Terrain elevations in the development plan are incorrect.

I suspect my question fits best under building law:

After two years of planning, the excavator has finally started digging. But it turned out: the pit is much deeper than indicated in the planning documents. In several phone calls with the general contractor, his architect, and his surveyor, it became clear that the terrain is much higher than stated in the development plan. The terrain slopes slightly upwards towards the south (which is why we already paid for a 30cm exemption upwards) and now the south is still 60cm below the terrain.

Who is actually responsible for the incorrect planning data? Shouldn't the municipality provide us with correct values? Or is it (as often) the responsibility of the builder?

And what options do we still have now? The building authority says (without further explanation) it sees no hardship case and therefore no need to submit the matter to the technical committee.

Our suspicion: the terrain was filled in 30 to 40 years ago with the excavation soil from the adjacent water reservoir (= municipal utilities) (otherwise how could old clay drainage pipes be found at a depth of 1.5m).

We are still before the construction phase, so I have no experience. But shouldn't the surveyor have detected that during the elevation survey? That's what he is there for. Whatever was piled up there at some point doesn't matter. What counts is now and today.

... that the terrain is much higher than indicated in the development plan The terrain rises slightly towards the south (which is why we have already paid for an exemption of 30cm upwards) and now the south is still 60cm below the terrain.

So you have too much soil/material on your property? Then you have to remove it?! Your surveyor tells you what level you have to achieve in the end with your garden/house. These are the normal earthworks that have to be done. The municipality specifies the desired heights of the finished development in the development plan, not how the property currently is. You bought the property and had a soil survey done – it should state which soil is present at what height. You could have noticed that. If the municipality allows it – fine. With us, you would have to bring your garden to the required level.

Hello,

But it turned out: the pit is much deeper than indicated in the planning documents ... In several phone calls with the general contractor, his architect, and his surveyor, it then emerged that the terrain is much higher than stated in the development plan ...

So apparently several people slept through this ... where exactly in the development plan should one or more elevations be named?

Who is actually responsible for the incorrect planning specifications?

From instinct and spontaneously, I would say first the surveyor and then the planner with the tendering for the earthworks. Although I can hardly imagine that the surveyor did not have his equipment with him when surveying the property. If my assumption is correct, the planner was very negligent.

Shouldn't the municipality provide us with the correct values? Or is that (as so often) the responsibility of the builder?

No, the municipality provides you at most with a cadastral extract – I only know very few of these where some elevations are also named – the rest is the responsibility of the builder: here the service of the surveyor must be commissioned. A reputable seller should also communicate this accordingly.

And what options do we still have now? The building authority says (without further explanation) that it does not see a hardship case and thus no need to submit the matter to the technical committee.

I can understand that the building authority deliberately stays out in this case. In order to submit a building application, a preliminary location plan must mandatorily be created; from this, the location/elevations of the sewers as well as the terrain elevations result. This means that your provider must already have been informed about the terrain course at a very early stage. As a rule, you also should have been – or based on what did you decide whether and if so, how many entrance steps you want to have installed?

Our assumption: the terrain was filled in 30 to 40 years ago with the excavation of the adjacent water reservoir (= municipal utilities) (otherwise, how could old clay drainage pipes be at 1.5m depth).

That may be the case, but it is irrelevant – at least regarding the terrain course.

Therefore, my questions again: where in the development plan are the terrain courses named? Based on which data did you decide on possible entrance steps?

Kind regards

First of all, thank you for the many responses.

- Our development plan shows contour lines and reference points on the street. The architect planned according to that.
- To our knowledge, the surveyor saw the site for the first time three days before the excavator.
- There are no heights listed on our site plan (I think, I have to check again later).

Is it common that you cannot rely on the height information in the development plan? Then several people really must have slept through it.

Looked again: there are no heights in the surveyor's site plan ...

Regards, Dietmar