Construction company price increase of 25% – Expired fixed price guarantee

What do you have? Price guarantee for e.g. 12 months, or unlimited price guarantee?

In our construction contract with the general contractor, it only states that the total price for the house is amount X.

Nothing about how long the price is valid. Only the note that the VAT rate valid at completion will be charged.

Contract signed in Nov. 2020, construction start Aug. 21. We have already paid everything except the last installment invoice and have not had any price increases (passed on) during that time.

I guess you are somehow right about that. 25% is somehow no longer any basis for a "healthy" "Yes-We-Build" mentality on the part of the builders. The bad taste ruins all the joy in the upcoming construction progress.

what fixed price / amount is it exactly about? Are details about the construction project known here in the forum? How are you proceeding now?

: I had understood it so that the 25% was initially only mentioned verbally with the simultaneous note that there would be enormous room for maneuver. Certainly far from good business practice, especially before construction starts: but why would they even mention this room for maneuver with a rough framework (50%) if they simply didn’t feel like building? And I stick to my point, the 10-12% would unfortunately be market-appropriate in the end as expected by the client;

if everything is commissioned anew, it certainly won’t be cheaper anywhere (goods) and interest rates are also rising. So a bird in the hand or a pigeon on the roof – a difficult decision

: is there already any binding, written surcharge statement/-amount?

Perhaps the 25% will be communicated initially because the 10 - 12 percent is definitely necessary. It's actually quite practical. When it comes to smaller complaints, I can still remind the customer that I have already accommodated him and only charged "12 percent" additional costs.

What exactly does the contract say about construction cost increases and a possible withdrawal? Specifically the wording?
Did you conclude a proper consumer construction contract including a correct revocation instruction?
You should immediately seek legal advice. You could also rely on §313 of the Construction Code "Disruption of the basis of the transaction" (which by the way applies not only to the tenant or contractor) and cancel. Or or or.

But of course a personal conversation is due first. And you have to be clear whether you even want and/or can still build.

P.S. Canceling the financing should not be too expensive at the moment.

I guess you are somehow right. 25% is somehow no longer any basis for a "healthy" "yes-we-build" mentality on the part of the builders. The bad taste spoils all joy in the upcoming construction progress.

what exactly is the fixed price / total amount? Are details about the construction project known here in the forum? How are you proceeding now?

The contract sum we finally signed is 320,000 euros, so 25% of that is 80,000 euros. Our sales advisor told us that recently there was a customer who got a price increase of 100,000 euros and in the end had to pay only half, i.e. 12.5% (50,000 euros). It sounded like there was some room for negotiation. But still, this announcement of 25% was surprisingly high. Another problem is that according to the contract the final price is the current catalog price after the building permit is received. We assume that the building permit will arrive earliest in Sep/Oct 2022, so the prices could rise further and 25% might only be the beginning.
We want to get in touch with our sales advisor soon to discuss the current situation. 25% would be too expensive for us, and we also want to try to freeze the price increase so that we have more planning security.

: I understood it that the 25% were initially only mentioned verbally with the simultaneous note that there was enormous room for maneuver. Certainly far from good business practice, especially before the start of construction: But why would they even mention this room for maneuver with a rough framework (50%) if they simply had no desire to build? And I stick to it, the 10-12% would unfortunately be market-appropriate in the end, as expected by the client;

if you commission everything anew, it surely won't be cheaper anywhere (materials) and interest rates are also rising. So a bird in the hand or a pigeon on the roof – difficult decision

: is there already any binding, written additional cost schedule / sum?

No, we have not yet received any binding/written additional cost sum, only verbal. Exactly that is the dilemma, it won’t be cheaper elsewhere.