Hello everyone,
Since July, we have had our approved building permit / planning permission, but since then, absolutely nothing has happened on the part of the home builder (prefabricated house). No planning is being done until the selection appointment, and we have now been given an appointment for this in February 2023.
The original timeline was for the basement in December 2022, the house about 4-6 weeks later, and moving in roughly April-May 2023.
Now we are being told that the basement will arrive at the earliest 2-3 months after the selection appointment, the house will be delivered not 4-6 weeks later as originally planned, but in 5-6 months, and the finishing work will take not 3-4 months but rather about 6 months.
Overall, this means that it could be a whole year later before we can move in than originally agreed.
We have a construction contract under the building code. Unfortunately, the contract does not say a word about delivery or move-in dates (I know, we were quite naive and foolish to trust the sales representative so much).
All of this is repeatedly explained by missing materials and supply problems, although we actually believe that the builder overcommitted with orders, took on way too much (before everything completely collapses), and now cannot deliver quickly enough.
(Of course, we are also struggling with costs and cannot and do not want to just stand by. Losing the subsidy hit us pretty hard, then of course the general price increases — from June 2023 we will have to pay the full loan plus our current rent, and from November 2023, also default interest at the bank. The kitchen is scheduled for delivery in May 2023, which will bring price increases and storage costs to us, and as I said, the selection appointment hasn’t even happened yet—we don’t even want to know the prices for floor coverings and such.)
What I really want to know from you is: what is the actual current situation regarding raw materials? I have lost track and hear here and there that things have actually stabilized. Sure, it’s not like before (order today, arrive tomorrow), but if you plan smartly, you can usually get your materials on time. It’s no surprise anymore that if I need insulation for a house in four weeks, it will work out.
What can you tell me about this? Is the delivery situation still as bad out there?
Best regards
Since July, we have had our approved building permit / planning permission, but since then, absolutely nothing has happened on the part of the home builder (prefabricated house). No planning is being done until the selection appointment, and we have now been given an appointment for this in February 2023.
The original timeline was for the basement in December 2022, the house about 4-6 weeks later, and moving in roughly April-May 2023.
Now we are being told that the basement will arrive at the earliest 2-3 months after the selection appointment, the house will be delivered not 4-6 weeks later as originally planned, but in 5-6 months, and the finishing work will take not 3-4 months but rather about 6 months.
Overall, this means that it could be a whole year later before we can move in than originally agreed.
We have a construction contract under the building code. Unfortunately, the contract does not say a word about delivery or move-in dates (I know, we were quite naive and foolish to trust the sales representative so much).
All of this is repeatedly explained by missing materials and supply problems, although we actually believe that the builder overcommitted with orders, took on way too much (before everything completely collapses), and now cannot deliver quickly enough.
(Of course, we are also struggling with costs and cannot and do not want to just stand by. Losing the subsidy hit us pretty hard, then of course the general price increases — from June 2023 we will have to pay the full loan plus our current rent, and from November 2023, also default interest at the bank. The kitchen is scheduled for delivery in May 2023, which will bring price increases and storage costs to us, and as I said, the selection appointment hasn’t even happened yet—we don’t even want to know the prices for floor coverings and such.)
What I really want to know from you is: what is the actual current situation regarding raw materials? I have lost track and hear here and there that things have actually stabilized. Sure, it’s not like before (order today, arrive tomorrow), but if you plan smartly, you can usually get your materials on time. It’s no surprise anymore that if I need insulation for a house in four weeks, it will work out.
What can you tell me about this? Is the delivery situation still as bad out there?
Best regards
X
xMisterDx19 Oct 2022 12:31In addition, there has been a persistent and increasingly severe shortage of skilled tradespeople for years.
Whether one believes it or not does not really matter. This is the reality, and it is wiser to plan a later move-in date than to rely on the general contractor’s promised schedule.
Whether one believes it or not does not really matter. This is the reality, and it is wiser to plan a later move-in date than to rely on the general contractor’s promised schedule.
It’s not really that simple.
I assume there is also a payment schedule?
