ᐅ Is the construction company required to provide a detailed cost breakdown for each trade?
Created on: 6 Feb 2020 16:44
S
Schurik19855
Hello everyone,
We are soon building a townhouse measuring 10m x 10m (33 ft x 33 ft) with a single-story bay window at the back measuring 4m x 1m (13 ft x 3 ft). However, the upper floor remains 10m x 10m (33 ft x 33 ft) without the bay window. Now we have extended the bay window down to the lower edge of the house by 6 meters (20 ft). This means the walls on the upper floor no longer align with the walls on the lower floor. This added 2.9 m² (31 sq ft) of living space, and the builder is charging an additional 11,800 EUR. That is about 4,000 EUR/m² (370 USD/sq ft). The roof of the bay window is not even included in this cost.
This does not seem normal, does it? Of course, it affects many trades, but the total cost shouldn’t be this high. The major expenses are coming from the foundation slab, screed, and reinforced concrete floor to the upper floor (which needs to be made stronger). Is the builder trying to overcharge me? He has tried this a few times before, but I was always able to prove that this was not the case, which he eventually admitted.
Attached are the plans before and after.
Do I have the right to request the builder to provide a breakdown of costs for each trade if I ask for it?
Thanks in advance for your feedback!
Best regards
We are soon building a townhouse measuring 10m x 10m (33 ft x 33 ft) with a single-story bay window at the back measuring 4m x 1m (13 ft x 3 ft). However, the upper floor remains 10m x 10m (33 ft x 33 ft) without the bay window. Now we have extended the bay window down to the lower edge of the house by 6 meters (20 ft). This means the walls on the upper floor no longer align with the walls on the lower floor. This added 2.9 m² (31 sq ft) of living space, and the builder is charging an additional 11,800 EUR. That is about 4,000 EUR/m² (370 USD/sq ft). The roof of the bay window is not even included in this cost.
This does not seem normal, does it? Of course, it affects many trades, but the total cost shouldn’t be this high. The major expenses are coming from the foundation slab, screed, and reinforced concrete floor to the upper floor (which needs to be made stronger). Is the builder trying to overcharge me? He has tried this a few times before, but I was always able to prove that this was not the case, which he eventually admitted.
Attached are the plans before and after.
Do I have the right to request the builder to provide a breakdown of costs for each trade if I ask for it?
Thanks in advance for your feedback!
Best regards
S
Schurik1985510 Feb 2020 22:4611ant schrieb:
The house itself is a fairly standard box, and its price per square meter reflects that. However, the price per square meter for the bay window is like a truffle price on purchase, just because of the structural challenges it brings—it can’t be sold any cheaper. Expecting the usual mass-market price for the rest of the house to apply there is an incredibly naive and unrealistic attitude, something you only find in the current, very unique generation of homeowners of the type “informed consumer really questions the very first thing.” Today’s customer simply has no manners. You say “thank you” when you get such a special request at eight times the usual price as a gift, and you don’t complain that you can’t understand it. Of course you can’t understand it—the price is a g-i-f-t. And just because it was the weekend and I was offline, you didn’t hear this from me but from @andimann, and therefore with a presumption of innocence
which I wouldn’t grant for anything like this. At some point, there needs to be an end to the feeling of entitlement to ignorance, in my opinion. I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about. You don’t know the whole background anyway, you don’t know what we agreed on contractually. You sound like a contractor who is overwhelmed. What makes a good contractor is that they accept changes as long as possible, and there is still enough time for that. When I compare my first plan with the current one, I am glad about the changes, and the construction company is top! I just wanted to know if it was justified or not. But let’s drop it, because that wasn’t the point of my question.
S
Schurik1985510 Feb 2020 23:34It apparently paid off. The construction company acknowledged this and lowered the price. The new price is completely reasonable.
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