New KFW funding possible with old work contract?

Hello dear members of the house building forum,
since February I have been a builder and intend to build a single-family house. At the moment the project is still in the planning phase, but there is a problem with the house building company.
I concluded the contract for work and services with the company in February 2021. A fixed price was agreed upon in it. (Excerpt: “The agreed total price is a binding fixed price. Should the start of construction be delayed due to reasons not attributable to *** more than 12 months beyond the construction contract, *** reserves the right to charge a price increase surcharge for the labor and material share of the services at a reasonable discretion.”)
In my opinion, a price increase was already foreseeable at that time, which is why I signed the contract; at the same time, this was also an argument of the house building company.
According to the statement of the construction company, a start within the 12 months is not to be expected either, since there have been delays on many construction sites due to material shortages. Wasn’t this already foreseeable in February?
Today I spoke on the phone with the company. The occasion was their information that the new KFW funding is only possible with newly concluded contracts for work and services. They offer me to dissolve the old contract and conclude a new one, €30,000 more expensive, in order to be able to apply for the funding.

Now to my specific questions:
1. Is a KFW funding application possible under the new conditions with a contract for work and services concluded in February 2021 anyway? Construction has not yet started.
2. Is the house building company entitled to waive the fixed price commitment in the current situation?

I look forward to and thank you in advance for your answers!

Silvio

I am not an expert, our KfW applications explicitly stated that they must be submitted before purchase/contract conclusion.

As far as I remember, contract work agreements may be concluded beforehand but not started. Just take a look at the FAQ of the BEG?!

What confuses me is that you write, if it is not started within 12 months, it can be increased and it will pretty much certainly not be started within the 12 months. So an increase will happen anyway? Do you have nothing in the contract stating when the company has to start?

Hello dear members of the house-building forum,
since February I have been a builder and intend to build a single-family house. At the moment, the project is still in the planning phase, but there is a problem with the house-building company.
I signed the contract for work with the company in February 2021. A fixed price was agreed upon in it. (Excerpt: "The agreed total price is a binding fixed price. Should the start of construction be postponed more than 12 months after the construction contract for reasons not attributable to ***, *** reserves the right to charge a cost increase surcharge corresponding to reasonable discretion for the labor and material portion of the services.")
In my opinion, an impending price increase was already foreseeable at that time, which is why I signed the contract; this was also the argument of the house-building company.
According to the construction company, a start of construction within 12 months is not to be expected either, since delays have occurred on many construction sites due to material shortages. Wasn’t this already foreseeable in February?
Today I spoke on the phone with the company. The reason was their information that the new KFW subsidy is only possible with newly concluded contracts for work. They offer to cancel the old contract and conclude a new one, €30,000 more expensive, in order to apply for the subsidy.

Now to my specific questions:
1. Is it still possible to submit a KFW funding application according to the new conditions with a contract for work concluded in February 2021? The construction has not yet started.
2. Is the house-building company entitled to lift the fixed price commitment in the current situation?

I look forward to and thank you in advance for your answers!

Silvio

The KFW application must definitely be made BEFORE the contract for work is concluded. We have signed a planning contract and the contract for work will follow in the coming days. The builder has ordered almost everything at the beginning of the year, so there will be no significant increases.

With the current contract for work, you will definitely no longer get a KFW grant. I don’t understand why the company did not advise you. You have probably been in contact for some time, likely since last year? In my case, the CEO called quite excitedly and recommended concluding the BAFA by 12/31/2020 so that the subsidies could still be obtained through it.

kfw application must definitely take place BEFORE the contract for work.

There are already a few exceptions:

Here is an example from the FAQ: "In grant law, it is recognized that a suspensive or resolutive condition in supply and service contracts prevents the occurrence of a funding-detrimental project start with regard to the granting of the subsidy."

So there are some exceptions, such as a right of withdrawal in the contract.
Also possible is a documented consultation and then subsequently the loan option.

The question, however, is which of these cases are still applicable now.

So it does indeed seem that with an existing contract for work the new funding can no longer be applied for. The reason is a change in the application conditions. Until 30.06.2021, the funding application could also be made after the conclusion of the contract for work, but had to be submitted before the start of construction. Now, the decisive date is the contract signing. But that is still not enough, because as far as I have found out, the KFW confirmation of receipt must even be awaited before signing.

I feel poorly advised and misled by the construction company in this matter. At the time of signing the contract in February 2021, the construction company must have been aware of both their too large order volume (I could not assess that) and the impending rise in material costs (I was aware of that).

Conclusion:
Even if I take legal action against the poor advice or the construction delay and thus the price increase, I will no longer qualify for the KFW funding.
So I would be forced to agree to the new, more expensive contract for work in order to be able to take advantage of the 26,250€ funding. What do you think?
Maybe I can have the price adjustment clause removed in the new contract or get a supplementary service reimbursed.