Delayed house completion - withhold money?

Hello everyone, my name is Niklas and I would appreciate your help!

We started building our house at the end of 2015, with the company Drewes from Tülau. A family business in its 3rd generation.

We had problems with every trade from A to Z and very poor support from our construction company. We were always the bad guys and our construction company sided with the subcontractors.

The handover was then in October 2016 instead of August 2016. But only partially because the list of defects was still long.

Our facade was reworked completely once because it was cracked and peeling everywhere. Then the quality was so miserable that we got an expert involved. He found out that wrong materials were used and way too little adhesive was applied. Now the facade has been completely removed and is being redone from scratch. But until then it was a battle!!! Planned completion August 2017!!! So exactly one year after the contractual handover of the house!

My QUESTION: We still have a final payment of 5000€ outstanding, do I have any chance of not having to pay this money???

We could live in the house but could not continue with our landscaping.

We had an earthworks company that unfortunately has since closed down. The new one costs 3000€ more than the first. Since we had to wait to see what would happen with our house, we now have additional costs!

I look forward to your ideas and experiences!

Best regards Niklas

Hello, did the builder complete everything by August 2017? Were you already living there in October 2016?

Hello, exactly and yes we have been living here since October 2016 but have only had trouble and lost endless time. The inconveniences of living on a construction site with scaffolding etc. I would want to be compensated for. It can't be that it was ordered until August 2016 and delivered a year later, and I have to pay the same price as agreed, can it?

All defects corrected or eliminated? If yes, then you are out of luck, unless a fixed completion date was set. But I believe that is less likely.

What do you want to claim? Lost enjoyment of living? Karsten

1.6 Construction Time

Submission of the building application 27.7.15

Start of construction 3.11.15

Handover of the construction work 29.7.16

Documented recognized bad weather days (e.g. rain, frost, storm and unsuitable daily temperatures generally below +5.0°C on average), approval periods, as well as changes and change approval periods, and unforeseen disturbances by third parties (strike, theft, orders by the building authority or experts) may require a postponement of the dates.

Additional work extends the construction time.
Self-performed work by the client can correspondingly extend the construction time mentioned above.
For self-performed work, the contractor has no advisory or supervisory duties.