ᐅ Just before signing a contract with a construction company, what should be considered?
Created on: 6 Jul 2017 00:17
F
flibusterx1
Hello,
I am potentially about to sign a contract with a construction company. I have very little knowledge about this subject. Because of this—or perhaps despite it—I have developed quite a few doubts.
Here is the situation: The construction company found a plot of land for us, and together we have planned a house. Nothing has been signed yet, but we have worked on our floor plan (which was revised twice by a draftsman). The house is allowed to be built only with a gable roof, 1½ stories, with a net floor area of 192 m² (2,067 sq ft) and living space of 177 m² (1,905 sq ft), with a ceiling height of 2.6 m (8.5 ft) on the ground floor.
We have looked at the houses this company builds and have had one conversation with people who have built with this company. After the conversation, it felt as if it was not 100% objective. The construction company appears confident and is not cheap.
Now to my doubts:
- The plot is located so that we need a lifting station . This is supposed to cost 5,000 (EUR) including installation and allegedly cannot be avoided.
- Heating. Gas heating is not possible on the property, so we would opt for a ground-source heat pump. The construction company wants to sell us one through an affiliated company. It is a heat pump with a horizontal ground collector using trench collectors. The price, including underfloor heating installation/insulation, screed, washing machine with the combined stratified storage tank, and cooling function, is a hefty 49,700 (EUR).
The information about this heat pump is not very clear. For example, it does not explain exactly how this combined stratified storage tank works or its advantages and disadvantages. The individual room controls probably will not work in all rooms, which was not mentioned. I also don’t fully understand whether the heat pump system is monovalent or not.
The specifications I have are:
Heating output in kW at 0°C/35°C: 8.9 kW
1 refrigerant flow meter for determining COP building heating load approx. in kW: 6.35. Does this mean the COP value? Is 6.35 even credible?
- For the LAS-chimney including cladding, cleaning cap in the hallway, attic ladder, roof exit window with safety grating, walkway in the attic, wiring/switch/outlet in the attic, and air pressure monitor, we were charged 9,000 (EUR). Is this reasonable?
- We have not seen any survey report or similar for the plot. How necessary is this?
- We do not yet know exactly which fees/permits are included in the price and which are not. Changes to the floor plan should be free until the building permit / planning permission stage.
- A private road will lead to the plot. It is not yet clear how rainwater will be managed (each plot apparently needs its own lifting station for wastewater, which operates independently). What costs will arise for the 7 houses planned on the site? Does anyone have experience with this? For example, with waste collection or possible maintenance? What else should be considered?
Now about the price – including all special requests (chimney, heat pump, sauna preparation, 3 showers, large windows with external blinds at the bottom), we are at 333,000 (EUR) for the house alone.
The seller is increasingly pressing us to sign the contract. One can understand this; he has worked “for free” so far. My biggest doubts are about the heat pump and the lifting station. The seller says we got the plot too quickly and do not appreciate how difficult it is right now in Leipzig; it could take years for the next opportunity.
The plot costs almost 200,000 (EUR), so the whole project will be around 600,000 (EUR), and I think having some doubts is healthy 🙂
I feel like I have about one week to give him the answer whether we will proceed or not.
What questions should I clarify now? What do you think about all of this? I’m happy to provide any information I have, though I would prefer not to name the companies at this stage.
I would be very grateful for any tips, criticism, or advice!
I am potentially about to sign a contract with a construction company. I have very little knowledge about this subject. Because of this—or perhaps despite it—I have developed quite a few doubts.
Here is the situation: The construction company found a plot of land for us, and together we have planned a house. Nothing has been signed yet, but we have worked on our floor plan (which was revised twice by a draftsman). The house is allowed to be built only with a gable roof, 1½ stories, with a net floor area of 192 m² (2,067 sq ft) and living space of 177 m² (1,905 sq ft), with a ceiling height of 2.6 m (8.5 ft) on the ground floor.
We have looked at the houses this company builds and have had one conversation with people who have built with this company. After the conversation, it felt as if it was not 100% objective. The construction company appears confident and is not cheap.
Now to my doubts:
- The plot is located so that we need a lifting station . This is supposed to cost 5,000 (EUR) including installation and allegedly cannot be avoided.
- Heating. Gas heating is not possible on the property, so we would opt for a ground-source heat pump. The construction company wants to sell us one through an affiliated company. It is a heat pump with a horizontal ground collector using trench collectors. The price, including underfloor heating installation/insulation, screed, washing machine with the combined stratified storage tank, and cooling function, is a hefty 49,700 (EUR).
