Is it sensible to have a building surveyor for condominiums from the developer?

We have just accepted our construction with a Hamburg "developer." If my wife hadn't been inspecting the construction site weekly, the construction in the separate property would have gone totally wrong: wrong tile backsplashes, wrong fittings, forgotten window outlets, and so on and so forth. We hired an expensive expert for the acceptance of the separate property (he wrote the book on acceptance), and he was worth every euro. He sees things that a layperson does not see at all. For the acceptance of the common property, we hired the same expert for the homeowners' association, with the same result. I would NEVER buy from a developer again and NEVER accept without an expert. There is a professional (developer) against laymen (buyers).

Thank you very much for your feedback. In the end, we also decided on construction supervision by an expert. The developer's site management and the trades involved have been of high quality so far, and only "minor issues" were found by the expert. Nevertheless, the expert was worth his money and we would do it the same way again at any time. You simply sleep better at night... Also, as you said, you can meet on equal footing. We simply emailed the expert's interim report to the developer, and all points were promptly rectified or are in planning.

Has the acceptance of the common property already taken place, or the first owners' meeting? It is important that the community pulls together here. It is also very advantageous to involve various experts (structural engineering / HVAC / electrical).

I would recommend the same to the community before the warranty expires.

Best regards

Has the acceptance of the common property already taken place or the first owners' meeting? It is important that the community pulls together here. It is also very advantageous to consult various experts (structural engineering / HVAC / electrical).

I would recommend the same to the community before the warranty period expires.

Best regards

Good tip - thanks! So our apartment is still under construction. The final acceptance of the apartment and the common property is therefore still pending. We have an expert who is currently supervising the construction; his specialty is moisture damage (he cannot do electrical). How would one best organize a building acceptance with several experts? With DEKRA & Co., there is always only ONE expert...

Also, we have not yet had an owners' association meeting. I wonder how the timing will be here: does the first owners' meeting usually take place before or after acceptance of the common property? We don't know the other apartment buyers at all yet.

The idea that the defects are supposed to be in the common property is incomprehensible, illogical, and contradicts any experience. Now the discussion revolves around how the individual co-owners are supposed to accept the common property. That is quite simple: the developer wants to have his acceptance immediately upon completion and he receives it for the common property from the WEG administrator, without any action required from the co-owners.
The initial question of whether one should have a construction supervisor for the exclusive property or not is just as easy to answer: quality never arises by itself in construction, and certainly not just because it is stated in the contract, as some buyers believe. The longer the leash given to the contractors, the faster defects occur. This is consistently true even among professionals. However, a buyer of a condominium or a house built by the developer is not a professional, and therefore construction supervision makes sense if it is done by a suitable expert.

In the past, the acceptance of the common property was actually carried out by the administrator. However, this is no longer feasible. Nowadays, each individual owner must declare the acceptance to the developer.

..... thank you for your comment; it seems we are both slightly off the mark. It is clear that the partial owner cannot make legally binding declarations regarding the common property. The WEG administrator appointed by the developer (who is usually submissive to the developer) is not allowed to carry out the acceptance, so in this case the WEG assembly must decide on a person to carry out the acceptance. In the event that the initial administration has already been legitimized by the emerging WEG, it is the task of this WEG administrator to accept the common property. This creates a grey area which, in my opinion, was not closed by the BGH ruling of 2013: The developer can initiate an owners' meeting after a marginal sales level has been reached, at which the WEG administrator is voted on. Because at this point the majority of votes still lie with the developer (and may also lie in the future if he stops sales), a WEG administrator is established who is essentially chosen by the developer. This circumvents the standard prohibition in the developer contract in the sense of the BGH and yet achieves the same result.