ᐅ Location of a city villa or detached single-family house on a 500 m² rectangular plot
Created on: 17 Jan 2020 18:03
T
Tolentino
Dear all,
after sharing the floor plans of my possible hamster cage with you in the other thread , here comes the next thread (thanks again for all the constructive suggestions there).
Just so you know, the semi-detached house is not off the table yet, as this plot of land is highly sought after and it’s not clear whether it will work out. But this one would be my favorite.
Now to this plot. For now, I’m mainly concerned with where and roughly how the house should be positioned on this plot.
Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: 500 m² (5400 sq ft)
Slope: none
Site coverage ratio: 0.2
Floor area ratio: 0.4
Building envelope, building line and boundary: 5 m (16 ft) from the street, 3 m (10 ft) from neighbors
Edge development: allowed for garages and sheds, none existing on the plot
Number of parking spaces: 1-2
Number of floors: 1.5–2.5
Roof shape: no preference
Architectural style: no preference
Orientation: aligned parallel to the street
Maximum heights / limits: ridge height max. 9 m (30 ft)
Below are the site plans I created myself based on the details from the listing.
This is a rough overview of the plot with building boundaries and dimensions.
My question is: where to put the house?
The broker suggests placing it towards the back, since you already have the 5 m (16 ft) setback at the front and would “gain” about 3 m (10 ft) of garden. My partner doesn’t like this because of the visibility from the street. I say: privacy screen! But I also think, a fence too high might create a prison-yard feel.
But even if you follow this suggestion, I wonder if a more square floor plan (-> town villa style) would be better?
Like this, for example:
Then parking space might be tricky, right?
Or upright like this?
I really want as much of a west-facing view and garden as possible. I tend to be an evening person and that side is less built up, due to the road. So I think more light comes through.
But the narrow floor plan caused lots of problems with the semi-detached house already. Well, here you could build longer instead.
What do you think?
Best regards
Tolentino
after sharing the floor plans of my possible hamster cage with you in the other thread , here comes the next thread (thanks again for all the constructive suggestions there).
Just so you know, the semi-detached house is not off the table yet, as this plot of land is highly sought after and it’s not clear whether it will work out. But this one would be my favorite.
Now to this plot. For now, I’m mainly concerned with where and roughly how the house should be positioned on this plot.
Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: 500 m² (5400 sq ft)
Slope: none
Site coverage ratio: 0.2
Floor area ratio: 0.4
Building envelope, building line and boundary: 5 m (16 ft) from the street, 3 m (10 ft) from neighbors
Edge development: allowed for garages and sheds, none existing on the plot
Number of parking spaces: 1-2
Number of floors: 1.5–2.5
Roof shape: no preference
Architectural style: no preference
Orientation: aligned parallel to the street
Maximum heights / limits: ridge height max. 9 m (30 ft)
Below are the site plans I created myself based on the details from the listing.
This is a rough overview of the plot with building boundaries and dimensions.
My question is: where to put the house?
The broker suggests placing it towards the back, since you already have the 5 m (16 ft) setback at the front and would “gain” about 3 m (10 ft) of garden. My partner doesn’t like this because of the visibility from the street. I say: privacy screen! But I also think, a fence too high might create a prison-yard feel.
But even if you follow this suggestion, I wonder if a more square floor plan (-> town villa style) would be better?
Like this, for example:
Then parking space might be tricky, right?
Or upright like this?
I really want as much of a west-facing view and garden as possible. I tend to be an evening person and that side is less built up, due to the road. So I think more light comes through.
But the narrow floor plan caused lots of problems with the semi-detached house already. Well, here you could build longer instead.
What do you think?
Best regards
Tolentino
I believe the general contractor is waiting to see how I respond. He wants written confirmation from me that I accept the defect as is. I will not provide that without further concessions.
Which concessions these might be exactly, and the advantages and disadvantages that may arise for me, will be part of a legal consultation tomorrow afternoon...
Which concessions these might be exactly, and the advantages and disadvantages that may arise for me, will be part of a legal consultation tomorrow afternoon...
P
pagoni202025 Feb 2021 13:07How did your appointment go? Is everything moving forward properly now?
The lawyer wants to review the contract first. At the time, I was too naive and wanted to proceed quickly just to secure the plot of land. Therefore, I didn’t thoroughly check everything back then.
So there might be a few hidden issues.
The general contractor has now declared a work stoppage on their part until I approve the defect.
Additionally, they provided a formal clearance certificate from the structural engineer regarding the structural stability (although, firstly, it was addressed to them, and secondly, it does not mention the plaster’s vulnerability to cracking). I want to discuss with the lawyer what else could be extended, for example, an extended retention of security.
Despite this, scaffolding has now been delivered...
So there might be a few hidden issues.
The general contractor has now declared a work stoppage on their part until I approve the defect.
