Planning single-family house - building regulations not followed

It seems to me your architect wants to realize himself there. He had the opportunity to look at the building regulations - apparently he didn't, so that's his problem. I would also "politely" point that out to him. The additional work is his own responsibility (unless the whole thing was your wish - which you have ruled out).

Good luck.. I hope everything goes smoothly.

Of course he tries to avoid additional work. That’s normal. But whether he’s allowed to, is another matter.

So, in your opinion, he’s not allowed to, or how should I interpret the sentence "But whether he’s allowed to, is another matter"?

What I would do: politely ask him to start over, with the note that you will not bear any additional costs. If he refuses, report to the Chamber of Architects and look for a new architect. How it looks legally can surely be explained to you by a construction law attorney.

It seems to me your architect wants to realize himself there. He had the opportunity to look at the building regulations – apparently he didn’t, so that’s his problem. I would also "politely" point this out to him. The additional work is his own responsibility (unless the whole thing was your wish – which you have excluded).

Good luck.. I hope everything goes smoothly.

I think we will politely ask him to start over. I’m curious whether he will agree to that.

At the beginning, we had no preference regarding the eaves height. The suggestion to build it that way came from the architect and we liked it very much. Since we didn’t look further into the building regulations, because after all we have an architect for that, we didn’t really concern ourselves with the approval feasibility. In hindsight, of course, we are wiser and noticed the limitation of the eaves height right when we first read through the building regulations.

Update: So far, we have not reached an agreement with our architect, and he still believes that we can realize the construction project. Further steps will be initiated by us soon.

However, I have another question: Is an architect allowed to conduct a signature campaign with residents in the construction area on behalf of the client without informing us beforehand or notifying us? In a preliminary contract (project discovery contract), part of a paragraph states: "With this contract, 'Name of the architectural firm' is authorized to conduct negotiations with third parties and authorities." Are residents in the construction area included among the third parties, and is he allowed to do this without informing us?

so this architect seems to be working more against you than for you

"With this contract, [Name des Architektenbüros] is authorized to conduct negotiations with third parties and authorities."

I do not work in any legal profession, but I believe that the third parties refer, for example, to construction partners (tenders, hiring craftsmen, etc.). In my opinion, your neighbors should not be included.

If your architect carries out something like this without your knowledge, in my opinion, it is a breach of trust. I am not sure, but this could then be the final reason for a separation due to irreconcilable differences.

Have you already paid him? If not, I would quickly stop the whole thing and reject all invoices: he hasn't delivered. Well, such actions are just not acceptable – I might be ashamed in front of my future neighbors. The guy is totally embarrassing.

With this contract, "Name des Architektenbüros" is authorized to conduct negotiations with third parties and authorities. I am not a lawyer either, but third parties are all outsiders, right? And from my perspective, neighbors definitely belong to that group. To submit a building application, one must/should obtain the neighbors' signatures anyway, so that is also part of their scope of services. Of course, it is bad if there is no communication between the architect and the client. If he manages to push the house through like that, wouldn't that be good? Or do you no longer want to build your house that way?