Building permit - is a lawyer useful?

Processing and postal return times are unfortunately normal at many building authorities. Staff shortages and complicated building regulations are not a good combination. If the architect also does not communicate well with the building authority, then every process drags on. I would not suspect any bad intent here that would need or could be resolved through legal means. Sloppy applications annoy every caseworker. I would first ask the architect why her application was so defective. The fact that you then tried to take over was your mistake.
We are unfortunate in that our architect and the responsible caseworker do not get along at all. Everything is simply processed in order of arrival, no matter how small the inquiry is.

It doesn't matter at all what she says about it taking so long, because that doesn't solve our current problem either.

No, it does matter. House construction and building permits are a close interaction between architects and the building authority. The architect should actually know his building authority and the people involved quite well.
Therefore my question. When I see how communication runs with us or our customers (or their architects), it is a very big difference from your procedure. There, architects and clients often stand together for a meeting with the authority and one can clarify directly on site where the problem lies.

It doesn't matter at all what she says about it taking so long, because that doesn't solve our current problem either. Otherwise: It is more often the case that building authorities act this way, one experiences this daily. (Now waiting for a comment where someone says "Well then it's the architect's fault!!!")

The problem is that it simply takes too long? That you can't start?
Honestly, I don't understand the paragraph.
Of course, no one wants to wait for the approval, for most the obligatory 3 months is already too long.

The question of blame unfortunately doesn't solve the current problem.

that somehow you yourselves are to blame.

Please excuse me. It is not my way to assign blame.
Of course, I meant the errors or gaps in the building application that "you" submitted. Anyway... just let it be the situation (yours) of the property. If you skim through the thread from September, the problems seem to follow one another there.

Recently someone here was denied approval because of the construction road and a contract with the paving company that has to be upheld until 2027.
One phone call was enough, it was a misunderstanding, and they got the approval.

Now I can remember again: I am surprised that you are asking the question here. I advised you to switch to another forum because there are more experts regarding your distance problem there.

I mainly see the problem here that you apparently started building without an application. We don’t know the details. In my mind, I currently picture a semi-detached house with a basement that you demolished except for the basement.

Right now, I don’t see where it says that we already started building before the application was submitted? We did not. We completely demolished the house including the basement. Independently of a construction company and building application, this application had not yet been submitted at the time of the demolition notification. The building authority told us that a notification was sufficient for this; we submitted this because the construction company had nothing to do with the demolition. We had already made this demolition notification completely independently, months before the application was submitted and before it was clear with whom we would build.

Somewhere it was said that we were poorly advised and that a loan is not needed for the building application. No one claimed that; however, there were times – these are already 9 months ago – when interest rates rose and fell daily and the KfW funding was potentially at risk almost daily. We are actually very glad to have been so poorly advised here, because we wouldn’t receive funding today. Unfortunately, interest rates have fallen marginally, but no one could have predicted that so concretely.

Currently, we actually have no setback problem. But since I have neither a rejection nor approval yet, I naturally can’t make a final assessment.

Both our architect and now we have called several times. Already in February we asked if there could possibly be an approval by 04/01 because we actually wanted to start in April. The answer was: Submit the then open point, then there will be approval. And when asked when we wanted to start, this date was apparently noted. Afterwards, the structural engineer’s certificate appeared. Which makes the least sense to me. But well, that’s apparently how it is.

The demolition was months ago, which could not be inferred from your post. Hence the misunderstanding. Was there no detailed calculation for the statics and foundation in the building application? Is it a detached house? Overall, it is quite possible that you are really unlucky here. However, I doubt that this is enough material for a lawyer.