Is the completion deadline sufficient?

Hello, dear forum! We are about to sign with our construction company. The contracts and building descriptions have been reviewed and the 5th offer is now on the table ;) We have agreed on a guaranteed completion date, with a contractual penalty for exceeding it. The contractor rejected a formulation about the "start of construction (earthworks) 3 weeks after submission of the building permit" because in case of a surprisingly rapid processing of the building application (currently it takes 10 weeks in the municipality) he would have no time for preparation. We understand that, even though the scenario is very unlikely. We have a deadline to submit the building application by the end of July, 10 weeks would then be mid-October. Would you hold him to a fixed start date? The end date is fixed, but he shouldn’t start only in January and then botch everything to finish on time. Can you write: Start of construction no later than 1.11.2013, or start of construction October 2013? How would you proceed? Many thanks for your tips, Mecc

Hello Mecc,

we only have one final deadline.... Ultimately, the end is more important to me anyway. Whether the contractor then messes around, well, that can also happen to you in the other case because maybe he hasn't prepared everything yet and then just starts to satisfy you. Unless you happen to have gotten a bad apple, contractors know very well when they have to start to meet the timelines.

Best regards

What do you do when you catch him in the act - construction start October 13 - then he puts up his company sign, digs a small hole, or throws a stone around and says: So now I have started. Then he takes off again and comes back in March, if the weather permits,... January is probably a pretty bad time to start,...

Hi, we have also spoken to other builders. The decisive factor is the final deadline. Often, there are start-up problems in the beginning. Sometimes nothing happens for ages and then everything all at once. It's best to leave that to the site manager. Usually, things level out towards the end and the deadline is met, even though it was delayed at the beginning.

Thank you for your answers! Yes, I don’t know either. On the one hand, there has to be a certain level of trust, otherwise we don’t need to build with him. On the other hand, control is of course better. Our lawyer had advised to "Baubeginn (Erdarbeiten)", hopefully just a construction sign wouldn’t be enough ;) Difficult...