The information about this heat pump is not very clear. For example, it does not explain exactly how this combined stratified storage tank works or its advantages and disadvantages. The individual room controls probably will not work in all rooms, which was not mentioned. I also don’t fully understand whether the heat pump system is monovalent or not.
The specifications I have are:
Heating output in kW at 0°C/35°C: 8.9 kW
1 refrigerant flow meter for determining COP building heating load approx. in kW: 6.35. Does this mean the COP value? Is 6.35 even credible?
- For the LAS-chimney including cladding, cleaning cap in the hallway, attic ladder, roof exit window with safety grating, walkway in the attic, wiring/switch/outlet in the attic, and air pressure monitor, we were charged 9,000 (EUR). Is this reasonable?
- We have not seen any survey report or similar for the plot. How necessary is this?
- We do not yet know exactly which fees/permits are included in the price and which are not. Changes to the floor plan should be free until the building permit / planning permission stage.
- A private road will lead to the plot. It is not yet clear how rainwater will be managed (each plot apparently needs its own lifting station for wastewater, which operates independently). What costs will arise for the 7 houses planned on the site? Does anyone have experience with this? For example, with waste collection or possible maintenance? What else should be considered?
Now about the price – including all special requests (chimney, heat pump, sauna preparation, 3 showers, large windows with external blinds at the bottom), we are at 333,000 (EUR) for the house alone.
The seller is increasingly pressing us to sign the contract. One can understand this; he has worked “for free” so far. My biggest doubts are about the heat pump and the lifting station. The seller says we got the plot too quickly and do not appreciate how difficult it is right now in Leipzig; it could take years for the next opportunity.
The plot costs almost 200,000 (EUR), so the whole project will be around 600,000 (EUR), and I think having some doubts is healthy 🙂
I feel like I have about one week to give him the answer whether we will proceed or not.
What questions should I clarify now? What do you think about all of this? I’m happy to provide any information I have, though I would prefer not to name the companies at this stage.
I would be very grateful for any tips, criticism, or advice!
C
Caspar20207 Jul 2017 09:09andimann schrieb:
There are also two or three Antonov 124s stationed there; I don’t think they will be very quiet either.They reach about 300 takeoffs per year.
Typically, at Leipzig, planes take off towards the west due to prevailing weather conditions. So, no departing flights over Lindental in that case. The approach is more like a "glide," and it starts long before the runway along a straight line.
However, when the wind changes and takeoffs head east, it’s a different story. The key term here is "southern turn":
The short southern turn is a flight route used only during daytime (6 a.m. to 10 p.m.) in easterly winds (on about one-third of the days per year). DHL neither requires nor flies this route. Over five months—from November 2016 to March—there were about 650 movements on this route, roughly five percent of all departures, or about 130 takeoffs per month.And this southern turn goes practically right over Lindental.
andimann schrieb:
So imagine standing on the property at night; that could be much more interesting.And also during daytime when there’s an east wind... That’s even more exciting.
Alex85 schrieb:
flightradar can display historical flight movements. Otherwise, these noise maps for each airport can also help. I believe there is also a nationwide portal online where you can generate such dataTry this one from the German air navigation service:
stanlytrack2.dfs.de/webstart/EDDP/launch.jnlp
There you can see the exact departure and arrival flight paths for Leipzig. Don’t worry about the Javascript. It’s safe.
@admin: Sorry, I forgot that even links to public institutions don’t work here.
Out of curiosity, I used the tool to plot the flight paths from the day before yesterday. There were flights in both directions, and some took off over Lindental. So it’s not completely quiet there.
Out of curiosity, I used the tool to plot the flight paths from the day before yesterday. There were flights in both directions, and some took off over Lindental. So it’s not completely quiet there.
Does it really have to be in the city? The Leipzig surrounding area has excellent connections, and you can often still get plots from the local communities without going through developers, usually at reasonable prices. Otherwise, I can gladly recommend someone knowledgeable who can take a look at the construction specifications and the contract.
Regarding the fireplace price:
We paid around 5000 for the chimney (standard length for a two-story building). However, this was in 2013 and did not include an attic hatch or a pressure monitor. The latter should cost about 700 from the electrician. Therefore, I can easily imagine a total price of 9000 nowadays, all in.
Best regards in brief
We paid around 5000 for the chimney (standard length for a two-story building). However, this was in 2013 and did not include an attic hatch or a pressure monitor. The latter should cost about 700 from the electrician. Therefore, I can easily imagine a total price of 9000 nowadays, all in.
Best regards in brief