Additionally, they provided a formal clearance certificate from the structural engineer regarding the structural stability (although, firstly, it was addressed to them, and secondly, it does not mention the plaster’s vulnerability to cracking). I want to discuss with the lawyer what else could be extended, for example, an extended retention of security.
Despite this, scaffolding has now been delivered...
Tolentino schrieb:
The lawyer wants to review the contract first. I was too naive back then and wanted to move quickly just to secure the plot of land. So I didn’t thoroughly check everything at the time.
There might be a few hidden issues in it.What does the plot of land or the purchase contract have to do with the construction topics? You keep talking about the general contractor (GC) / main contractor, and not the property developer. So the land and the purchase contract should be handled by the seller of the land and have nothing to do with the contractual conditions with the GC/main contractor, right?
Or are you referring to the construction contract with the GC/main contractor? Even if so, it’s already signed. If there’s nothing fraudulent in it, but only unfavorable terms for you, then that’s just how it is.
Honestly, based on your three lines, it sounds like the lawyer just wants to cash in on irrelevant side issues through your legal protection insurance for building clients. Most builders probably wouldn’t opt for that, so you could take advantage of it with both hands.
Now my personal interpretation…..
Tolentino schrieb:
Also, at first she actually provided a formal statement of no objection from the structural engineer regarding structural stability (although, firstly addressed to him, and secondly did not mention anything about the plaster’s susceptibility to cracking).That’s all you wanted, right? File it away and move on. The bricklayers will probably mess up the plaster anyway, but otherwise deliver decent work in visible areas.
Plaster and susceptibility to cracking? Because of the sloppy workers?
@OWLer I explained it in more detail earlier; here is the very short version. The real estate agent introduced the construction company because he knows them and had already prepared plans for the neighbor behind. However, the agent applied significant time pressure and mentioned numerous other interested parties (the part about the other interested parties was definitely true; the time pressure, as I now know, was mainly due to his expiring exclusive contract). For the financing, I needed an official stamped construction cost breakdown, and after several discussions with the general contractor’s sales representative, I ended up signing the plans without first having the contract reviewed by a lawyer or even a construction consultant. In hindsight, that might have been a mistake.
It’s possible that the lawyer is now just seeing an easy payout. However, for any major matter beyond advice and correspondence, he has to submit a separate coverage request to the legal expenses insurer. So, not every minor issue will be worth pursuing. I have already told him that negotiations or even legal evidence preservation proceedings are not an option due to the time involved.
No, the lap lengths are almost consistently not being maintained. Because of this, the distribution of horizontal forces no longer works within the layer. According to the expert, this will lead to cracks unless additional measures are taken. The structural engineer is also supposed to confirm that with fabric plaster and reinforcement plaster, this will not happen.
The lawyer advises me to definitely demand the security retention as stipulated by the building code. So far, I have refrained from this because, on the one hand, the last payment after acceptance is already 10%, and on the other hand, the general contractor intends to exercise the right to provide a substitute guarantee instead of retention and in return demands a guarantee from my bank covering the entire contract sum (which he has not done so far). My assumption was that this is a bad deal at worst because I can withhold the final 10% if necessary, and if he has the bank guarantee for the full amount, he could claim everything directly from my bank without me having to release it separately. The lawyer is now supposed to find out whether my concerns are justified or if it would be better to demand the guarantee. Also, if necessary, to negotiate an extension of the warranty/security retention.
The bricklayers don’t even see the plaster (a different company). But yes, urine tests are now on the schedule.
It’s possible that the lawyer is now just seeing an easy payout. However, for any major matter beyond advice and correspondence, he has to submit a separate coverage request to the legal expenses insurer. So, not every minor issue will be worth pursuing. I have already told him that negotiations or even legal evidence preservation proceedings are not an option due to the time involved.
No, the lap lengths are almost consistently not being maintained. Because of this, the distribution of horizontal forces no longer works within the layer. According to the expert, this will lead to cracks unless additional measures are taken. The structural engineer is also supposed to confirm that with fabric plaster and reinforcement plaster, this will not happen.
The lawyer advises me to definitely demand the security retention as stipulated by the building code. So far, I have refrained from this because, on the one hand, the last payment after acceptance is already 10%, and on the other hand, the general contractor intends to exercise the right to provide a substitute guarantee instead of retention and in return demands a guarantee from my bank covering the entire contract sum (which he has not done so far). My assumption was that this is a bad deal at worst because I can withhold the final 10% if necessary, and if he has the bank guarantee for the full amount, he could claim everything directly from my bank without me having to release it separately. The lawyer is now supposed to find out whether my concerns are justified or if it would be better to demand the guarantee. Also, if necessary, to negotiate an extension of the warranty/security retention.
The bricklayers don’t even see the plaster (a different company). But yes, urine tests are now on the schedule.