Are the costs justified?

Exactly, that's exactly what I mean, that you can't just generally say "Take the excavated material for backfilling!" Especially in NRW, there are virtually all kinds of soils, from stone to clayey to sandy... I just wanted to point that out before the OP thinks about saving money and fills the construction pit full of clay. Depending on the soil, it's better to take it to the landfill and get cheap sand or gravel the deeper excavation under the house. I just don't understand how the mentioned 28,000 € adds up here, does the construction company fill everything with concrete and pour a 100cm thick slab?

The surveyor or the architect, we’re not exactly sure... also made a measurement error. Our house was planned 37 cm too low... so it has to be "set" higher... which means we have to pile up more soil in the garden to maintain the planned level ground to the terrace. Again, costs that were not planned before. Do we just have to accept that?

that is, to put it mildly, nonsense. you hire professionals for really expensive money. their only task is to take the blame for mistakes. if I sign to confirm the correctness of the work, I might as well set out the house myself! you don’t get the surveyor for 600€ for 30 minutes of measuring so that he does the work, but because his head rolls if he screws up. the signature is only there to confirm that the work is done and an invoice can be issued. the signature never releases the contractor from their duty of care and liability. that’s just rubbish. the builder is a layperson and cannot verify the accuracy. in court no tradespeople will ever get away with that.

Hello , ,

de facto, some things have to be clarified/distinguished here before anyone gets blamed:

[*]Who recorded the heights before the building application, or from what source do the heights originate?
[*]Who created the site plan for the building application – architect or surveyor?
[*]Who carried out the staking out? (does not necessarily have to be done by the surveyor!)
[*]Is there a staking out sketch?
[*]If not – why not? Was one requested (afterwards) by the architect/builder?
[*]If yes – are height indications from the batter board and/or manhole covers or other connection points noted there?
[*]If yes – do these height indications differ from the preliminary/data in the building application?

Furthermore: with the massive difference of 37 cm, this should have been roughly checked/could have been noticed by the other participants in the construction. This is actually such a large deviation that in the event of a regulated damage it would likely be divided among three or four parties, namely possibly:

Surveyor, architect, civil engineer/construction contractor, and builder, whereby I strongly suspect here that the heights did not come from the surveyor – he would have had to have been in a deep sleep. Not impossible, but rather unlikely.

Best regards
Dirk Grafe

Regarding this: with the massive difference of 37 cm, this should have/could have been roughly checked and should/must have been noticed by the other parties involved in the construction. This is indeed such a large deviation that in the case of a regulated damage it would rather be divided by three or four, namely possibly:

Surveyor, architect, civil engineer/construction contractor and client, whereby I strongly suspect here that the heights do not come from the surveyor – he would have had to be in a deep sleep. Not impossible, but rather unlikely.

I fear something like this in this case as well. Until that is clarified – presumably a lot of time will pass. Because all parties involved will surely cheerfully toss the "It’s not my fault" balls back and forth. Time is money......(+ nerves).

Probably cheaper is: filling up....(with *suitable* material). Or just building a nice little stair or ramp to the terrace.

Of course, one can try in parallel to have one of the presumed parties responsible for the disaster bear (part of) the costs. Principle hope.

Yes – 37 cm, that is quite a mouthful, but if we look at it from a bit of a distance: definitely a solvable problem and not a complete catastrophe.

Best regards
Thorsten

I fear something similar in this case as well. Until that is clarified – probably a lot of time will pass. Because all parties involved will surely be tossing the “It’s not my fault” balls back and forth cheerfully. Time is money…… (+ nerves).

Probably cheaper is: filling up…. (with *suitable* material). Or just building a nice little staircase or ramp to the terrace.

This is completely harmless in this case, because construction can continue. Theoretically, it is also conceivable that a mistake happens and you initially have a construction stop – here, a mistake has probably happened, but it does not delay the construction, it only causes additional costs.

The question whether the possible culprit pays for the material or the ramp is ultimately irrelevant.

Best regards Dirk Grafe

I am just wondering how big the plot is or if I understood it correctly. (Assumed) 200 - 400 m² need to be raised by 37cm? With cheap backfill sand, you are looking at a very low four-digit amount... The whole hassle hardly seems worth it, and you still have the advantage of sitting a bit higher...

with basement, removal and landfill? We also had 110cm and ended up with 5500€ extra costs. We spread the soil on the property, a part was later taken by the garden landscaper to neighbors who had too little.



for 28000€ just for a bit of earth digging, I would really think twice about whether to just rebury the small amount of clay and only put 10-15cm of nice soil on top. That easily saves 15-20,000 of your 28,000€ and has no real disadvantages. Everyone has to decide for themselves in the end, but for 20,000€ you can also do the whole garden instead of just adding some new soil.

28T is completely civil engineering. So there’s a bit of small stuff included. Basement makes no difference for us, as we build on the ground.

As I said, clay is good for nothing, you can’t use it for backfilling either. When it gets wet, it’s like jelly. Didn’t want to believe it either, but I trust the experts on that.