Contract review and construction supervision by the general contractor

Hello community,

we will soon be building with a general contractor on our own property. Since we lack the necessary expert knowledge regarding the construction contract and the scope of work description both legally and technically, we are considering becoming members of the Verband privater Bauherren. We hope to be referred to a specialized lawyer who will then review the contract draft and the scope of work description for us.

Does this make sense from your perspective, or can the membership fee at the VbP actually be saved and one should rather turn to a specialist lawyer for construction law on a "good luck" basis?

In addition, we are considering having the construction monitored by an independent expert during the construction phase (since we also lack specialized knowledge here). I have seen that TÜV offers a 5-phase "construction controlling" (inspection of basement sealing, extended shell construction, interior finishing, etc.). Now my question is: Is this advisable (and sufficient) with TÜV (or DEKRA), or should one rather rely on the construction consultants/construction supervisors affiliated with the Verband privater Bauherren here as well?

What are your experiences on this topic? Thanks in advance!

You can find a specialist lawyer even without external help ([Gelbe Seiten], [Anwaltskammer], [Internetsuche]).

Of course, you can find a specialist lawyer elsewhere. But the membership fee for the Bauherren-Schutzbund or Verband Privater Bauherren is very small. For me, simply mentioning "Bauherren-Schutzbund" apparently worked a small miracle. The general contractor agreed without hesitation to amend 14 points in the construction service description and in the house construction contract, without any discussion. It sounded different before. Additionally, 9 times an external expert will come to the construction site at appointments agreed upon with the site manager – as a "construction-accompanying quality control". The payment installments are each made only after this person's "OK". There was no objection to this either. I will report here next year on how things go during the construction phase...

if you get an expert, then definitely an external one and not one who is sent by the gu itself. because you do pay him indirectly as well, but he does not look that closely since he does not want to upset his client (gu). a company that simply changes 14 points after mentioning "Bauherren-Schutzbund" does not sound particularly trustworthy to me.

They were mostly additions or specifications, manufacturer mentions, etc., but that went well. We will see...

Are there any news yet?