pulled the emergency brake and hired a lawyer. The lawyer estimated the costs for fixing the defects at around €25,000 and demanded a 14-day deadline for remediation, which ends on Monday. Nothing has happened since then.
Since Friday, the company has been listed on the insolvency portal.
The lawyer is already in contact with the insolvency administrator and expects that after the second deadline expires, we will be able to terminate the contract. An expert will be brought in as soon as the situation moves in the "right" direction.
The signal from the general contractor seems to be that they want to complete all ongoing projects. How that is supposed to work, only they know...
The suspicion that there are other defects in the building is very likely—therefore:
no negotiation without an expert report...
The following defects are known to us:
- Perimeter insulation was not installed under the base slab
- The ground slab is not insulated around the edges (the insulation is placed on the slab)
- Floor-to-ceiling doors/windows have thermal bridges (concrete, then a 2cm (1 inch) air gap, which is partly completely sealed, followed by the facing brick) and are uninsulated
- Ground floor walls do not match the dimensions (in some places more than 25cm (10 inches) off)
- Reinforcement on the upper floor is partially missing (after checking against the structural plans)
- Ventilation pipes come out of the concrete at incorrect measurements, so they emerge in the adjacent room
- The lintel in the opening for the front door was poured too low (about 12cm (5 inches) missing)
Possibly minor defects/complaints on our part:
- Facing bricks are partly "crooked" (complained only about the house corners)
- Facing bricks were not installed in a "random bond" pattern, although ordered as such (in some places 14 stretchers without a header)
- Facing bricks were not covered and therefore not protected from rain
- Openings for roller shutter boxes are missing (allegedly can be installed properly later)
- Facing bricks were not fully mortared over the entire surface (allegedly can be done later)
- Exterior walls of the chimney are damaged
- No soil survey was conducted (although it was part of the contract)
- No elevation survey was performed (although it was part of the contract)
- There is neither temporary construction power nor water supply
- Perimeter insulation was not installed under the base slab
- The ground slab is not insulated around the edges (the insulation is placed on the slab)
- Floor-to-ceiling doors/windows have thermal bridges (concrete, then a 2cm (1 inch) air gap, which is partly completely sealed, followed by the facing brick) and are uninsulated
- Ground floor walls do not match the dimensions (in some places more than 25cm (10 inches) off)
- Reinforcement on the upper floor is partially missing (after checking against the structural plans)
- Ventilation pipes come out of the concrete at incorrect measurements, so they emerge in the adjacent room
- The lintel in the opening for the front door was poured too low (about 12cm (5 inches) missing)
Possibly minor defects/complaints on our part:
- Facing bricks are partly "crooked" (complained only about the house corners)
- Facing bricks were not installed in a "random bond" pattern, although ordered as such (in some places 14 stretchers without a header)
- Facing bricks were not covered and therefore not protected from rain
- Openings for roller shutter boxes are missing (allegedly can be installed properly later)
- Facing bricks were not fully mortared over the entire surface (allegedly can be done later)
- Exterior walls of the chimney are damaged
- No soil survey was conducted (although it was part of the contract)
- No elevation survey was performed (although it was part of the contract)
- There is neither temporary construction power nor water supply
Just quickly for the record: your contracting partner, the general contractor, filed for bankruptcy, not the subcontractor who is doing the masonry work. Correct?
Your list of defects is partly quite shocking. The first odd thing is why the general contractor goes bankrupt if the subcontractor is doing a poor job. Or maybe the GC ran out of money a while ago and only hired the very cheapest laborers for the masonry work. A skilled bricklayer usually knows what they’re doing and can read a blueprint. Sure, mistakes happen, but the amount of errors sounds more like completely untrained workers in every area. Regardless of the trade, everyone is making major mistakes (the ceiling, for example, has nothing to do with the masons but is something that is ordered and delivered).
How can you set up a house without a height reference measurement? Is the height even correct? Otherwise, the authorities might eventually reject everything. The soil report is, well, so-so. If the soil replacement is done properly (how deep was excavated?), it should hold.
How can they do masonry without water or electricity? Don’t they need water for the mortar? ^^
Usually, temporary construction power and water are provided by the owner. Are you sure you haven’t overlooked that? But as a defect, this is hardly relevant given all the other issues.
Your list of defects is partly quite shocking. The first odd thing is why the general contractor goes bankrupt if the subcontractor is doing a poor job. Or maybe the GC ran out of money a while ago and only hired the very cheapest laborers for the masonry work. A skilled bricklayer usually knows what they’re doing and can read a blueprint. Sure, mistakes happen, but the amount of errors sounds more like completely untrained workers in every area. Regardless of the trade, everyone is making major mistakes (the ceiling, for example, has nothing to do with the masons but is something that is ordered and delivered).
How can you set up a house without a height reference measurement? Is the height even correct? Otherwise, the authorities might eventually reject everything. The soil report is, well, so-so. If the soil replacement is done properly (how deep was excavated?), it should hold.
How can they do masonry without water or electricity? Don’t they need water for the mortar? ^^
Usually, temporary construction power and water are provided by the owner. Are you sure you haven’t overlooked that? But as a defect, this is hardly relevant given all the other issues.
jeti79 schrieb:
As mentioned above:
We withheld the final payment (the third one) due to defects. I hope your lawyer is also familiar with insolvency law. Be prepared for the insolvency administrator to challenge this withholding—often only shortly before the statute of limitations expires, which can catch you completely off guard. When they are done with you, you might feel like you alone are responsible for the original sin (and at fault for almost everything). This kind of administrator typically does not act in the interest of creditors.
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Yes, the general contractor is bankrupt. Allegedly, this is because an employee failed to forward invoices amounting to six figures internally.
The floor level was then set at 30cm (12 inches) above the already installed drains. (This should roughly match the plan.)
Yes, I am 100% sure because it was included in the quote and we requested it multiple times, but we were repeatedly postponed.
From what I understood, they always brought generators and water in barrels.
I spoke directly with the insolvency administrator. He was very polite and immediately pointed out that his job is to collect money. He will reissue the last invoice more insistently as soon as the process starts, and he advised us to secure a court-appointed construction expert to assess the value. We are then supposed to withhold payment accordingly...
I will arrange a meeting with a lawyer soon.
The floor level was then set at 30cm (12 inches) above the already installed drains. (This should roughly match the plan.)
Yes, I am 100% sure because it was included in the quote and we requested it multiple times, but we were repeatedly postponed.
From what I understood, they always brought generators and water in barrels.
I spoke directly with the insolvency administrator. He was very polite and immediately pointed out that his job is to collect money. He will reissue the last invoice more insistently as soon as the process starts, and he advised us to secure a court-appointed construction expert to assess the value. We are then supposed to withhold payment accordingly...
I will arrange a meeting with a lawyer soon.
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