Calculated construction costs incomprehensibly high

Sorry, I have to clarify a few things. The developer deploys his people for large projects, mainly entire residential complexes, etc. For smaller projects, he works in parallel with other construction companies, where he also does tenders and some of his people handle the work.

We went to the architect again today, and he said that his cost estimate is very generously calculated. Realistically, we will pay about fifty thousand less. We will receive the exact figures after the tender. We were able to breathe a little easier.

Hmm, in the end the contractor (architect and developer) will always get what they can, right? Otherwise, why would they "give away" 50,000 euros if you signed for it? If the architect then supposedly realistically estimates 50,000 euros less (for whatever reason, that’s already a significant amount), I would state that as a "target sum" and pay close attention to the precise description of the construction services!!! You don’t want everything just to be done cheaper afterwards. I don’t know if that’s even possible with the architect in connection with the developer, but if realistically it would be about 365,000, one could maybe also set a maximum sum of e.g. 390,000 — a developer should be able to calculate that precisely…

For your orientation: We have 125 sqm, also 2 floors with a flat roof. 320 TEUR without clinker, venetian blinds, ventilation, outdoor facilities If I scale that to your size and add all the extras... Not unrealistic.

May I ask what your floor plan looks like? Like what rooms you have? Also storage space, etc. We also want to build as small as possible but don’t know if it’s possible to nicely and reasonably accommodate everything at that size.

At 125sqm, storage space becomes tight, especially if you build without a basement and still have about 8sqm taken up by [Technik]... We have about 135sqm plus basement and actually only have proper storage options in the basement. Otherwise, it was more important to us to keep the rooms, especially the living area, as large as possible...

We paid about 6000.- online for a double sink 130cm plus matching base cabinet with 4 drawers and mirror cabinet, toilet (all Villeroy & Boch Subway 2.0), hexagonal bathtub (steel), Aco shower drain, Villeroy & Boch Raindance, towel radiator and glass partition...

We just had this experience after the sanitary selection. We held back (quote from the saleswoman: The surcharge for your standard is not that high...) and ended up with a material value of €14,000. The standard material value is €4,800. I was pissed off. Now we are having another selection done elsewhere. How did you manage to get your plumber to install the items and provide a warranty on them?

How did you get your plumber to install the items and provide a warranty on them?

Not at all!

Due to the additional selection, we had to pay 26,300 euros. The installer cannot be freely chosen, as it is determined through the general contractor.

The washbasins were the largest item at around 11,500 euros, but these can be found much cheaper online and I trust myself to do the installation. I then gave the installer the installation sketches for the washbasins so that he could correctly place his connections and the pre-wall module.

The shower enclosures are also a large item; if you want something high-quality, several thousand euros add up (we have two). However, the enclosures are much cheaper with the glazier, where we were also able to save a lot. For bathtub, shower tray, designer radiators, and the like, we had to bite the bullet.