Floor plan planning shortly before submitting the building application

I have already written countless times that the general contractor only hands over the planning documents at the time of handover.

I haven’t heard something so absurd in a long time. No determination and coordination of the supply and exhaust air valves? How did the other trades, like electrical and sanitary, handle it? Did they also make a secret of the positioning of outlets and connections?

And even if he had handed them out earlier, there would have been no possibility of intervention,

Once again: You are the client. If, for example, the location of a valve didn’t fit with your furniture placement or aesthetics (which ideally doesn’t seem to be the case for you), you certainly would have had the right to request a change in the planning; if necessary, for a fee, of course. Not an intervention, but an involvement in the planning process; one can reasonably expect that.

because nothing is agreed in the contract regarding the type of outlets etc.

Just because nothing is explicitly agreed in the contract doesn’t mean in reverse that they can build completely according to their own tastes without regard to you; because you are the client.

Why not outlets in the floor?

As I said, for me personally. I find it difficult to position them in the room. In front of the window? No. On the wall opposite? There are furniture pieces without legs. Dirt seeps in at the fireplace. Better a ceiling outlet then. Visually it’s somewhat less discreet than a floor outlet, but it restricts me less in terms of usable floor space layout. In the upper floor, wall outlets. We took a lot of time to think about the positioning, but have moved quite far away from the optimum in terms of usage. In the dressing room, cabinets have to be moved for filter replacement, and in the children’s rooms, we deprived ourselves of a possible bed and desk placement. Happens.

A general contractor would be out of the question for me if he is not willing to provide detailed plans for review (and approval!!!) to the builder in advance. Was that clear from the beginning? That would be a deal-breaker for me.

No, that was not clear from the beginning.

How did the other trades handle it, like electrical and sanitary?

That was determined during a shell construction meeting and documented textually via protocol. Electrical has nothing to do with that since it is a separate trade. However, no heights were agreed upon there either, and later all switches had to be redrilled because they were drilled at a height I did not approve of. I hadn’t thought to coordinate that beforehand and was also surprised that the electrician didn’t have such questions on his checklist.

As I said, for me personally. I find it difficult to position them in the room.

Well, everything fits for us and I don’t see any problems with the ventilation, so I’m not making any issues there.

Can't we just keep trying to look into the future instead of pondering what if???

I can only confirm again: we also wanted to build with a very good local general contractor. He neither gave any information why he prefers this brick, and we failed because he believed a controlled residential ventilation system was not necessary. 100 other builders were satisfied with him and live in nice houses and had zero stress. Did they check what was done? Did they read up on the heating system beforehand? No, they didn’t, they trusted him because after all this service costs around 50k.

We then did individual contracting with construction management; we wouldn't have dared to do it alone. A lot went wrong there too. But I finally took on a certain responsibility. I couldn’t hand it over because no one else was there. I had to decide myself where the ventilation would go, etc.

With the general contractor, I’m sure if I had just sat back and let him do it, I would be unhappy now.

Yes, some here voluntarily research everything, etc. I actually didn’t feel like it but was forced to.

And no one can tell us if Hotzi had taken an architect whether it would have turned out differently. That person might have overshot the budget significantly, etc.

You can’t know, so it’s pointless.

But from now on, the robber should step on it. Get informed beforehand, not only after it’s all over. You could have still dealt with the garage door.

Sit down, see what’s still to come, and inform yourself.

You could have tackled the garage door as well.

I wouldn't do it any better today either. If the building application states identical heights, how on earth was I supposed to guess that the doors would be different heights?

I'm not going to get written confirmation again that the screed is the same height in all rooms, am I?

With us, they are in front of the windows. Desks in the children's room can go above them, no cupboards go there anyway, they hardly stand out. I notice most of them when cleaning the windows because I stand on the grid. However, with us there is no choice between bottom or top. Because they are also used for heating.

I wouldn't do it any better today either? If the building application simply states identical heights, how on earth am I supposed to guess that the gates are then different heights?

I also wouldn't have it confirmed in writing again that the screed is the same height in all rooms?

Then I still haven't quite understood why they now have different passage heights?