Floor plan changes for end-terrace house from the developer

  • Erstellt am 2023-04-25 19:30:53

mayglow

2024-06-18 10:54:27
  • #1
Maybe I just had to complain once more. In any case, the property transfer now seems to be underway. At least our understanding is that the insolvency administrator approved it last Friday with a notary, from there it goes to the notary who originally registered the priority notice and from there then (hopefully as quickly as possible) to the land registry office. And then it depends on how fast they are. But actually, they were usually quite quick before (so when we were told at the priority notice registration that it could take 3-6 weeks for them to get back, we had the bill after two weeks and I don’t remember exactly, but I think it was then also registered quickly). So we are hopeful that this part will be cleared up quickly now.

What else are we doing right now? Getting quotes, getting quotes, getting quotes... and trying to somehow arrange the utility connections.

Basically, we also had contact with two construction managers. But with the first one, we always had problems with communication. (I’d say, he is experienced, but also quite old). Sometimes we had the feeling that we were talking past each other. Also, the prices kept going up with every conversation. So the first oral rough estimate was significantly more work for significantly less money than what ended up in the offer (which also only included part of what he originally promised). And the second construction manager? Was interested at first, but now doesn’t get back to us at all. From "he takes over communication with the city" it becomes, when we make an inquiry (or a neighbor does, since we can’t reach him), a "yeah, you have to ask the city yourself".

So we are currently coming to terms with the fact that our (maybe) construction manager, if we’re lucky, will show up at one or two appointments to check if we aren’t doing something really stupid. Ultimately, the roughest things on our end are already done. So the structural engineering has already been reported cleanly to the city, we have largely completed the rough installation of water pipes/underfloor heating and electrical work. The screed is in. The walls are plastered.
So what remains where a professional look wouldn’t hurt? Mainly house connections, heat pump installation, bathrooms (everything properly sealed?) and possibly outdoor facilities (or at least coordination with the civil engineer for some connections). Things like painting or flooring, I think, sure, you can do a mess there too, but well, it is what it is.

Right now, though, the heat pump topic is raising a lot of question marks, but I’d put that in a separate post in due time. Maybe the combined forum knowledge still has some ideas.
 

mayglow

2024-07-17 19:51:55
  • #2
I hadn’t written anything anymore about the "heat pump madness." Sigh. It still won’t let us go.

Act one: We want to get a quote for a heat pump. The heating installer looks at the originally planned location (according to the developer’s planning) and says: Actually, today you should only install propane heat pumps and I can’t install one there for you. It’s too close to the street, too close to the front door (house opening), too close to the sewer pipe, and too close to the neighboring property. (And that’s how the story started).

So we got a few more assessments, but almost all of them (except one?) came to the same conclusion. Propane heat pump won’t work there. Everyone thinks the distance rules that the heat pump manufacturers put in are somehow a bit exaggerated, but what can you do.

So, no "propane" heat pump then?

Act two: Did you know that almost all heat pump refrigerants except propane will soon be affected either by the F-Gas Regulation or by PFAS bans? Don’t know what all that means? Not that important. Anyway, some refrigerants can no longer be installed in new systems today. Many more will be affected in the coming years (unless nothing else works at the location). If someone has one today, they don’t have to dismantle it or anything; there is grandfathering (it might just happen that you can’t get the refrigerant anymore at some point, but usually you don’t need that just like that). But do you want to install that newly now?

So, different location? One suggestion that quickly emerged is "on the garage roof." That’s kind of annoying because the garage was definitely a potential target for demolition for us. At first, we’re trying to play two tracks in parallel and get quotes for "non-propane" (e.g. R32) heat pumps in front of the house and propane heat pumps for on the garage roof.

Act three: Building permit. So here’s the thing, our building permit dates from 2023. At that time in NRW, heat pumps were still considered building-like and a 3m distance to the boundary was required. That changed on 01.01.2024 (but that apparently doesn’t apply to us) and before that, there was also a regulation that exemptions could be granted. Such an exemption is included in our building permit. With exact designation of the heat pump: “The deviation applies only to the specific examined system type from company .” The examination was a noise study on whether the technical instruction on noise (TA Lärm) was met. The model is by the way one of those that won’t be allowed to be installed anymore from 2025 anyway :) Is the permit transferable to other quieter heat pumps? We got a written no for that, the neighbors got a yes orally from a different building authority. Apparently, the city really likes us :) Is it enough if we name the model and provide the data sheet to show it’s quieter for the permit amendment? No, we need a completely new expert report. (We can see the original report – one of the first sentences says it’s based on the manufacturer’s specifications for sound pressure....) We called the original expert who also found this completely incomprehensible. Well, we haven’t completely given up on the new location either and for that one, the Federal Heat Pump Association even offers a calculator that makes a forecast according to TA Lärm and generates a report and it’s totally uncomplicated. We’re still clarifying whether the report is enough - but our construction manager basically thinks no. Sigh. I really feel a little wasted away by the city.

