ok, thank you for the honest answer.
At the Bauherren-Schutzbund (which is part of the Verbraucherzentrale) there are experts who can also carry out construction supervision.
In the city where we want to build, there happens to be one, with whom I have talked on the phone about it.
Also concerning eligibility for funding through KfW.
He himself works full-time in an engineering office and works voluntarily for the Bauherren-Schutzbund.
He said that most companies from the region usually employ external planners, who then mostly also carry out the construction supervision.
As a rule, this was funded by KfW. It does not have to be like this always, but he knows it very often in this form.
He also said that if the planner belongs to the company or if he only works with the company, independence can no longer be guaranteed. Then it probably doesn’t work.
Ultimately, you should ask the contractor whether their planning is eligible for funding, they should know, and this can also be contractually agreed upon.
Otherwise, I can also carry out construction supervision through him, which however does not replace the coordination and management by the executing company.
Furthermore, what I have understood so far quite differently from the KfW site:
According to his statement, the funding of 50%, but a maximum of €4,000, only refers to planning, monitoring, and acceptance services regarding achieving KfW55, keyword insulation.
For example, checking correct reinforcement or that bricks are set precisely is not fundable through KfW.
On the other hand, on the KfW site it states:
When applying for combination products as of 01.04.2016 we fund:
[*Planning and professional construction supervision during
[LIST]
[*]energy refurbishment measures or
[*]the construction of a KfW Efficiency House.
as well as:
Funded services during professional construction supervision
[*]Services for detailed planning
[*]Support with tendering and evaluation of offers
[*]Control of construction execution
[*]Acceptance and evaluation of measures
as well as:
We fund you if, in addition to energy refurbishment measures or the construction of a KfW Efficiency House for residential buildings, you have expert planning and qualified construction supervision carried out by an external, independent expert.
I do not read any limitation to specific KfW parts for construction supervision there.
Therefore, I called KfW and indeed, only the energetic parts are funded.
As a rule of thumb, the funding relates to all activities that a pure energy consultant should be able to perform.
If parts of the calculations, e.g. statics for the roof due to insulation, are performed by an architect, the energetic parts of the architect’s services should be separately listed, the energy consultant can then submit this external invoice at the end of the measure together with his own invoices to the KfW to obtain the funding.
Whether you can substitute the independent energy consultant / expert with the architect who is already involved should be discussed directly with that person if you want to, whether this is possible from his point of view in terms of independence.
Here are a few numbers on costs that were mentioned to me:
- Independent energy consultant with planning, execution supervision, and acceptance (regarding KfW), application and implementation of KfW, calculation, etc. costs about €3,000-5,000 for a single-family house
- 50% of this is reimbursed by KfW
- Additional desired construction supervision (for all non KfW-specific parts), about €250/day (maximum 3 hours at €85/hour at the Bauherren-Schutzbund; plus travel costs, for me none since same location)
- For example, thermal bridge calculation (€100/bridge for about 12-14 bridges per house)
- 8-9 controls = about €2,500 (including basement)
Regarding thermal bridges:
I was told that most contractors and general contractors calculate KfW using the simple model. Upon request, one can (for example he) also calculate thermal bridges individually. This would significantly improve the KfW value (he gave me values from 0.01 to 0.015 for the calculation of thermal bridges and 0.05 for the standard calculation).
He has already recalculated several plans in which gas condensing boilers with solar on the roof were to be installed individually and thus was able to demonstrate KfW55 without additional measures, which the general contractor’s standard calculation would not have reached.
However, if you plan to install a controlled residential ventilation system, the general contractor would already reach KfW55 and you can save the individual calculation.
Or you reduce insulation again, but that probably does not make much sense.
One more thing about the Bauherren-Schutzbund and the Verbraucherzentrale:
I have already learned quite a lot non-binding freely on the phone, I can only recommend it to everyone. The Verbraucherzentrale also offers energy consultations, short talks (mine lasted 25 minutes) via an 0800 number free of charge and personal consultations cost €5/30 minutes as they are subsidized by the state. I have arranged such an appointment, he said on the phone I should expect 60 minutes. I also learned some things on the phone and the €10... no big deal.
In any case, for consultations and services by the Bauherren-Schutzbund, you must first become a member there for about €150/year.
For this, you initially receive a free basic consultation with your own selectable core topic.
The guy I spoke to said that the fee via the Bauherren-Schutzbund of €85/hour is significantly lower than if I commission him directly via his architect office.
In this first conversation, he would, among other things, carry out a heating calculation based on my documents (at least a service description and final floor plans should be available) and can already offer options for achieving KfW55 on that basis.
My general contractors have already done this, but based on their calculation, which I no longer fully trust due to sometimes significant price differences.