Exceeding the building window

Exemption from exceeding the footprint, exemption from roof overhangs, exemption from ventilation shafts and canopies, exception for accesses.

If in the contract (building plans presumably belong to the contract?!) the house was drawn with the corresponding factors and details, then it belongs to you (these things) as purchased. Therefore, you do not have to bear the costs... unless there is a clause in the contract. Read carefully what it says!!! That would be my layman's opinion on the matter.

I called our notary and he said, "you bought a house at a fixed price and they have to provide it to you accordingly, there is nothing in the contract about covering any cost overruns." The seller also tried again by phone to convince me of my obligation to pay, but unsuccessfully.

If nothing fundamental about such ancillary costs was agreed upon in the contract and no further corresponding clauses, e.g. at the signing of the building application or similar, were signed, you are pretty much off the hook. In my services, I am obliged to always explicitly list such ancillary costs or explicitly point out that these costs may arise. It is even the case with us that I have to prove to the authority with an application that the costs are billed directly by the authority to the client/customer – if this is not the case, the cost notice from the authority goes to me and I can then privately see to recovering the costs from the customer. If no written agreement exists between me and the customer regarding this, the situation looks very bleak and the applicant is left stuck with the costs.

Best regards
Dirk Grafe

Hello,

I called our notary and he said, "you bought a house at a fixed price and that is what they have to provide you, there is nothing in the contract about covering the additional costs." The seller also tried again by phone to convince me of my payment obligation, unsuccessfully.

Despite the, on the surface, correct information from the notary's office, in my opinion you should consider how the construction should proceed in the future so that you can happily move into a new single-family house.

Sometimes, when I read here, I get the slight suspicion that there are a lot of Jesuses among builders – and those who want to become builders – free of mistakes and marked with the proverbial innocence on their foreheads; at least, if I believe the Bible. The costs of the fee notice are certainly not exorbitantly high so that they would overwhelm the building contractor or you; especially not if they are shared.

A building contract usually means that land and single-family house are owed from one source; however, it is not uncommon that during the construction process, builders want to intervene. Whether through structural changes within the building envelope (regardless of approval by the authorities), upgrades for example regarding sanitary, electrical, tiles, or recommendations for this or that extra. I’m just imagining that a supposedly small mistake by my clients "upfront" was not forgiven, but my client would like to upgrade inexpensively "in the back"...

You can surely easily imagine the logical consequence of this suggestive constellation yourself. It is not fundamentally wrong to let some things slide occasionally.

Rhenish greetings

What amount of fees are we talking about? If the plot of land and the house turn out according to your planning and you don’t want to build even a centimeter smaller to comply with the building envelope, then it is a courtesy of the authority to grant a permit for the exceedance. After all, building envelopes are officially determined and have a purpose.

The problem lies elsewhere. The developer acquired a plot of land and planned a house for a fixed price on it and sold it. Then the building application is submitted, and it doesn't work without special regulations. There was obviously no consultation with the client either, but the client incurred costs out of the blue or these costs were included in the planning for the approval.

Developers/architects must know that such things can happen, especially with narrow plots, and they must include this in their cost calculation as a mixed calculation. Passing this on to the client without consultation, if the client has not ordered extra changes that trigger these costs, is, in my opinion, neither legally nor morally acceptable.

Moreover, this may possibly be a planning error by the architect, against which he is insured. However, the damage is so small that it is below the deductible, so it cannot be reported to the insurer. Therefore, an attempt is made to collect it from the client.

As I said - if this happens to me, I have to be able to prove in writing that I informed the client about the possible costs, otherwise the charge notice goes to me (!) and I am also liable for the costs. I would also get the original notices - if the developer is named as the cost bearer there...

Best regards Dirk Grafe