Is membership in the Association of Private Builders worthwhile?

In our opinion, this is a matter of taste. We also became a member of such an association a year ago. Apart from a few PDFs for download in the members' area and lots of lawyers / expert witnesses who greedily look at all newcomers with dollar signs in their eyes, we could not recognize any service. Twice during this time, a newsletter was sent by mail, very thin, just general stuff and advertising.

When we specifically looked for a lawyer to review the four-page contract for work, the contract lawyer first wanted to write us an extensive offer, for which he claimed he needed 4 days (just to be clear again: we didn't want to sue anyone before the European Court of Justice, but just wanted a standard construction law contract to be reviewed....). In principle, all the expert witnesses, construction supervisors, and lawyers can also be booked directly without this association. At least with the lawyers, in our experience, there is no price difference... For us, this association is just a marketing tool for expert witnesses and lawyers, the membership did not help us. However, the cancellation process is really lengthy.....

Thank you for sharing your experiences. We have now submitted the membership application and should be members by the end of this week. I will "test" the Bauherren-Schutzbund for the first time when the first preliminary contracts from the discussions with the prefab house manufacturers come in. Let's see what the Bauherren-Schutzbund will bring us then.

Hello, my experiences after 1 month of association with Verband Privater Bauherren membership: 800 euros wasted on 2 phone calls and 2 hours of inefficient consultation without any significant results. A few tips and sample contracts (but I find the same free of charge on the internet or in the Bauherrenberater of Stiftung Warentest for 19.9 euros). No further comment.... Oh yes, many documents you find there bear the Verband Privater Bauherren stamp on the cover page, on the back you then read that the publisher is a ministry or authority or consumer center. With this kind of "repackaging" I feel like I was taken for a ride. My conclusion: One should look VERY carefully at the Verband Privater Bauherren fee schedule.

Thank you very much for the experience report!

When I read this, neither the Bauherren-Schutzbund nor the Verband Privater Bauherren are really the bee's knees. Tüv and Dekra also offer similar services. Does anyone have experience with them? How do you find an expert for the review of the contract and the construction performance description as well as for construction supervision who is worth their money?

We had also considered this before the construction, but due to similar reports online, we ultimately decided to secure ourselves with construction legal protection in case everything went completely wrong. Many former home builders can also break down a construction service description quite well into its components. If I were to choose a small general contractor, I would always have the construction contract reviewed by a specialist lawyer. Most are also willing to negotiate about fees. By now, I would also obtain a credit report on the company I want to build with. Many already complain about lost orders, etc. Finances can quickly deteriorate if one continues to live beyond their means.

There is simply no 100% security when building.