Save costs, soil assessment even before signing the contract?

I have a question about the purpose of a [Bodengutachten]: does it exclude unplanned additional costs (i.e., do I then know sufficiently accurately whether additional costs will occur) or can costs actually be saved? In other words: would the same construction project be cheaper with a [Bodengutachten] than without, for example because the amount of required manpower, building materials, and machinery deployment can be better planned?
Thank you very much and best regards
T. D.

The load-bearing capacity of the soil is assessed. If your house later settles and the water pushes up to the floor slab and causes it to heave, that is certainly more than just "additional costs."

It becomes even more necessary if there is going to be a basement.

If possible additional costs don't really matter to you, the [Baugrundgutachten] should also be included.

In our new development area, some people have built without a soil investigation report. Here in the forum, it is recommended to everyone to exclude risks. Our architect (from the town) was not so convinced of that and left the decision to us...

I see a geotechnical report as a risk insurance: you might not need it and if you don’t need it, you could have saved it. But if you do need it, you’re glad to have it.

In the end, it is simply a risk protection.

Does it make sense to have the soil report done independently before signing the contract with the developer? Some also offer this as included. What do you think?

Hello,

Does it make sense to have the soil survey done independently before signing the contract with the developer? Some also offer it as included. What do you think?

If you have finally decided on the developer, I would take a different approach.

Talk to him and say that you would like to have the soil survey done earlier – to determine your financing due to possible additional foundation costs. Then, if he is a reputable provider, he will suggest that you can handle it this way, but you will have to cover the cost of the soil survey yourself. In reality, this means that if you back out of the construction contract or decide on a different provider, you only have to bear the cost of the soil survey; no more, but also not less. If you then finally sign the contract for work with the developer, the cost of the soil survey is part of the due installment payments.

If you already own the land and are still completely undecided about who should receive the contract, then it always makes sense to have the soil survey done at your own expense. Anyone who builds without a soil survey is playing Russian roulette! How else would you know what soil conditions to expect? Sometimes, even on semi-detached house plots – over a distance of just 2.00 m – different soil conditions can be encountered.

Rhenish regards