Hello everyone,
Since we have tried everything imaginable and don’t know what else to do, I hope to get some advice here that might help us out of this predicament.
Brief introduction:
At the end of 2016, we signed the contract for our own home with Deutsche Fertighaus Holding Group (Allkauf Haus). At the beginning of 2017, the foundation slab was finally laid and our house was erected. We also purchased the finishing work, including electrical and plumbing services, through Deutsche Fertighaus Holding. The subcontractors for these services were provided by Deutsche Fertighaus Holding.
During the construction of our house, issues kept arising that should not have happened.
- Roof not sealed properly
- Wet insulation installed
- Doorways and openings built too small at the factory
- Electrical wiring forgotten during pre-assembly
- Cigarette butts pushed into the holes for power outlets
- Front door scratched
- Several electrical cables accidentally drilled into
- and so on, and so on, and so on.
But what homeowner hasn’t faced problems like these? Some more, some less.
I don’t want to burden you with the long version of the story, so – to cut a long story short:
We have been living in our house since mid-2017, and there are still unresolved defects that have not been fixed.
- Window sills not installed according to standards, causing loud echoing when it rains
- Skim coat work at level Q2 throughout the house (walls, ceilings) / construction manager of Deutsche Fertighaus Holding claims “this is more like Q0”
- Underfloor heating circuit for the living area partly installed in the ground floor hallway
- Hot water takes over 50 seconds to reach the standard 60 degrees Celsius (140°F), sometimes well over one minute, and uses over 5 liters of water (energy-saving house?)
- Scratched window frames from sanding work
- Scratches on the front door
We have been trying to reach an agreement with the developer for half a year now. We have sent more than 30 emails in an attempt to find a mutually satisfactory solution. The only response we ever receive is always the same: “Your complaint has been forwarded to the responsible department,” but apparently the processing stops right there.
Currently, we have withheld a portion of the purchase price guarantee, which is now held in a bank account.
Deutsche Fertighaus Holding has not contacted us for 3 months and no longer responds to emails. Since most legal expenses insurance policies, including ours, have a new build clause that excludes legal coverage, we are unable to take legal action against the company without risking significant financial loss. However, our insurer provided us with a lawyer as a mediator, who has tried to mediate between us and Deutsche Fertighaus Holding. Unfortunately, there was no response to her either.
Now we don’t know what to do anymore. We have given Deutsche Fertighaus Holding a deadline by which the defects must be remedied. Should Deutsche Fertighaus Holding fail to properly, professionally, permanently, and according to recognized standards fix the defects or find a mutually satisfactory and final solution, we will use the withheld remaining amount to cover the costs of repairs ourselves or hire a company of our choice.
Since the company no longer communicates, we also cannot access the money withheld in the bank. The only way would be a waiver letter from Deutsche Fertighaus Holding. But this is exactly where the problem lies.
Maybe you have some advice for us.
Thank you in advance.
Since we have tried everything imaginable and don’t know what else to do, I hope to get some advice here that might help us out of this predicament.
Brief introduction:
At the end of 2016, we signed the contract for our own home with Deutsche Fertighaus Holding Group (Allkauf Haus). At the beginning of 2017, the foundation slab was finally laid and our house was erected. We also purchased the finishing work, including electrical and plumbing services, through Deutsche Fertighaus Holding. The subcontractors for these services were provided by Deutsche Fertighaus Holding.
During the construction of our house, issues kept arising that should not have happened.
- Roof not sealed properly
- Wet insulation installed
- Doorways and openings built too small at the factory
- Electrical wiring forgotten during pre-assembly
- Cigarette butts pushed into the holes for power outlets
- Front door scratched
- Several electrical cables accidentally drilled into
- and so on, and so on, and so on.
But what homeowner hasn’t faced problems like these? Some more, some less.
I don’t want to burden you with the long version of the story, so – to cut a long story short:
We have been living in our house since mid-2017, and there are still unresolved defects that have not been fixed.
- Window sills not installed according to standards, causing loud echoing when it rains
- Skim coat work at level Q2 throughout the house (walls, ceilings) / construction manager of Deutsche Fertighaus Holding claims “this is more like Q0”
- Underfloor heating circuit for the living area partly installed in the ground floor hallway
- Hot water takes over 50 seconds to reach the standard 60 degrees Celsius (140°F), sometimes well over one minute, and uses over 5 liters of water (energy-saving house?)
- Scratched window frames from sanding work
- Scratches on the front door
We have been trying to reach an agreement with the developer for half a year now. We have sent more than 30 emails in an attempt to find a mutually satisfactory solution. The only response we ever receive is always the same: “Your complaint has been forwarded to the responsible department,” but apparently the processing stops right there.
Currently, we have withheld a portion of the purchase price guarantee, which is now held in a bank account.
