ᐅ Wastewater pipe from the upper floor is not enclosed in the ground floor ceiling.

Hello everyone,

I am new to the forum and have already introduced myself.
At the moment, we are building a turn-key single-family house with a developer.

I couldn’t find anything about my problem in the construction specifications.

The issue concerns the wastewater pipe running from the upper floor to the ground floor.

This wastewater pipe comes down from the bathroom right into the corner of the living room.

The developer says that the wastewater pipe will not be enclosed – we have to arrange and pay for that ourselves.

My question is: Is this common practice?

I should also mention that previously we had a shower with a 14cm (5.5 inches) threshold, but during the selections, we decided on a walk-in, level-access tiled shower.

Do we have to cover the wastewater pipe at our own expense?
I always thought this was included in a turn-key delivery.

Thank you very much for your answers.

Best regards

What is not included in the building specifications is simply not covered. The term "turnkey" means different things to different people, and it often doesn’t include everything needed to move into the house right away. For example, in all our offers, the building specifications only included the shower tray and fixtures, but no shower enclosures.

With a walk-in shower, the drain pipe definitely comes out there and cannot be routed somewhere else above the ceiling.

Of course, you will also have to pay for the cladding unless you already have a suspended ceiling.

But who plans a bathroom above the living room anyway?

Are you really building with a property developer or with a general contractor/construction manager?

Hello,
we are indeed building with a general contractor. We wanted it that way – the bathroom above the living room –

So is it normal that the pipe is not enclosed?

There is nothing mentioned about this in the scope of work specification.

Thank you for your reply.

nordkeks schrieb:

We wanted it that way – the bathroom above the living room –

The builder/general contractor/subcontractor (BT/GU/GÜ) clearly has extra work due to covering the pipe. They can either include this in the price for the walk-in shower or charge it as an additional cost.

Homeowners who have, for example, the utility room directly below the shower or plan to lower the ceiling anyway for recessed lighting might not need any covering at all. In that case, the extra work is charged separately, or the homeowner takes care of it themselves.

If drywall installers are already working on the house, it might be worth discussing with them and handling the task without going through the builder. What I don’t know is to what extent the drainage noise is audible there. Maybe some soundproofing will be necessary as well.