Cost question for pumping groundwater for the basement?

Hello,

I came across this forum through Google.
I am currently in the process of building a semi-detached house in Offenbach. When purchasing the house, we were kindly advised to use a white tank for the basement, but we were not informed about the cost of the pump (for the drainage of groundwater) required during the basement construction. There is also nothing mentioned in the specifications. Since we bought a turnkey house, who will bear the costs?
Should the developer/architect (all from one source) have conducted a soil survey beforehand and informed us? Many houses with basements are located in the new development area, and the developer tells us that we have to bear the extra costs (for gravel [soil bearing capacity] and drainage of groundwater into the public sewer system) ourselves because, firstly, he did not know there was a lot of groundwater here (although they sold us the white tank) and, secondly, this is not included in the contract.
What can I do about this?

Best regards,

Asad

The costs are borne by the builder as the owner of the property.

The question is: Who is the client?
Was a plot of land purchased, on which a turnkey house is now being provided by a GU/GÜ, or was a house including the plot purchased from a developer?

In the first scenario, you are the client and therefore bear the ground risk including costs (unless something else is contractually agreed). In that case, you should have had a geotechnical report done (at least for your own protection).
In the second case, it can be totally irrelevant to you, because you are buying a piece of house including the land, and thus the developer acts as the client.

In short: Ground is the client’s risk.

Just talk to your building partner (GÜ/GU/BT/architect or whatever). Very often – from our experience – a mutually agreeable solution (e.g. cost sharing) can be found and for a few euros, you really shouldn’t fall out with your partner, because you might still need them for much bigger and more important things!

btw: Our pump for the excavation pit didn’t cost us more than €500 for 6 weeks. However, we also had a two-week construction standstill due to bad weather.

Hope this helps you a little!