Steps to build a house

Hello everyone,

I am currently in the phase where I am roughly planning my house, so relatively at the beginning. At the moment, I am trying to adapt our wishes to the property and the development plan in a rough plan.

In order not to lose sight of the next steps, I would need your help.

Therefore my question:

Can you help me with the planning of which steps are coming next in which order? I am thinking of choosing an architect, building financing, building applications, etc. Maybe you can give me a small overview of what I need to take care of in which order.

I would also be interested in how long a single step can take approximately. We are planning to build around 2017. A plot of land is already available, and it has been paid for and developed.

I thank you in advance for your help.

First, you should define your financial framework and make clear what you want and need.

If you want to build with an architect, that would be the next step. They will then develop the basics with you again, estimate costs, and create designs until you are satisfied. If commissioned, they will accompany you during the construction, coordinate the awarding of contracts, and supervise the services.

If you want to build with a GÜ (GU with planning services), you would then go to them – but it is advisable to thoroughly clarify your ideas beforehand. In the case of GÜ or GU (GÜ without planning services), you should, if possible, still consult an expert before signing the contract, who will review the contract and, if necessary, also accompany you during construction.

In all situations: beware, there are charlatans everywhere – architects, SVs, house planners of the GÜs, craftsmen, etc. etc.

Finally: be patient, plan with a buffer, and be prepared for one or the other shock moment. In the end, you'll hopefully have your dream house :)

[*]Cash balance (how much equity can be contributed, what annuity can be permanently paid).
[*]Determine requirements (number of rooms, number of bathrooms, closed/open design, modern/classic, ...., rough usage concept ...)
[*]Roughly outline wishes for technical equipment (Passive house? KNX? Or do you not need that kind of stuff?)
[*]With 1) in mind and 2) and 3) summarized in bullet points on one DIN A4 page (without any floor plans) and the development plan and a few photos of the plot, you go non-bindingly to two or three architects for an initial short consultation.

There are other ways ... But that's how I would do it ;-).

A fundamental decision is to build with an architect who represents your client interests in planning and realization, who develops an individual house design with you/your family, and clarifies all building and planning law questions around the [BV] so that a permit-worthy plan is the result. Of course, I recommend this approach.

On the other hand, there are the options to commission a [GU/GÜ/Fertighausanbieter] or to buy a finished house design with relatively few variation possibilities, provided it can be realized within the framework of the development plan in your land situation. However, this solution lacks the independent control body that represents your interests and checks, accepts, and releases payments for the provider’s services qualitatively and quantitatively for conformity with the agreed standard ([Bauleistungsbeschreibung]). You either take on this part yourself (... stressful and probably associated with a greater potential for errors if you have little knowledge of construction practice) or you commission an independent building expert with this control function.

If you decide on construction execution with an architect, you can look for 2-3 offices that correspond to your idea of contemporary building and clarify sketchily with the architect in a preliminary meeting which possibilities are open to you financially and in terms of building law on your property. An initial indication of a feasible house size based on key figures such as € / m2 net usable area or € / m3 gross volume for different building and finishing standards is reliably possible even in a preliminary meeting.

You should have clarified the basic financing framework beforehand. A possible—and realistically assessed—owner-contributed share can also be taken into account. A room program with the idea of room sizes is also helpful, as well as a list of special wishes such as terraces, balconies, barrier-free design, fireplace, single-story or multi-story construction, introverted/extroverted building, solid construction/wood construction, etc.

The planning period until the building application can be set at 3 months from commissioning if the design can be developed quickly and a valid development plan exists. The building permit takes between 1-2 months. After that, construction could in principle begin.

Hello,
look around in model home parks. Let different styles influence you; this way you also get a feeling for room sizes (usually the square meters are noted on the room doors in model homes), how many windows are enough for sufficient light, open staircase or not, check out the floors there. See how much slant really looks like in the room, do I need a basement, do I choose gas or heat pump. Take brochures everywhere. Prefabricated house (and even there wood or stone?) or solid stone on stone? How much own work should/can there be? Get an impression of the equipment, do the sockets already look cheap and are there cracks in the walls of the model homes? That does not indicate high quality, on the other hand, the model homes at Viebrockhaus, among other things, look so good because the painter checks every week ;)

We live near you and can recommend Mülheim-Kärlich and Viebrockhaus in Kaarst, very different floor plans and ideas.
From the starting signal (the plot could be purchased and we had the first consultation appointment with the construction company) to the first groundbreaking we took 10 months, another 5 months later we moved in. The building permit took us almost 3 months, but that is normal at the Bonn building authority.

If you yourself have a rough idea of what you want and what the development plan allows, you can only then meaningfully look for an architect or construction company, then have 2-3 offers made. And then go with that to the bank/Interhyp to see if the financial framework allows it.

Hello everyone,

first of all, thank you very much for your quick and helpful answers.

We already have a rough idea of how our house should look.
We have decided against a basement and want to build solidly with the help of an architect.

It is especially important to us to make the house as age-appropriate as possible, meaning to have a room on the ground floor that can initially be used as an office and later as a bedroom. Furthermore, this should also be considered in the guest bathroom ([Ausbaufähig]).

I have already played through some ideas here and there with the help of software. Now some people tell me that I will discard whatever I draw anyway when I find out the price from the architect.

How does it work when you go to an architect, can you then play through "unlimited" variants with them? Does this cost a lot extra? Does it make sense to think so much beforehand or is it better to go to the architect with just a rough idea?

Have any of you already had experience with this?