Surcharge for subsequent sampling, discount for withdrawal

And adding 1500 Eur on top because the door now has a different color somehow lacks imagination for me.

Why? The same thing is done with cars. There is one standard color, any other (especially popular colors like black or silver) costs extra, often quickly amounting to a thousand. Money is made on special requests, both in house construction and with cars. If you don't sign, the general contractor will probably just install the standard according to the building specifications. By the way, a 15% margin is not that high.

Is something like that common, especially on that scale?

Honestly: if you behave as "exemplarily" clumsy as you do, then yes. You have done so many things wrong that with a little experience one can read that astonishingly clearly from so little history.

Going to a general contractor unprotected by an architect or any other construction consultant was the first mistake: they make most of their profit from people who put themselves on the slaughterbench. At least you should have had the contract and the construction service description professionally and legally reviewed by experts – lawyers also do this for well-invested money. Supplements and upgrade options are basically "earned on the drinks," that’s fundamentally how it works. Particularly blatantly legal and shameless is when two very different demands come together: the client with top-notch wishes and the GC with a "standard" that barely manages an industrial country level with difficulty (because the descriptions here all sound as if the calculation basis for the changes to the equipment – at least measured against your expectations – is cheap junk). For the "extra charge" for the door, you normally get a whole door that is already something fancy (unless it comes from the jeweler). So either you have several octaves above average exquisite wishes, or the price zero point of the "extra charge" is a flimsy "stock frame." The delta sounds similar for the stairs; here was just ahead of me with the remark on whether it is a golden electric escalator.

From a business process standpoint, it is absolutely proper to agree on the additions during the sampling conversation and treat the protocol as part of the contract with regard to the additions. The mistakes here were number one, that you chose a GC whose standard ideas differ expensively far from yours. Then as mistake number two, you added on top of that with a big spoon, discussing those highly price-relevant supposed "details" after signing the price offer. The invitation to generously punish what I will call "clumsiness" cannot be missed by the GC, understandably. To let yourselves be ripped off that thoroughly, you could have just as well taken one of the notorious big names, where only the legal department is bigger than the marketing department, instead of a locally recommended GC as your first choice. Frankly, you behaved like calves who choose their butcher themselves.

The surcharge "tax" of 25% and the removal discount of 15% margin compensation are above average in amount but quite typical for the market in substance. I wouldn’t be surprised if the same GC has contract templates with other rates in the drawer for more skillful customers.

Oak folding structure with glass railing for a total of 35k (2 stairs), 22k is just the upgrade surcharge.
For cost reasons, we have meanwhile decided against a wooden stair and now want exposed concrete. We are not afraid to remove the stairs, we would actually like that, since our construction manager is reluctant to install concrete stairs.

For heaven’s sake, don’t do that. Don’t make your mistakes even worse. If you stay with this GC, then on such central core elements of the shell construction, you must stick to the 11ant Steinemantra, at least when it comes to the stair type: choose one that the GC has in his "Schema F repertoire"!

My plan A here would clearly be, quick as a flash to make an appointment with a lawyer and explore for what kind of compensation you could exchange the GC for one whose ideas of "standard" do not deviate so bloodily from yours.

It is by no means turnkey.

Then I’ll take a break now until you bring us significantly more clarity about your contract scope. Is this GC only supposed to make a weatherproof shell, and afterwards you will financially suicide the further trades yourself with your negotiation skills in a next act of the drama?

Would you perhaps (in another thread) quickly show us the house to be built here (also with views)?

Why? The exact same thing is done with cars. There is one standard color, any other (especially popular colors like black or silver) cost extra, and that can quickly be a thousand euros more. The money is made on special requests, in house construction and with cars. If you don’t sign, the general contractor will probably just install the standard according to the building specification. By the way, a 15% margin isn’t that high.

I think I wasn’t understood correctly. We are talking about a front door from the dealer the general contractor works with. To be very clear: the bill of quantities lists a door for 4000 EUR. Model XY, but this is really not nice for us; we would prefer an aluminum-wood door. So we went to the dealer and picked one and got a price. Around 11,000 EUR, so 6000 EUR more. We have noted this amount in our cost calculation. But on the invoice for the front door it wouldn’t say 6000 EUR, but 7500 EUR, because the general contractor adds another 25%. And I can’t imagine what exactly justifies 1500 EUR? Additional effort is at most changing the text in the bill of quantities. To stick with the car example, if I choose a car color that’s not a standard paint but a super special metallic paint, it’s clear that I pay the surcharge. But the car dealer doesn’t look at the car and say: “Oh, nice color, for that I want another 25% on top.”

I think I was not understood correctly. We are talking about a from the dealer the general contractor works with. To make it very clear: in the bill of quantities there is a door for 4000 EUR. Model XY, but this one is really not nice for us, we would like an aluminum-wood door.

Oh dear.

To stick with the car example, if I now choose a car color that is not a standard paint but a special metallic paint, it is quite clear that I pay the surcharge. But the car dealer does not just look at the car and say: "oh, nice color, I would like 25% more for that"

To stick with the car example: the Cayenne is too plain for you, you want a Bentayga. Why do you then go to a Kia dealer?

I don’t want to bring up the car comparison right now. I also looked it up again because I didn’t remember the colors. BUT:

What extra effort is there if the door is not blue but now red?

Red is actually more expensive! I don’t know about the vehicle. But regarding the color itself. Red apparently requires a higher pigmentation or something. Besides, red is not produced as often as anthracite. White is the cheapest.

And to add 1500 euros on top because the door now has a different color, I somehow lack the imagination for that.

So, could it be that you upgraded to aluminum or aluminum red? P.s. You don’t actually have a blue door in the offer, do you? Or are the colors chosen arbitrarily and just as examples?

I don't want to come with the car comparison now. I also looked it up again because I didn't remember the colors. BUT: Red is actually more expensive! I don't know about the vehicle. But with color itself. Red apparently requires a higher pigmentation or something. Besides, red is not produced as often as anthracite. White is the cheapest. So, could it be that you upgraded aluminum or aluminum red? P.s. You don't really have a blue door in the offer? Or are the colors arbitrarily and exemplarily chosen?

;) No, it is not Villa Kunterbunt :) It was only exemplary. We now want an aluminum-wood door with fingerprint and not the simpler aluminum variant in the LV.