Building in existing structures - Subsequent additional costs despite a fixed price

It's always easy to talk when you already have your own house finished or when the contractor treats you fairly. The advice to take legal action can make sense... but not over €20,000 in a house construction costing €500,000 or more.

If you take legal action, you can be sure that nothing will happen on the construction site for the next 2 or 3 years. That means you might even have to take precautions yourself to prevent weather-related damage. I can't imagine that old foundations can just be left unprotected for several years.

Certainly, the general contractor (GU) can also submit further additional claims. But he must also be aware that the client will eventually go bankrupt. Is the GU interested in that? Probably not.

I wouldn't make a fuss over €20k. Talk to the GU to see if you can agree on something, maybe €15k. Everything else will be much, much more expensive...

Imagine you lose in court. Then you pay the legal costs (at least five figures), the GU still demands €20k, and in 2-3 years also a hefty price increase because the price guarantee is long gone.

How much work has been done so far? Has anything happened at all, or would each party stand as they did before the contract was concluded if it were terminated?

Usually, 10% are contractually agreed upon if the client cancels. This can also be well justified, because the general contractor could have taken other orders during this time, so the economic damage is real. If I accept order A, block time for it, and decline order B because of it... then order A simply cancels, causing me damage, since order B might no longer be interested. As the salesperson for the properties said back then... "If you sign now, it's serious. Then there's no 'I just wanted to try it out, now I don't want the property anymore'... so think it over carefully."

Thank you very much for your assessment. As you already say, it is probably better for the further course to now constructively but firmly strive for an amicable solution, rather than simply accepting it and signaling to the GÜ that you will swallow everything anyway.

I am still working on the addendum. I was assured that I would receive a detailed offer with individually itemized positions for the work steps. What I have received in terms of wording and scope is approximately: "Undertaking of the existing find 18k EUR."


Currently, about 50k EUR has flowed to the GÜ.
For architect, contractual plan, building application, and execution plan. No construction services have been paid yet.


So far the GÜ hasn't received that much. About 11% of the agreed fixed price. I actually hope that he also wants to see the rest and that it shouldn't fail over 9k EUR...

I won’t go bankrupt over 20k. But I also don’t earn 20k net in a month just to write it off like that.

What I’m especially interested in is your assessment of the content I presented and your initial feeling about who is more screwed contractually here. It’s clear to me that this means nothing at the negotiation table if the other party is stubborn, and that legal action is not an option. Basically, I still assume the person I’m dealing with is someone who, in my opinion, should still make some money from the project. However, if it’s their fault, then please not entirely at my expense, but partly with somewhat lower profit as a last consequence.

Is this way too naive thinking nowadays?

I could be wrong, but 50k for planning services is quite a lot

How much is the total amount for the house in the end?

The contractual fixed price is not really relevant to my actual concern.
It is not about what was agreed and signed together, but about the subsequent costs incurred and who should actually bear them.

What is your opinion on this?