Tips before starting construction - What should you urgently pay attention to?

Is it common for the client to want to make numerous changes during the construction phase? What kind of ideas come up? If one has previously spent months dealing with the floor plan and the equipment, everything should be clear by then, right?

Common? Yes, often. Why? Little thought beforehand. Necessary? Not if you know what you want and plan well in advance. Then it might just be a different socket or something similar.

Common? Yes, often. Why? Little thought beforehand. Necessary? Not if you know what you want and plan well in advance. Then it might just be a different socket or something similar.

I am currently also in the phase where the planning is basically finished. Still, I keep thinking of things that I might want to change a bit, or add to the plan, and so on. Building a house nowadays is so extensive that as a layperson you simply can’t consider everything, no matter how thorough the planning phase is. And there are literally thousands of options for everything.

It helps me to read a lot here. Then a keyword may appear that you might want to pay attention to. Or you read opinions that you reconsider and think about whether they apply to your own situation.

I thought I was already a "complicated" client, but from the GU group I also "picked up" numerous things AFTER the construction that could HAVE been done. For example, clarifying whether the Poroton bricks are dipped or rolled? Or getting the delivery notes to compare with the goods on the construction site...
Then I also thought: Did you really deal with the floor plan while others had such things contractually fixed?
But as aptly said: Accept things that should have been done differently and plan for the next house.

We built a house that considers many situations. Therefore, it became a pure "compromise house." So a middle ground. Not bad, functional, etc., but far from "individual" or even "sensational." Just standard.

Tips before the start of construction or BEFORE signing the contract:
* if possible, co-design the house CAD-wise. I started my plan in mid-2018. Marked the building area. Marked neighbors. Determined sun path/shadow. Rebuilt house orientations / various offers into simple floor plans and placed them on the plot.
2019 was sampling, contract, etc. 2020 was construction. I kept refining the plan (keyword real furniture dimensions). Planned the electrical system in it. Lights, switches, sockets, etc. Created renderings for my wife to assess the WAF. Planned the garage, currently I am planning the outdoor facilities.
For details, I was able to create sections and bring them to the construction site in the morning.

We did not pay attention to the placement of the heating manifold and in hindsight it could be better located elsewhere. Not in a cold room, it acts like underfloor heating, it does not need to be easily accessible (set once and that's it). Not wall-to-wall with the heat pump sleeping (it can be heard in the bathroom after all). We also refined the planning until the general contractor said stop, now is the last chance, and it will be built like that.

I thought I was already a "complicated" client, but even after the construction, I picked up numerous things from the general contractor group that could HAVE been done. For example, clarifying whether the Poroton bricks are dipped or rolled? Or getting the delivery notes to compare with the material on the construction site...

Well, the method of masonry is ultimately one of the less relevant things for you in the final state and the living value/use. No one sees it anymore and in the end no one cares. Stability is equally given in both methods. Wienerberger still has the dipping method approved. Other manufacturers do not. So what? I would definitely use the energy differently ;-)

Overall, don't approach it too tensely. The first house is for enemies, the second house for friends, the third house for yourself. It actually gets more relaxed from house building to house building ;-)