ᐅ When is a plot of land considered fully serviced?

Hello everyone,

We are about to purchase a plot of land. The plot is being divided from an existing property with a house on it. It is located in an old neighborhood (not a new development area).
All utilities (gas, electricity, water, etc.) are available at the street at the property boundary but not on the plot itself.

Is the plot considered fully developed / serviced in this case or not? I have read somewhere that the utility connections (stub connections) need to be located on the plot.
Will it be significantly more expensive for us if these stub connections are missing?

Fully serviced means “at the property boundary”; the house itself must be connected internally, which refers to the internal connection to the utility lines and always requires additional payment ( -> utility connections).

In our case, the utility connections were located in the street in front of the property and were considered fully serviced. Our general contractor said that the term "fully serviced" can mean many different things—ranging from well inside the property, as in your case, to somewhere nearby but not directly in the street in front of the property. So it seems there is no clear, consistent definition.

If it is a corner lot, it can actually be advantageous since the connections will have to be routed from the street anyway. For example, we positioned our house on a spot on the lot that the municipality likely did not intend (but fortunately it was not excluded in the zoning plan), which would have meant the connections were about 30 meters (100 feet) away from the house inside the property. Instead, including the street, it was less than 10 meters (33 feet).

neutronbx schrieb:

Will it be much more expensive in our case if the blind conduits are missing?

Yes, it will definitely be more expensive because additional handover shafts or shut-off valves may need to be installed, the road will have to be opened and closed again, and the route is simply longer. Utility connections are always quite individual, so the best approach is to contact the local utility providers: ask about prices and services (some providers include excavation work, others don’t, some cover up to, for example, 12 meters (40 feet), and so on). This way, you will know what additional excavation and pipe laying work you need, which you can possibly commission with your shell builder. This will give you a complete total cost, which will easily be in the five-digit range. All utility companies charge at least a 1,000€ (approximately $1,100) connection fee plus various preliminary inquiries, connection permits/planning permissions, and final inspections. Wastewater often requires tightness testing or even camera inspections. Telecom or cable providers may require the installation of special (and expensive) ducted empty conduits with pull wires. Just the rainwater and wastewater handover shafts alone cost around 2,000–5,000€ (approximately $2,200–5,500) each if needed. Well, the costs add up like this, and in the end, everything becomes more expensive because the price estimates you get are always net amounts, since “it should be obvious to the client” (sic!). :-(

Well, the costs don’t have to be that extreme. They do reach five figures, but just barely. You just need to make sure to factor that in accordingly.

Yosan schrieb:

Well, the costs don’t have to be that high. Ours are also five-figure, but just barely. You just have to factor that in accordingly.

They don’t have to be, but they can be. Our potential building plot is also considered fully serviced, even though the connection lines for fresh water, combined sewer, electricity, and telephone are a few meters away in the street. In addition, there is an extended connection route (about 30 m (100 ft)), and according to the construction company, this results in additional costs of around 7,000 to 8,000 euros (luckily for a duplex, so the costs are split).