General questions about house construction

Hello forum members,

The following questions are partly mixed and actually relate to the initial stage of a planned house construction. But partly (at least that is what I felt when I read posts in this forum), there are things to consider already before or during planning that could possibly have significant consequences later on (information in the construction specification).

I will now simply ask a few general questions. If these do not fall within this topic area, I apologize in advance.

1. Prefabricated house vs. solid house
Since we are not craftsmen and want the house to be erected quickly, we would like to build a prefabricated house based on our current situation and knowledge.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of the two construction methods, based on the 2015 standard (e.g. insulation aspects in prefabricated houses have generally improved in the last 5 years compared to, for example, 2010). A brief answer would be sufficient for now. If I have further questions, I would go into more detail later.

2. Construction specification
Is it just as important for prefabricated houses in terms of level of detail as for solid house construction?

3. Are there actually "sample" construction specifications that one can refer to? By this I mean examples from anonymized builders in the context of construction planning, etc. I understand that these cannot be 100% tailored to our building project. The background is simply to have comparisons of what a good, final construction specification should look like.

Regards

Hauke

Hello, I could send you a construction service description... From a [massivhaushersteller].

1. Prefabricated house vs. solid house
Since we are not craftsmen and the house should be built quickly, based on our current situation and knowledge, we would want to build a prefabricated house.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of the two construction methods, based on the 2015 standard (e.g. insulation aspect in prefabricated houses generally better in the last 5 years than e.g. in 2010). A short and concise answer would suffice for me at first. If I then have further questions, I would elaborate in more detail.

Prefabricated houses tend to be somewhat more expensive (according to general opinion), prefabricated houses are possibly considered less valuable (50 years lifespan instead of 70 years (?)), with prefabricated houses it is important that you understand the scope of work description or get advice – especially regarding sound and summer heat protection (this does not mean that they are generally worse), installation level, possibilities for individualization. Just because the house is erected quickly does not mean you can move in quickly ;) Providers may have long lead times as their order books are well filled – this is not necessarily different with solid house providers.

2. Scope of work description
Is it just as important with prefabricated houses in terms of detail accuracy as with solid house construction?

Yes, definitely – it is always extremely important as it defines what you are buying.

3. Are there actually “sample” scope of work descriptions that one can refer to? By this I mean examples from anonymized builders within the framework of construction planning, etc. I understand that these cannot be 100% tailored to our building project. The background is simply to have comparisons of what a good, final scope of work description should look like.

As a start, you can look at the scope of work descriptions of providers – feel free to check a few in the high price range, mid-range, and low range. Then try to understand where the differences are. Your scope of work description can then possibly be reviewed by an expert, read everything critically – what is not included costs extra or is subject to interpretation – pay attention to all details.
A somewhat silly example: with us, it says that rough boards will be laid on the insulation in the unfinished attic – but only a certain square meter amount. However, the attic is 5 sqm larger and the carpenter asks if he should leave it free or if we want to pay the difference – in this case it is rather insignificant as the surcharge is minimal (but it shows that you have to read the scope of work description consciously).

Hello,
thank you both for the quick response.

@mustafa: I would like to receive the [Bauleistungsbeschreibung] -> just to have a reference point. Many thanks in advance.

@Belaelja:
Thank you for the information. I hadn’t even considered the possible fully booked order books at the prefab house suppliers.
Regarding the second point, I see it the same way -> meaning with building experts and explicit checking of the individual points (what is not stated -> will not be built -> regardless of what anyone might have promised at some point).
Especially your example with the 5 sqm additional insulation, even such small things show that one can forget something and although it might only have a small impact on the budget, what about bigger things… I will take your advice regarding the [Bauleistungsbeschreibung], but I still hope to get examples of sample descriptions in order to simply have comparisons of “completed [Bauleistungsbeschreibung]’s” and not only the standard descriptions from the providers (which probably should never be accepted as is, because there are too many “interpretation aspects” involved).

Two further questions came to me while writing the response.

1. Can "payments due to delayed completion" generally be included in the [BLKB] or is that not possible at all? What I mean is that the builder would also have an interest in completing the build finally and really “puts in the effort”?

2. Good payment plan? What I mean is the corresponding payments when a partial section of the build is finally finished.
a) Always retain 5% of the actually payable amount, possible?
b) Percentage distribution? If towards the end of the build the builder still receives about 8% of the payments but actually still has 20% of the work to do, there is no incentive to finish the project quickly, as he can earn more money elsewhere for the work and will only come by eventually.

Best regards and many thanks in advance

Hauke

It probably depends a bit on who you’re building with... you’re already implying a certain nastiness about the entire construction industry ;-)

Contractually, many things are possible – withholding the last 5% until complete defect rectification is not that uncommon. Compensation payments for exceeding the warranty period also do exist. Just keep in mind that these are costs for the contractor too, and they’ll somehow pass these costs on to you.

Payment according to construction progress is common – there are even certain “templates” from numerous associations for this. But remember that the risk in construction goes both ways – if the contractor fronts all the money for the roof and the client doesn’t pay, the contractor basically has to pay for the entire roof out of their own capital... if they’re unlucky, several clients act questionably and suddenly they’re left sitting on a quarter of a million – that might not bother a big company, but a small contractor who builds 10 houses a year, definitely. Result? They file for bankruptcy and your house is left as a shell – congratulations.

What I want to say is that it should be fair for both sides...

In general: if the offer seems too good to be true, look for the catch – even if it’s a cliché: good planning and good craftsmanship cost good money (or rather fair money).

... you are already attributing a certain malice to the entire construction industry

.. well, these associations are not without reason, nowhere can you so quickly and easily get money out of the pocket of the uninformed builder .. in addition, many different companies are involved in a construction project and all companies want to make as much money as possible, the tricks to achieve this are not detectable for laymen ...

good planning and good craftsmanship cost good money (or preferably fair money).

.. absolutely right :D

that the risk in construction goes both ways -

.. also absolutely right ..