ᐅ Independent Building Inspector – Necessary or Are There Alternatives?
Created on: 4 Oct 2018 13:34
E
EdStark
Hello – what has been your experience with your building surveyors (building inspectors)? Were they worth the – often high – cost?
For my planned new build with a regional construction company that hires subcontractors and also provides its own site management (I am aware that this company may not always be acting in my interest).
I have now received an offer from TÜV: 3,300 for 4 site visits plus inspection reports. That’s 825 per visit to the construction site. I find that quite steep, especially since you can’t be sure if you are getting truly competent professionals.
What do you think? What alternatives are there? No independent building inspectors and just hope everything goes well? Hiring a freelance engineer online and hope they are reliable?
I understand that finding defects early during construction by experts can save a lot of money. Using independent surveyors may reduce risks somewhat. But even then, you can’t be completely certain.
Regards from Lower Saxony.
For my planned new build with a regional construction company that hires subcontractors and also provides its own site management (I am aware that this company may not always be acting in my interest).
I have now received an offer from TÜV: 3,300 for 4 site visits plus inspection reports. That’s 825 per visit to the construction site. I find that quite steep, especially since you can’t be sure if you are getting truly competent professionals.
What do you think? What alternatives are there? No independent building inspectors and just hope everything goes well? Hiring a freelance engineer online and hope they are reliable?
I understand that finding defects early during construction by experts can save a lot of money. Using independent surveyors may reduce risks somewhat. But even then, you can’t be completely certain.
Regards from Lower Saxony.
Snowy36 schrieb:
Yes, that all sounds good ... but in practice it’s unfortunately difficult.
How is the expert supposed to estimate the extent of a defect? Whether it can be left as is or needs to be redone? If they say it needs to be redone, will you actually do it, especially if a lawyer says that would be disproportionate?
These are the practical issues that make it difficult.A competent expert can assess that and should also know the acceptable tolerance limits. They should be able to roughly estimate the values behind that. We don’t need to argue over the money.
Our expert was even able to calculate for us how much it would cost if we had to fix a wrongly installed underfloor heating system.
It should be noted that we had a very experienced individual with a vast amount of expertise.
Evolith schrieb:
We had an expert through the Homeowners’ Protection Association. It was just under 300 euros per visit. We called them whenever we needed. For example, when the shell was up and the roof truss was in place, when the heating and pipes were installed, again for the electrical work, and once more in between. Each time we received reports with photos.
It was important to us that someone checked during the key construction phases. We didn’t need anyone for the tiling. If they mess up there, it’s annoying but doesn’t ruin the whole build.We did the same with an expert from the Homeowners’ Protection Association; the cost was similar. It was extremely helpful, especially since we lived and worked quite far away during the construction phase. Surprisingly and reassuringly, no one ever questioned anything they wrote in their reports. She also works very well with a (unfortunately necessary) lawyer—also recommended by the Homeowners’ Protection Association. You can definitely spend your construction money on much less useful things. Costs for the expert were about 3,500 euros; for the lawyer about 2,000 euros. Considering the overall amount, that’s really peanuts. We can only recommend it to everyone. The building companies and their subcontractors obviously have full order books; sometimes work is done very hastily, which naturally leads to mistakes. As a layperson, you would have a very hard time without support.
I won’t name any names here yet; let’s see how the negotiations regarding “offsetting counterclaims” between our lawyer and the general contractor go. Maybe afterward with more detailed information...
We hired a local structural engineer, and we managed to negotiate the travel allowance. He visited the construction site countless times and maintained a strong presence. That alone was enough to prevent many construction blunders caused by carelessness.
For 3,000 euros (about $3,300), there were occasional clashes between our expert and the site manager.
In summary, we were spared from any shoddy work and did not have to report any defects even after two years.
For 3,000 euros (about $3,300), there were occasional clashes between our expert and the site manager.
In summary, we were spared from any shoddy work and did not have to report any defects even after two years.
[A proper expert can usually assess this and should also know the acceptable tolerance limits. They should be able to roughly estimate the underlying values. There’s no need to argue over the cost.
Our expert was even able to calculate what it would cost us if we had to fix an incorrectly installed underfloor heating system.
It should be noted that we had an experienced professional with extensive knowledge.]
As an example: your site manager didn’t apply bitumen or a similar product like a vapor barrier on the floor in the waterproof concrete basement. Instead, they used an Alujet foil.
The underfloor heating and insulation are already installed. Your inspector says this is wrong and that everything must be removed and redone. Your site manager says they’ve been doing it this way for 20 years. You’ll find conflicting opinions online.
Do you stop construction now and tear everything out, even though the site manager and tradespeople say the current setup will work as it is?
Who would pay for all of that? Would you hire a lawyer? What would you do?
To return to what I said at the beginning: implementing the inspector’s recommendations nowadays is extremely difficult. Unless you have someone who is truly present and intervenes at every little step. And it’s also hard to judge what actually works in practice and what doesn’t. In my opinion, unfortunately, the only solution is to inform yourself beforehand...]
Our expert was even able to calculate what it would cost us if we had to fix an incorrectly installed underfloor heating system.
It should be noted that we had an experienced professional with extensive knowledge.]
As an example: your site manager didn’t apply bitumen or a similar product like a vapor barrier on the floor in the waterproof concrete basement. Instead, they used an Alujet foil.
The underfloor heating and insulation are already installed. Your inspector says this is wrong and that everything must be removed and redone. Your site manager says they’ve been doing it this way for 20 years. You’ll find conflicting opinions online.
Do you stop construction now and tear everything out, even though the site manager and tradespeople say the current setup will work as it is?
Who would pay for all of that? Would you hire a lawyer? What would you do?
To return to what I said at the beginning: implementing the inspector’s recommendations nowadays is extremely difficult. Unless you have someone who is truly present and intervenes at every little step. And it’s also hard to judge what actually works in practice and what doesn’t. In my opinion, unfortunately, the only solution is to inform yourself beforehand...]
C
Caspar202011 Oct 2018 10:11Snowy36 schrieb:
As an example: your site manager did not apply bitumen or Katja Sprint or something similar to the floor in the waterproof concrete basement. Instead, he had an Alujet foil installed.I think that is a poor example. In the past, this was viewed more critically, but today we know better. A vapor barrier is sufficient if the waterproof concrete basement is properly executed.
But then I find this to be a good example. You seem to know this now and therefore definitely wouldn’t have everything removed. The inspector said that everything must be taken out.
In this example, I am the layperson who doesn’t have any expertise and would do what the inspector says.
Considering your points that more is known nowadays, this would be completely excessive. The construction manager knows this and shakes his head, as does the tradesperson. Unfortunately, as a layperson, I don’t know this and caused costs for which I don’t know who will bear them.
From another perspective, the inspector is correct: these are not the recognized rules of technology (building standards).
This goes back to my original post: the difficult part here is deciding what is reasonable and what is unreasonable.
In this example, I am the layperson who doesn’t have any expertise and would do what the inspector says.
Considering your points that more is known nowadays, this would be completely excessive. The construction manager knows this and shakes his head, as does the tradesperson. Unfortunately, as a layperson, I don’t know this and caused costs for which I don’t know who will bear them.
From another perspective, the inspector is correct: these are not the recognized rules of technology (building standards).
This goes back to my original post: the difficult part here is deciding what is reasonable and what is unreasonable.
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