Invoice for water connection despite payment through property price?

My tip: They don't know either. The "we've always done it this way" has become so entrenched that no one knows what would be legally correct – so far there have apparently been no inquiries.

1,800 loops are unfortunately a bit too much to just keep quiet. That's why I also believe in the hush money.

Imagine 50 other builders find out about your case and try to put pressure on the authority afterwards… they are scared.

That's my personal opinion, which of course could also be wrong.

I don't just imagine 50, but 94 – that's how many plots the new development area has

The question now is probably: what to do?

I have a suspicion...
With us, a position in the land purchase agreement alongside the price for the building land and the development costs is called "Herstellungskosten". Here, payment for the water/sewage connection is made in advance, but only up to a certain sqm ground area value of the building. In our case, it was 153 sqm. After 1.5 years, we are allowed to pay the remaining 55 sqm.

What is strange, however, is that they give in on the price under a little pressure.

So I don't really understand the problem. What you have paid here based on your building area and according to the notary contract are, in my opinion, the development costs. However, this does not concern the pipeline on the property, but the development up to the property. But fundamentally, for me, the question is what you want to achieve. You have an invoice from a company, then you dispute it in writing and ask for an explanation of the reason/order for which this invoice was issued. As long as you do not pay, you do not have to pay, since it is a disputed invoice. Then it will become clear what will come next. In the worst case for you, the invoice will be canceled and you will receive a notice from the municipality for the full amount, which will probably also legally be based on an existing connection obligation, which you will have to challenge in court and which must be paid after a month regardless of whether you sue or ultimately win. You have received a service, the amount of which can then be disputed in court. And here a partial waiver is probably to be expected, since this is probably an amount that can be demanded without further ado for the service rendered. That the whole thing is very opaque and strange is beyond question. However, currently you hold the upper hand by not paying until the matter is clarified. However, the municipality is not the right contact at the moment, since the invoice is from the company.

I have now spoken twice by phone with the notary. Last week he told me verbally that everything concerning the pipes up to the building wall is included in the purchase price (plus the actual costs once the floor area is known). I asked him to confirm this in writing via email.

Today I spoke with him – he contacted the municipality and now told me that he is "not familiar with the matter." WTF

What you have paid here based on your building area and according to the notary contract are the development costs, in my opinion. However, this does not concern the pipe on the property, but the development up to the property.

How exactly would something like this be recognizable?

In the purchase contract for the plot it says:
"Each building parcel in the development area receives a water house connection, a wastewater connection, and a rainwater connection as part of the initial development."

The statute defines "house water connection" as all pipes up to the building wall – the costs for this are calculated based on square meters of floor area and plot area, as also stated in the purchase contract. There is also a decree from the municipality that is issued once the final floor area is determined. This is then offset against the flat-rate prepayment from the purchase contract.

But on top of that, we also have the invoice from the company here...

In the worst case for you, the invoice will be canceled and you will receive a notice from the municipality for the full amount, which because of a likely existing connection obligation will also probably have a legal basis, which you will have to challenge in court and still have to pay after one month regardless of whether you sue or ultimately win.

We will get the municipality’s notice anyway – the neighbors here have it as well. And then on top of that, this mysterious invoice.

In the notarial purchase agreement there is a main section called "Development". Here the topic of water supply is formulated as follows:

[INDENT]"The buyer agrees to pay the seller advance payments on the construction contributions for the water supply according to the Municipal Charges Act (KAG) and the municipal statutes as follows:
For the construction of the facilities for the water supply, an amount of XXX EUR per square meter of land area [....] This results, with an assumed area size of XXXX m2, in an advance payment of gross EUR 1,300"
[/INDENT]
What "facilities for the water supply" are is not explained in more detail. However, in connection with the above-quoted sentence from the statute ("The property connection is made by the municipality...") and the associated definition of terms, I find this relatively clear.

Well, the heading above says Development and not House Connection, right?
Usually, house connection costs are not calculated per square meter but per meter, that is, how long water and sewage pipes have to be laid on the property.

As I said, you do not have to pay the company's bill after a written objection if you have not commissioned anything from them.

The statute also does not contradict the fact that these are development contributions, see below.

On the topic of "house connection," the statute writes in the section on definitions:

[INDENT]"Property connections (= house connections) are the water pipes from the branch point of the supply line to the transfer point; they begin at the connection device and end at the main shut-off device."[/INDENT]

[INDENT]"Transfer point is the end of the property connection behind the main shut-off device on the property/building."[/INDENT]

The statute continues:
"The property connection is made, maintained, renewed, modified, disconnected and removed by the municipality."

This excerpt from the statute, if it can really be read alone and is formulated that way (property connections = house connections), is simply stupid on the part of the municipality. Because the property connections are exactly not the house connections and only lead to confusion.
The property connection is the branch from the main line, the fresh water line in the street, from the valve (the shut-off device) to the end of the line on the property. (usually 1m behind the property boundary)
Thus, the transfer point would be somewhere underground on the property.
Read the other way around, the property connections say nothing else either.
The line (property connection = house connection) starts somewhere underground on the property and ends at the valve (the main shut-off device) in the street and is of course also
made, maintained, renewed, modified, disconnected and removed by the municipality because that is their responsibility. Development contributions are paid for that.
This is not contradicted at all. The transfer point is defined as the end of the property connection, the property connection begins with the branch from the main line and ends at the transfer point.
Thus, the statute only states what you pay for development according to §5a KAG. House connection costs are added on top and are not calculated per sqm but per length.

VGH Kassel:

"Development costs" means "costs of development". Development includes the creation of all the facilities that are required according to today's standards to make a property habitable or commercially usable in a way that requires the presence of people. This includes the street through which the property gains a connection to the general traffic network, the water supply, the electricity supply and the possibility of wastewater disposal."

The whole thing, as already mentioned, proceeded very strangely and you should never receive a bill from a company.

So stay relaxed, do not pay anything to the company, set aside some money and wait to see what the municipality will do.
How the municipality will proceed then, nobody knows.

Please take a look at your land purchase contract.

We have a chapter on the purchase price where it is clear what the 150€/m² consists of.

Item 1: Land purchase price 56.74€/m². So purely the land itself
Item 2: Redemption for the development contribution 87.95€/m²

And now comes what the municipality apparently did not communicate transparently enough...
Item 3: Construction of the water supply and wastewater disposal system (distribution see screenshot)

The contract additionally states..."The advance payment covers a future floor area of 153.25m². For floor areas exceeding this, the development contributions will be recalculated according to the respectively current regulations in accordance with the statutes.[/B]
So it seems you have to pay additional development contributions, since, as you yourself have already written, you only made a flat-rate advance payment. The flat-rate does not relate to the maximum buildable floor area but to a certain rate. For us, it was 153.25m², so 1/4 of the plot. But since we are going to build a total of 205m² with a basement, we will have to make additional payments in 1-2 years as well.