Construction supervision - Is full support for 5 days possible?

Hello,

we intend to build a new house soon. Since I travel a lot and my wife unfortunately does not have much knowledge about house building, we would need someone to accompany our house construction project so that there is always someone present. As we are planning a prefabricated house that should be finished in 5 days (I estimate realistically it will take 6-7 days in the end), the costs for full-day on-site supervision should not be too high.

What is really important to me is only the shell construction. So the foundation slab, basement walls, normal walls, roof, and the laying of electrical cables as well as water pipes. The rest can be considered rather uncritical.

I wanted to ask if something like this is even offered and how much I should really expect to pay?

Thanks in advance for the answers

Hello ompre,

without knowing which supplier or in which construction method your house will be built, it is usually the case with prefabricated houses that the specified construction time of about 5 days applies from the foundation slab or from the basement - excluding fine finishing. For a solidly built masonry basement, you can generally expect 3-4 weeks. In principle, full construction supervision is also possible, but for the costs to be calculated, the construction site is very decisive.

However, I recommend checking which performance level is actually contractually guaranteed within the 5 days. Often in prefabricated houses, performance areas are excluded (civil engineering/basic lines, basement, painting, tiling, and flooring work), sometimes even the building services (heating, ventilation, sanitation) and electrical work.

It may be more sensible to request construction supervision for specific performance levels. For example:
- Basic lines / drainage
- Basement, especially waterproofing, protection of the waterproofing, and backfilling of the excavation pit
etc. The critical moments, according to experience, concern the services that are interfaces to the individual trades or are quickly concealed services (screed/floor installation, connection of vapor barrier in the roof area, etc.). Supervision during the erection of the wall panels, for example - as is common in many prefabricated houses - is alone not necessarily the best solution. Then you pay the construction supervisor a lot just for "watching" during assembly. The costs for construction supervision are more effectively used for consulting with a construction supervisor before signing the contract with a prefabricated house supplier and for construction supervision oriented toward specific performance levels.

I know, I have not answered the actual question: What does 5 days of construction supervision cost? Perhaps my answer still helps.

Thank you for the response. Linking the construction supervision to the services was also our idea. But I don't know exactly how the coordination works!? I am afraid that the general contractor has completed the foundation slab before the inspector has had a chance to look at the reinforcement, hence the full supervision.

Best regards ompre1

So I would agree on an acceptance of the individual performance stages. Then the general contractor cannot continue until you (or the expert) have given the OK. He can then give you a precise schedule for when who has to be on the construction site.

Regarding the costs: We also inquired about construction supervision for a solid house with several experts/structural engineers. The prices vary significantly – so it’s worth simply getting a few offers. Often a flat-rate package is offered (for example, 5 site visits including documentation or similar), all additional services are then billed on an hourly basis. In some cases, travel and office work are also charged, in others not.

The hourly rates here (Saxony) ranged between 60 - 100 EUR/hour plus VAT). With that you can estimate the effort. The flat-rate package is usually cheaper.