ᐅ Is a general contractor's price increase after signing the contract due to raw material shortages legally justified?

Hello,
I recently had a brief phone call with the general contractor, who plans to start building our single-family home in September.
During the conversation, they casually mentioned the current situation with raw material availability and said that this could lead to price adjustments if the situation is not stabilized by then.
We signed the contract for a turnkey single-family home in mid-January at an agreed fixed price.
I have now reviewed this contract again but found no information that would legitimize an additional charge due to this issue. At least, I could not find anything in the contract about it.
Under the section on compensation, I only found the following passage:
“The contractor’s fee is guaranteed as a fixed price. Costs for utility connections—gas, water, electricity, and sewage—are not included in the fixed price and are to be borne by the client.
This fixed price applies until handover unless construction does not begin within six months from the date of contract signing due to circumstances for which the contractor is not responsible.
Additional costs resulting from special requests, official requirements, force majeure, or circumstances for which the client is responsible, as well as the conditions listed in § 3 (1), are not included in the fixed price.”
I should mention that this is a small company. As a layperson, I cannot gauge how much a 50% increase in the price of wood affects the cost of a solid wood house. It would likely mainly impact the roof structure, but to what extent? 🙄

If you are not responsible for the delay, then the contractor’s claim is not covered by the contract. The general terms and conditions may, of course, state something different.

This passage made me pause—can these circumstances already be considered force majeure? 😀

SamSamSam schrieb:

Additional costs due to special requests, official requirements, force majeure, or circumstances for which the client is responsible,

This is definitely not an act of God. This is a business risk that the contractor must factor into their risk and profit calculation. However, this doesn't help if the contractor then becomes insolvent. If the contractor has not fixed the price with the roofer for your project, that is their problem. Otherwise, it is the carpenter’s issue.

Your risk, as mentioned, only applies if you are responsible for the delay. January to September is quite a long time.

Was a start date contractually agreed upon?

Our general contractor (also using solid construction) informed us that there are currently about 5,000 euros in additional costs due to the location. So no need to worry, it will definitely remain affordable even if an adjustment becomes necessary. Since you usually allow for a certain buffer when building a house, this should be manageable.

Hausbauer2021 schrieb:

Our general contractor (also using solid construction) informed us that there are currently additional costs of around €5000 (about $5400) due to the location. So no need to panic—it should definitely remain affordable even if an adjustment is necessary. Since you typically plan for a certain buffer in house construction, it should be manageable.

Why would anyone accept these extra costs in the first place, or what right does the general contractor have to pass this price increase on to the client under current market conditions? A fixed price is a fixed price... If there is no contractual agreement regarding a price escalation clause or something similar, I wouldn’t pay a single cent more.