Building permit fee - What did you pay for it?

And because of 1000€ approval fees, you don't deliberately make the terrace too narrow.

Not too narrow, but the builder is sometimes informed about the difference.

What reasons are there to choose a building permit procedure instead of a notification?

I think you were lucky that your special permits had nothing to do with the stipulations of the development plan. As soon as you deviate from the stipulations, the building authority requires a permit procedure. Theoretically, you can get an exemption in advance, but I am not aware of a practical case, as this patchwork additionally costs time. Moreover, the architect has to cooperate as well. He assumes full responsibility in the notification procedure. If he overlooks or misinterprets anything, he is liable; in the permit procedure, the authority is responsible first.

But he also said that all his acquaintances who built there did not pay more than 1500...

Then they probably built cheaper or falsified the construction sum.

The exemption procedure apparently hasn’t been possible since 2015 because the terrace lies a few centimeters outside the building window, and allegedly you need a special permit for that.

What does that have to do with the year 2015?

50cm shorter terrace and suddenly it's the architect's fault ... you can also make life seem better. The terrace is in the plan, everyone can see it, including the client. If he wants 50cm more, then he gets it. That simple. The architect didn't just decide the depth of the terrace on a whim? And nobody makes the terrace intentionally too narrow over 1000€ in approval fees.

The architect set the terrace like that. Because at first it wasn't important to us. If I had known back then that it would cost 1000 more in the end, it would certainly be different in the plan now.

But he could have figured that out himself, especially since he said yesterday that he had always done it via [Freisteller] before... Well, when you handle 50 building applications a year, you don't necessarily always have the time to think everything through.

What does that have to do with the year 2015?

Pforzheim abolished the regulation allowing special permits for freelancers starting in 2015.

Does the procedure not arise from the state building code? The cities can only freely amend statutes.

Does the procedure not arise from the state building code?

Yes, but the approval authority is free to decide whether it separately examines and permits deviations from the development plan or building regulations outside the notification procedure or generally requires an approval process for such deviations. Apparently, Pforzheim has not had good experiences with detached special permits.