Architect fees and additional costs

Hello,

[Quote="Orschel, post: 34324"]Could it be that my acquaintances who are building only had the proof of thermal insulation created, i.e. the energy certificate, which is sufficient for the building application, and our architect is charging us for the entire thermal insulation service?...[ /QUOTE] I assume so

But what use is the proof of thermal insulation alone to you if, for example, you have planned KfW funds in your financing? Or, more recently very often required by municipalities, that the new building must demonstrably be a KfW 70 efficiency house? In both cases, the structural engineer must – after completion of the actual construction project – provide a final proof that the required specifications also correspond to the actual conditions.

Best regards

Hello,


That’s what I assume

But what use is the thermal insulation certificate alone to you if, for example, you have planned KfW funds in your financing? Or, more recently, very often demanded by municipalities that the new building must demonstrably be a KfW 70 efficiency house? In both cases, the structural engineer must – after completion of the actual construction project – provide a final certificate that the required specifications also correspond to the actual conditions.

Kind regards

Well, neither the one nor the other is planned. We have neither applied for a KfW loan nor is it mandatory for us to build a house to the KfW70 standard. Aside from the fact that I don’t think it’s okay that the architect is doing the whole program without consulting us. Also, although we received the energy certificate, we did not receive any planning concept for thermal insulation, were not informed about any special thermal protection measures (except for triple glazing, which we decided ourselves), nor did we receive any thermal insulation execution planning.

I’ll say it clearly, the architect is offering us this service for €2,000 under the table, we assume that we are being ripped off here... and I still don’t know how to deal with it... That’s why I’m trying to gather as much background knowledge as possible by asking/Googling...

Hello,

Well, neither one nor the other is planned. We have neither applied for a KfW loan nor is it mandatory for us to build a house according to the KfW70 standard.

But you do want a reliable thermal protection certificate for your house corresponding to the materials used?

Apart from the fact that I don't find it acceptable that the architect is offering the full package without consulting us.

I can't judge that, I was not present at your meeting. Honestly, I can hardly imagine it either, since it should be part of the initial consultation. Could it be that this meeting was so packed with information that this part "slipped your mind"?

Besides, we have received the energy certificate, but have not received any planning concept for thermal protection, no special thermal protection measures (except triple glazing which we decided ourselves), or a detailed thermal protection execution plan.

That is not prepared by the architect or structural engineer but by an MEP planner.

I'll put it bluntly, the architect offers us this service for €2,000 under the table, we assume that we are being ripped off... and I still don't know how to deal with it... That's why I'm trying to gather as much background knowledge as possible / google...

You should be cautious with such statements; architects generally cannot afford such practices – the chambers of architects don’t take that lightly!

What actually prevents you from seeking a conversation with your architect and clarifying the pressing questions directly with him? Getting more worked up won’t help you, and you won’t find proper clarification for your questions here either, as no one was present at your meeting with the architect.

One more thing – "a friend or an acquaintance said..." usually proves to be comparable to the 80 million national coaches in our country in the end.

Kind regards

What actually stops you from seeking a conversation with your architect and directly clarifying the pressing questions with him? Ruminating further won’t help you and you won’t find proper clarification to your questions here either, since no one was present at your conversation with the architect

Of course, we will seek the conversation again; more precisely, this will take place on Saturday. But before I go in there completely unprepared, I try to inform myself as much as possible beforehand, and this particular issue is causing me extreme anxiety because I am quite sure it was not agreed upon this way.

But I think I have been able to find some information (not just here) that will help me on Saturday.

Hello, we are currently building a single-family house in NRW through a construction company. The shell is already standing. Nevertheless, the whole thing is developing miserably; in addition to planning errors already at the beginning of the shell construction, further errors in execution are now occurring, e.g., as contractually agreed, no geotechnical survey was carried out.

There is a construction performance description listing all building elements and also some construction companies which are changing afterwards or now during the construction phase... Additionally, there is a payment plan that, however, does not correspond with the construction performance description and does not comply with all individual payment amounts. Thus, the fixed price cannot be maintained, and we will probably pay significantly more. The construction company only issues the invoices and does not accept any of the trades, as there is no expert present and there is nothing to gain.

Now we are considering whether to terminate the entire project with the construction company and engage an architect who is already well established in this construction area.

This architect would take over and contractually complete everything. With some skill, we would obtain an overview of all companies and could collect the offers/trades to get an overview of the costs or the difference. The architect could take over the construction management, thus reviewing the offers/tenders of the craftsmen and accepting the executions; that would probably be a total of 38% according to the fee schedule?? Question to the experts: "What would the architect cost us for a planned house price of €153,100.00, or does the increased price then apply?

We would appreciate some information and could then be sure that our current emergency situation would possibly not be further exploited... Thank you in advance.

Regards, Marion