Not every homebuilding company can simply provide unlimited advance payments. When you choose your materials and they have to order them, they also need to pay their suppliers. If those materials are only installed a year later in your case, the company is missing out on cash flow for quite a long time. If all clients want the same, a company quickly runs into problems paying its bills.
Have you asked where the delay is actually coming from?
Staff shortages are certainly one possibility, and even prefabricated houses in the factory probably don’t build themselves with some kind of magic machine.
I assume there is also a payment schedule?
Not every homebuilding company can simply provide unlimited advance payments. When you choose your materials and they have to order them, they also need to pay their suppliers. If those materials are only installed a year later in your case, the company is missing out on cash flow for quite a long time. If all clients want the same, a company quickly runs into problems paying its bills.
Have you asked where the delay is actually coming from?
Staff shortages are certainly one possibility, and even prefabricated houses in the factory probably don’t build themselves with some kind of magic machine.
M
Myrna_Loy19 Oct 2022 12:37Stefan001 schrieb:
If every employee contracts COVID twice a year and is absent for two weeks each time, this results in an 8% reduction in labor capacity over 250 working days per year!
After two years of the pandemic, this should no longer cause project schedules to double in length.
We are not talking about a local tradesperson who promises to complete a task in four weeks but then misses two weeks due to COVID. This concerns a multi-year, overall plan involving many employees! Such effects tend to average out quickly.
As for how material shortages influence the timing of choosing scarce materials... I don’t see a direct causal relationship there. Yes, that’s controlling theory. Now try to practically plan work that must be performed by teams around COVID, vacations, workplace accidents, and delivery delays.
@Stefan001
I completely agree with you on that...
@filosof
Thank you for your input; this is exactly the kind of contributions I’m hoping to see here, rather than “I know everything and everywhere it’s exactly like at my place” wisdom from some others...
That sounds very good and I’m happy for you!
I just spoke with the basement contractor to avoid any surprises, and he told me everything is under control—not as great as before, but with proper planning, it’s manageable.
@kati1337
We were told there’s a shortage of raw materials, but I will follow up again because, it seems, other companies working under similar conditions are doing better...
I completely agree with you on that...
@filosof
Thank you for your input; this is exactly the kind of contributions I’m hoping to see here, rather than “I know everything and everywhere it’s exactly like at my place” wisdom from some others...
That sounds very good and I’m happy for you!
I just spoke with the basement contractor to avoid any surprises, and he told me everything is under control—not as great as before, but with proper planning, it’s manageable.
@kati1337
We were told there’s a shortage of raw materials, but I will follow up again because, it seems, other companies working under similar conditions are doing better...
X
xMisterDx19 Oct 2022 12:48Nixwill2 schrieb:
@kati1337
They told us it was due to missing raw materials, but I will follow up again because it seems other companies dealing with the same issues are managing better...Then you need to approach those companies directly. Telling your general contractor (GC) that others are doing better won’t speed up your build or improve your chances of goodwill, whatever that may be.
PS:
By the way, it’s rather foolish. I wouldn’t go to VW and tell them Opel is actually better and faster to deliver either. If that’s the case, why not just buy the Opel?
Nixwill2 schrieb:
@kati1337
We were told it’s due to missing raw materials, but I’ll follow up again, because it seems other companies working with the same suppliers manage better...
It can’t hurt to ask for more details. They are delaying you by months, not just a few days. We usually get very specific updates from the general contractor. The last time, we had to wait two weeks for the concrete slab. That was because they didn’t have drivers/trucks/cranes available to deliver the parts to the site earlier. So the materials were actually ready but stayed in the factory for a few days.
Then we had a two-week delay because the architect had COVID. Things like that.
But we always got clear information about the “time frame X” (reasonable periods) and the reasons behind it.
I wouldn’t accept a general statement like “everything will take 6 months longer because of material shortages” without explanation. They should be able to clarify that.
Also, how are you paying them? It probably isn’t in the company’s interest to withhold payment for so long. It might be different for prefab homes, since they usually require less upfront investment?