OKAL House Construction - Accessibility of the Construction Site

Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum and warmly greet the forum members. Now to our problem:

We decided on an Okal house in January 2020. In a few days we can celebrate our anniversary and since then no building application has been submitted by OKAL, especially since we are financially pressed because we now have to pay the provision interest to the bank. Despite numerous emails and phone calls throughout the year, we have only now received information from OKAL that we as builders must send binding information in the form of documents to OKAL, which must include the following content:

1.) Approval of the route planning including the encumbrances to be registered (right of way and utility easement)
2.) Execution planning of the route (exact length and height specifications including representation of supporting structures and culverts to your property)
3.) Binding information on construction site logistics, how your property can be reached at all by truck, etc. (permits for crossing neighboring properties on the uphill side)

OKAL has agreed to represent our house on the property in planning terms (after more than a year of waiting), but they need to know bindingly how the building area can be accessed – on foot after construction activity and by truck during construction activity.

Unfortunately, the company OKAL is not helpful to us in clarifying the above points. Is any forum member aware of who I should contact (possibly authority?) to obtain the documents for the above points?

Best regards,

Häuselbauer

And they only tell you that after a year? What was agreed upon regarding who takes care of the planning? Did you agree on a completion date with a contractual penalty?

And they only tell you that after a year? What was agreed upon regarding who is responsible for the planning? Did you agree on a completion date with a contractual penalty?

Hello Snowy36,

thank you for your feedback. Regarding your questions:

1.) Yes, we unfortunately received the information from Okal Haus so late. The communication with Okal Haus is unfortunately catastrophic; I would not recommend the company to anyone anymore.

2.) As far as I understand, the contractual agreements concerning the owed architectural services are, in my opinion, contradictory or at least unclear. On the one hand, § 4 of the contract conditions – which are part of the house construction contract – states that the builder is obliged to obtain the necessary enforceable building permit for the construction project at his own expense. Furthermore, § 4 regulates that it is the responsibility of the builder to create the prerequisites for the development of the property.

On the other hand, the construction description – which is also part of the contract – stipulates that all architectural services are provided by DFH and are part of the owed scope of services. It says there that the architect commissioned by DFH owes both the fundamental evaluation and the approval planning for the construction project (item 1 of the construction description). In my opinion, this also includes creating the prerequisites for development.

Since Okal Haus has built tens of thousands of houses for several decades, I simply assume that they know how to keep an end customer waiting. Do you have any idea for me from whom I can get my above-mentioned questions clarified so that I can forward them to Okal Haus in order to have a building permit application submitted?

3.) A completion date would only be determined by Okal Haus once a building permit application has been submitted.

Best regards,

Home builder

I have not quite understood yet: how do you only after one year come to the information (paraphrased) "we have not done anything at all - just look at point 4: we only start when you have guaranteed that the truck can drive onto the construction site"??? One does not hire a general contractor as a layman just to have them plan the whole hassle, does one (?)

What data is available about the building plot?:

- Is it located within a development plan?
- Is it a "building gap" in an already developed area?
- How is it connected (infrastructure)?

What makes up the waiting time? Does the company have such a long lead time to create the planning / the design?

I haven’t quite understood yet: how do you only after a year get the information (paraphrased) "we haven’t done anything at all so far - just have a look at point 4: we will only start once you have guaranteed that the truck can drive up to the construction site"??? You don’t take on a general contractor as a layman to have them plan all this nonsense for you, do you (?)

Hello, as already described, communication with Okal Haus is extremely catastrophic. Despite numerous complaint emails and calls, we received the above-mentioned feedback about the services to be provided by us relatively late. We, the builders, are laymen, and this is our first house that we are building. Before signing the contract, the Okal Haus salesperson assured us that Okal Haus would take care of everything else; unfortunately, we were proven otherwise. The salesperson no longer wants to remember the promises and refers us to the contract.

Well, ...

Best regards,