Construction cost development still normal???

Here in the region, construction companies are supposedly currently being informed by letter that almost all building materials will soon become 10-15% more expensive. Reason: Expansion of the truck toll and thus significantly higher transport costs.

I'm curious ...

Interesting, my general contractor said the same to me on Thursday, but he explicitly referred to sand-lime bricks. We'll see, he wanted to show me the letter.

That is the case everywhere. The background is that while the toll billing processes can be automated, the small independent carriers still settle accounts on paper. They do not know the respective toll portion per trip or could only extract it laboriously from the consolidated invoice at the end of the month. They either need an additional office worker for this, or alternatively, they increase prices by 10% and have the costs covered in any case.

Before this drifts into a toll discussion...

do you have any updates?

Yes, I will keep you updated. However, I am currently unable to say anything about the status for legal reasons.

I can provide a brief update:

1. Very intensive discussions have been held with the two companies with the aim of significantly reducing costs. In the process, all cost drivers were consistently eliminated or a reduction in external dimensions was also calculated. As a result, it appears that there is no chance to build the house according to our ideas. I cannot currently provide any prices here.

2. Since the architect’s deficiencies do not only concern the price but also other "minor issues" such as the encroachment on a third-party property, we have withdrawn the building application.

3. We are now dealing with the architect through legal channels. At least we do not have a half-finished building nor have we signed any financing yet. So we do not have to be rushed and are currently pursuing Plan B, i.e. replanning.

Since point 3 is still open, I cannot go into further detail at the moment, but I will provide additional information in due course.

Please also refrain from any clever comments regarding point 2, as this is a special constellation that I cannot explain further at this time.