Subsequent structural change/costs

The bill is probably less for the structural engineer himself and more for the actions that the execution calculated by him causes in additional costs.

But you only know that once the calculations are done. Doing iterations here would cost the structural engineer maybe a day each time. So you only want information on how much the staircase costs down to the exact euro, and the structural engineer calculates for 1x00 euros fee just so you then say: "No, the extra price for the staircase is too expensive." Who pays for the multiple structural calculations with each inquiry from you so that it is calculated exactly? What would be a fair, cost-effective approach for you?

If the 1000 euros is too much, just take the standard staircase. Quite simple! And if you get upset about such a surcharge, better buy an existing house, that will save the blood pressure pills...

There has to be an upper limit, right, or do they now have free rein?

We exchanged the wooden staircase for a concrete one in the model house we selected. The seller offered us this change back then for an additional cost of about €200 and it was included in the contract before it was signed. After the contract was signed, the structural engineer did the calculations at some point, the building application and the building permit were approved, the house building company now wants to claim additional services due to the static calculations. The ceiling between the ground floor and upper floor is to be changed from 18cm to 22cm because of the staircase. This pleasure is supposed to cost about €1000. So five times as much as the original €200. Is something like that legal? Or where is the limit?

Yes, correct, it is not the "structural engineer costs" but the additional costs due to the structural engineering.

What would we have expected from a company that certainly plans and builds 50+ houses a year??? An experienced structural engineer looks at the house, which he probably has calculated 10 times, and knows exactly what is possible and what might no longer be possible.

We would have expected a very clear statement: whoever wants a concrete staircase must expect changes in the structural engineering, cost point 1000...1500€ pure additional structural engineering costs. Whoever wants a knee wall increase (which is actually our second issue) needs a ring beam at the gable, which costs 4000...6000€ in structural changes. Done. That's how I would have wanted it. And not "yes, because of the structural engineering, we’ll do that later, but please sign down here on the bottom right."

Anyway. Back to my question. There must be an upper limit, right, or do they have free rein now?