Construction company halts work despite overpayment

A fire protection wall is probably not necessary since the semi-detached house is planned as a single-family house with a granny flat. The remaining partition wall is also made of aerated concrete and is consistently indicated as such in the drawings we signed (building contract and approval planning). And when the gentleman came to take a look, he apparently realized that there is a staircase under the wall and that the aerated concrete wall is too heavy for it. The structural engineer also calculated it so that the last 3 meters to the wall have to be done as drywall, and the structural calculation dates from September 2018. However, as a layperson, I could not recognize this, and apparently, Mr. BU was not interested.

The right side of the wall is gone by now.

I have a bit of difficulty picturing a partition wall above a staircase. An execution plan may indeed mean practical – but not formally mandatory – graphical representations. But secondly, I don't believe such things could still be successfully enforced in time, and firstly, after such advanced shell construction progress, they would come almost uselessly late – the hammer drill will probably be a frequently used tool by then. I hardly think execution drawings could still help to make anyone envious of how well things are going now ;-)

Yesterday we found the invoice for the roof truss in the mailbox, although it is not finished yet and the masonry work on the upper floor is also not done. Dated 11.11., so at the start of the roof truss work. The question now is whether to pay or reject it. Retention for defects according to the report of about €20,000 or not. Legally, double the amount can be retained for defects. But then the builder will probably stop work. However, since he still doesn’t have a roofer, it will probably end up the same anyway.

The saying "you shouldn't throw good money after bad" is probably appropriate here.

A counterquestion, what happens if you pay everything in full and the general contractor still doesn't continue building? Will you then have enough money left to possibly complete the construction on your own?
My guess from afar is that you will need a lot of patience and determination.
Please also ask yourselves why he issues the invoices so early...
I wish you a lot of inner peace and strength.

I think we know that. The carpentry will send him the invoice for the roof structure next week, and he will not be able to pay it without our money, that he is short of cash is proven by the fact that he asked for installment payments for the reimbursement of our court and attorney fees, until February 2020. However, we did not agree to that because by then the contractual penalty will already be due again. And what does he want to pay it with then?