Inspection/Supplements

"We would have done that anyway."

That’s of course easy to say, especially in hindsight.
Our construction company has conveyed in all preliminary discussions that they are flexible and transparent and certainly not picky. My feeling is that we would damage our relationship if we now discussed and fixed every little detail in advance against the managing director’s wishes.

Something like that is of course easy to say, especially in hindsight.

Well - with other things that were not recorded, it also happened like that. However, these were not about fittings such as electrical work, tiles, or the like, but rather about, for example, drainage pipes. We insisted that their installation be included.

For the trades where the companies do not calculate with the additional order, it is usually cheaper if you leave the general contractor out. Here you can have the general contractor tell you approximately what it would cost and have a first reference point.

It becomes more difficult with the trades (e.g. electrical/plumbing), where it is already calculated that the builder will not manage with the standard and where you often do not have the option for an alternative offer. Who wants to have their electrical installation carried out by two different electricians?
At this point, renegotiating is very difficult, which might be somewhat easier in advance with the entire contract.

We received a list of the companies the construction company works with beforehand. This allowed us to clarify all questions in advance.

Regarding preliminary sampling: When building with a larger company that has a sampling center or a sampling day or something similar, one should always insist on preliminary sampling before signing the contract. This is usually not done gladly, as the company has to invest a lot of time in it.

If the company, on the other hand, works more with local craftsmen (as was the case for us), it is, as described by , advisable to get a list of the craftsmen and speak directly with them.

I would also like to put forward an unsubstantiated claim: The cheaper the provider in the standard offer (house price), the more expensive the positions during sampling become. (This results simply from the larger difference between the presumably cheaper product from the standard and the desired product of the target equipment compared to a standard product from a more expensive house offer).

What are your experiences with agreements (addenda) and their compensation during the construction phase? The specific case: We had 3 additional empty conduits laid outside in the foundation slab without agreeing on a price. Since we did not agree before the work was carried out, we have to somehow come to an agreement afterwards. Is this a normal procedure on construction sites, or should the price always be negotiated before the measure is carried out?

I was also interested in when construction companies bill their addenda. Our first invoice has just arrived, and there were no additional costs included yet, although the driveway was filled with recycling material and the mentioned empty conduits were installed.