Sounds kind of complicated? I’ve already omitted at least three confusing loops :)

Whatever… everything is still being clarified but right now it’s quite a pain point.
To end on a positive note:
We have construction power and construction water on the site again! Hurray! The construction dryer is running and the moisture in the basement, which we had trouble getting out by just airing it, seems to be getting better :) Otherwise, in August we will be able to start some “non-heat pump” implementations <3
 

hanghaus2023

2024-07-18 09:49:32
  • #3
You impress me. Do I really have to ask the building authority about the heat pump?

I have just converted from gas to heat pump. Something like that never occurred to me.

Despite the installer’s certificate of harmlessness and the lower efficiency, I decided on a heat pump with propane.
 

mayglow

2024-07-18 13:55:02
  • #4
Honestly, we had imagined dealing with the building authority to be less problematic. Otherwise, it’s just stated in our permit that the completion hasn’t happened yet and there’s no final survey etc. And if there were special conditions in the permit, then in case of doubt it would be noticed if we deviate from them. We didn’t want to risk having to dismantle everything in the worst case. But especially regarding the same location, we also assumed that we could just ask "we can install a quieter heat pump there than what’s stated in the permit, right?" and get the answer "Of course you can" -> unfortunately that wasn’t the case. At least not with our caseworker... The city doesn’t even seem to be consistent with itself... But we hope we can get this sorted quickly now. That a new location might be more interesting was also clear to us. But right now, we don’t even know exactly what the city wants from us, but that will get clarified.

Here in the forum, presumably many simply have not very small plots of land. And even if you have to comply with the TA Noise in case of doubt, that’s much less of a problem with single-family houses because the neighbor’s house is much further away. With row houses, it’s much tighter.

Otherwise, we’re just a bit unlucky that the building regulations in NRW were only adjusted in 2024 so that it’s easier to do that on smaller plots (without a special permit) but since our building permit is from 2023 and the house isn’t finished yet, the old building regulations still apply to us and we therefore still need this special permit.

In the end, it’s very likely that it will all be approved, it’s just a bit annoying right now that we have to get it approved.
 

mayglow

2024-09-01 23:09:59
  • #5
Hmm, time for an update again? It actually took until mid-August, but the land register transfer has finally been completed in our favor! So that's about 7 months after Tecklenburg filed for insolvency in January and about 4 months since we were informed that the insolvency administrator would not continue the contract. Just to recap the timeline.

We had the keys for a while, and the former Tecklenburg construction manager once said he didn't understand why nothing else had happened (on our part). But on the one hand, we were a bit worried that all the value increases we make might somehow be legally considered part of the insolvency estate and that it would somehow be turned against us. On the other hand, the fact that it simply wasn't registered in the land register was a major blocker for things like the house connections, etc., and our bank also didn't want to release funds beforehand. Allegedly, everything should work out now; we'll see—so far, we've bridged the gap with our own funds.

We had hoped to start a bit more in August, but it was limited to small things (and lots of phone calls to utilities, etc.), but next week the tiler is coming, and generally things will really pick up in September/October.
 

mayglow

2024-10-09 16:28:43
  • #6
It's time for an update again!

Things are slowly progressing. The tiler is now finished. I have to admit, I thought it would go faster overall, but he was mostly alone (and basically, I didn't feel like he was working particularly slowly when we were there). But it really turned out nicely and puts you in a good mood.

We've also had some minor "oopsies" that could have been solved better with better coordination. Originally, a tiled shower with a prefabricated board was planned. We thought we'd make it "easy" on ourselves and just carry it over with the same board into the new sanitary planning. Sort of the idea "that will probably cause the least problems." Our new sanitary guy pointed out on site that it would be tight in terms of height (the connections come out of the wall too high). We asked three more times if it would fit or not, and he finally said, "Yes, it should fit." Okay, shower board ordered. Then the delivery was delayed, installation kept getting later, and when time was really tight (the tiler was already in the house) and the sanitary guy was standing there with the shower board, he realized it wouldn't be flush with the floor "he did say right away that it would be tight," and suddenly we had to decide quickly what to do now. We simply shouldn't have let ourselves be pressured and should have thought it over calmly again. But we decided, and I still struggle with that decision. We now have a tiny 2cm step into the shower area — visually not even that dramatic and also well done by the tiler (there's an edge strip on it, like on other edges everywhere). Everything is sealed as well. But I'm just scared that we built in a potential weak spot where water might seep in unnoticed someday. Well, shoulda, woulda. We made the decision now, and that I would probably have decided differently a day later (even if the solution would have been more complicated) is just bad luck. I understand the saying, "the first house you build is for the enemy, the second for a friend, the third for yourself" quite well by now.

Next week, the house connections are supposed to go into the house (this week the core drilling for that). That was also a struggle, and I sincerely hope that it now really goes smoothly. Please, please. How something like this goes apparently varies regionally, and our feeling was that it’s chaos here. But we have now had the multi-utility house entry procured. We have a person who does the core drilling. None of the suppliers opposed the planned location. Next week the civil engineer from the suppliers is coming. IN THEORY, this should work now. But how many phone calls and messages we've already had for this, phew. I won’t believe it until it's really done.

(Edit: well, you can’t really see much in the photo right now, but I have nothing better at the moment)
 

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