Deutsche Fertighaus Holding has not contacted us for 3 months and no longer responds to emails. Since most legal expenses insurance policies, including ours, have a new build clause that excludes legal coverage, we are unable to take legal action against the company without risking significant financial loss. However, our insurer provided us with a lawyer as a mediator, who has tried to mediate between us and Deutsche Fertighaus Holding. Unfortunately, there was no response to her either.
Now we don’t know what to do anymore. We have given Deutsche Fertighaus Holding a deadline by which the defects must be remedied. Should Deutsche Fertighaus Holding fail to properly, professionally, permanently, and according to recognized standards fix the defects or find a mutually satisfactory and final solution, we will use the withheld remaining amount to cover the costs of repairs ourselves or hire a company of our choice.
Since the company no longer communicates, we also cannot access the money withheld in the bank. The only way would be a waiver letter from Deutsche Fertighaus Holding. But this is exactly where the problem lies.
Maybe you have some advice for us.
Thank you in advance.
Alex85 schrieb:
So? Does that make the topic less interesting? As long as no one comes forward and says, hello, I have a similar issue here, there is probably some truth to that, you could say.https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
B
bellabude25 Jun 2020 21:02I’m bringing this topic back up again...
We have now sent a large number of emails to the builder over a long period. No defects have been rectified. The cost of the first self-performed repair has been reimbursed by the construction company, but the second invoice has not yet been paid. A payment reminder has been sent.
Further defects have been formally reported again (to ensure deadlines are met).
Let’s see what happens this time.
We have now sent a large number of emails to the builder over a long period. No defects have been rectified. The cost of the first self-performed repair has been reimbursed by the construction company, but the second invoice has not yet been paid. A payment reminder has been sent.
Further defects have been formally reported again (to ensure deadlines are met).
Let’s see what happens this time.
In our apartment, the bank had no problem with us receiving the withheld money ourselves by providing invoices for defect repairs (e.g., completely new parquet flooring).
Basically: withholding money due to parquet damage -> developer does nothing -> 3 registered letters with return receipt, each with a two-week deadline -> after the third time no response or just empty talk -> we hired a company ourselves to remove and replace the entire parquet flooring, sent a registered letter with return receipt including a message stating: "old parquet will be placed on the terrace for pickup on day X; if not collected, disposal will be ordered at the developer’s expense."
It is important that the "old material," if any, must not be disposed of beforehand. Everything must be very well documented, especially the damage, with photos and witnesses (several independent companies, for example). This way, even in court, it is possible to prove afterward that the damage really existed.
In our case, loan repayment did not start as long as the loan was not fully disbursed – but interest was already charged on the amount disbursed and costs on the part not yet disbursed. The fixed interest period gets shorter and shorter without any repayment. If possible, compensate for this with extra repayments.
For construction defects that are not immediately obvious, you have to rely on a preservation-of-evidence procedure. Unfortunately, this does not guarantee that the construction expert will take thorough care and properly assess the issues just because they were appointed by the court. Also, such procedures can currently take several years.
Important: Legally, the client must always pay the invoice, even if the developer actually should be responsible for it. Emails are useless for these matters; only registered letters with return receipt count.
Basically: withholding money due to parquet damage -> developer does nothing -> 3 registered letters with return receipt, each with a two-week deadline -> after the third time no response or just empty talk -> we hired a company ourselves to remove and replace the entire parquet flooring, sent a registered letter with return receipt including a message stating: "old parquet will be placed on the terrace for pickup on day X; if not collected, disposal will be ordered at the developer’s expense."
It is important that the "old material," if any, must not be disposed of beforehand. Everything must be very well documented, especially the damage, with photos and witnesses (several independent companies, for example). This way, even in court, it is possible to prove afterward that the damage really existed.
In our case, loan repayment did not start as long as the loan was not fully disbursed – but interest was already charged on the amount disbursed and costs on the part not yet disbursed. The fixed interest period gets shorter and shorter without any repayment. If possible, compensate for this with extra repayments.
For construction defects that are not immediately obvious, you have to rely on a preservation-of-evidence procedure. Unfortunately, this does not guarantee that the construction expert will take thorough care and properly assess the issues just because they were appointed by the court. Also, such procedures can currently take several years.
Important: Legally, the client must always pay the invoice, even if the developer actually should be responsible for it. Emails are useless for these matters; only registered letters with return receipt count.
RFR schrieb:
You do realize that the original poster hasn’t been online for over six months and probably won’t respond. Not only that, but the term “Deutsche Fertighaus Holding” is mentioned nine times in the initial post, even in places where it’s completely unnecessary and redundant. This forum ranks very high in search engines for homebuilding topics. The repeated use of this term (often grammatically incorrect) makes me suspect that a competitor paid an SEO specialist to create some negative advertising, designed to appear as high as possible in Google search results.
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