Looking for developers in SH - experiences

We are currently building with Kagebau and feel completely cheated. The drama began immediately after signing the contract. First, we were informed that construction would start in late summer instead of spring. Then we were confronted with significant additional costs (earthworks, shoring, drainage, costs for a safety and health coordinator, etc.) despite a fixed price. No verifiable statics were submitted to the structural engineer. Subsequently, the reinforcement plans were not submitted. Construction finally began in spring one year later. After the completion of the basement, no further verifiable documents were submitted to the structural engineer, resulting in a 6-month construction delay. After one year of construction, the shell is only about 30% complete. Over the winter, the shell was left unprotected. We eventually had to pump 40 cm of water out of the basement. The construction site looks like a battlefield. Actually, it is a construction ruin. Currently, the construction project is 5 months behind schedule. This does not interest Kagebau at all. They see absolutely no fault on their part. There is no construction planning. Kagebau openly threatens not to continue construction if the presented interim payments are not made despite defects in the building and a contractually agreed penalty. The general contractor contract is only binding for the client anyway. Otherwise, Kagebau does not care about the contract. They act according to might makes right. After 28 months of construction, the project is on the brink of collapse. We will terminate the construction contract with Kagebau for special reasons. It is a disaster. We strongly advise against this construction company.

We are currently building with Kagebau and feel completely cheated. The drama began right after signing the contract. First, we were informed that construction would start in late summer instead of spring. Then we were confronted with significant additional costs (earthworks, shoring, drainage, costs for a safety and health coordinator, etc.) despite a fixed price. No verifiable structural analysis was submitted to the structural engineer. Afterwards, the reinforcement plans were not submitted. Construction finally began in spring, one year later. After completing the basement, further verifiable documents were not submitted to the structural engineer, resulting in a 6-month construction delay. After one year of construction, the shell is only about 30% finished. The shell was unprotected over the winter. In the end, we had to pump 40 cm of water out of the basement. The construction site looks like a battlefield. Essentially, it is a construction ruin. Currently, the project is 5 months behind schedule. Kagebau does not care at all. They see no fault on their part whatsoever. There is no construction planning. Kagebau openly threatens that construction will not continue if the presented progress payments are not paid despite defects in the building and a contractually agreed penalty. The general contractor contract is only binding for the client anyway. Otherwise, Kagebau ignores the contract entirely. The company acts according to the law of the jungle. After 28 months of construction, the project is at a standstill. We will terminate the construction contract with Kagebau for special reasons. It is a disaster. We strongly advise against this construction company.

A stupid question that I ask everyone: Where was the external construction supervisor? Didn’t you hire one? They might have been able to act differently than you.

Stupid question, but one I ask everyone. Where was the external construction supervisor? Didn't you hire one? He might have been able to act differently than you?

As likeable (and in principle also as loud as possible singable) as I find your litany about the construction supervisor: he can only critically assess what (and how something) has been done – not what is still postponed to be done. Besides his technical competence, he has nothing (to offer): he has no authority, let alone that of a judge. He cannot force anyone to finally get moving. Thus, he remains "merely" a knowledgeable support for the party "client," but without means to exert any pressure so that his findings lead to required actions by the building contracting partner.

As likeable (and basically also singable as loudly as possible) as I find your litany about the construction supervisor: he can only critically assess what (and how something) is done – not what still needs to be postponed to be done. Besides his professional competence, he has nothing (to offer): he has no authority, certainly not that of a judge. He cannot force anyone to finally get moving. Thus, he remains "merely" a knowledgeable reinforcement of the party "client," but without means to exert any pressure so that his findings lead to the necessary actions by the construction contract partner.

However, he can give many helpful tips from his experience and possibly talk to the construction manager differently than the client would. I think he would have been helpful in this case as well.

The external construction supervisor can certainly notice and announce when the lawyer should be called in because the construction company is fooling and cheating the client. Clients alone hope until ruin.