Construction costs rise by up to 30%

Dear forum,

we are building a small house (125 sqm). The construction work has now been going on for almost 1 year, also due to the pandemic. Many trades have practically "squeezed us in", offers came late or not at all. Coordination was therefore really difficult. The move-in date, which was only agreed orally, has now been missed by several months. Now, we had agreed with our architect and planner on total costs ("turnkey") of 2200 to 2500 EUR. Today we took stock: If we pay everything as offered, we will be at around 2800 EUR per square meter. This is still within our means, but after that both the loan and the reserves will be used up.

The problem is that I don’t even know what caused this cost explosion. I find the price per square meter exorbitantly high. We did not install golden fittings. Some things were clearly calculated far too low afterwards; that may all have been due to the pandemic, rising raw material prices, and full order books. The question now is how to behave. Should one accept this because the market is as it is? We can hardly stop the construction. Or should someone else check precisely whether we have paid much too much somewhere? We were always told everything was market-appropriate.

I don't even know what to write to you. I read your words and understand why you ask such things, but it is not the architect who is the client, it is you. Maybe you paid too much. It was certainly misestimated from the beginning. Is it because of Corona? Definitely as well.

It is your house, you bear responsibility for everything, pay the bills, and approve them. There are no fixed price ranges with an architect, and "turnkey" is a marketing term, nothing you can rely on, just like the term "fixed price."

…besides, I see an 11% deviation from 2500€, which is easily acceptable as a deviation. Also, if you were following the forum here, you would notice that we now talk about up to 2500€ per sqm of living space plus additional construction costs, services, and outdoor facilities. I myself find it unreal, but it often seems to be true when building without subsidies.

The question now is how one should behave. Should one just accept it because the market is as it is?

What else should you do but accept it? If someone has already been contracted, then you have to pay them. At most, you can still check the quantities and area specifications to see if they are correct. For the still open trades, you can obtain further offers and try to negotiate the prices more strictly. Or you take shady craftsmen from the portal with the hammer, but that might get you completely different problems.

I also believe that one does not always remain so disciplined during construction... a bit here and a bit there... forgetting to consider a few things and just like that the money is gone... this (at least with us) is not always only due to price increases.

Best example of underbudgeting and building with an architect. The architect is not a cost killer or controller.

The move-in date, which was only agreed upon verbally, is now several months overdue.

Verbal agreements are hardly worth mentioning.

The question now is how one should behave. Should one just accept it because the market is as it is? We can hardly just cancel the construction.

Are you building with a general contractor or an architect? Architect?
Architect-designed houses are rarely cheap; a 20% surcharge is not uncommon. Also, architect houses often take longer. Yes, gladly over 15 months… a general contractor house takes about 8 months.

whether we overpaid somewhere? We were always told everything was market-conform

It has already been said: you are the builders, so the control belongs to you. I know why I built with a fixed-price general contractor.
Sorry, ungrateful answers. But that’s just how it is.