Unauthorized modification of the floor sliding staircase

Dear forum members,

Our prefabricated house is currently being built. We have a pull-down attic ladder in the loft. In advance, we gave a lot of thought to where exactly to position it on the upper floor. Since we do not have a basement and the loft has a height of approximately 1.6 m, we want to use it not only as a storage room but, for example, also for a model railway.

Now to our problem: The position of the pull-down ladder was independently rotated by 90 degrees by our house manufacturer. Actually, the ladder was supposed to open into the hallway on the upper floor. Unfortunately, it now opens towards the staircase (staircase between the ground floor and the upper floor). The space between the last step of the pull-down ladder and the staircase to the ground floor is only about 45 cm. This means that, especially when walking backward down the small ladder from the loft, you have to be extremely careful not to set your foot too far back. Or when taking boxes down from the loft, you must not stumble. Otherwise, you step into emptiness and fall down the stairs to the ground floor. Another point is that you can hardly get into the upper floor with the ladder open. That means you cannot leave the ladder open.

When we inquired with our house manufacturer, we were informed that it is agreed in the signed sampling protocol that the position of the pull-down ladder is adjusted to the statically optimal conditions. And the change is therefore legal. However, the position is shown as originally agreed in all the plans we signed. The change of position was therefore not discussed with us and was not approved by us.

So now my questions: Is it technically acceptable that there is only 45 cm of space between the stairs? We see an extreme risk of accident here. Does the change of the ladder constitute a defect? After all, the current position was not discussed with us and the changes made have significant effects for us regarding the use of the loft. Can we reduce the purchase price if the ladder remains/has to remain as it is?

Best regards Stefanie

Hello.. please find your last static plan that you signed. Is the staircase there as you wanted it or as it is now?

If b) the sales department is right. If a) then neither pay more money nor accept it, as it does not correspond to the agreed static plans.

Thank you very much for your feedback. The change of the floor folding ladder is not noted in any plans. Even the site manager knew nothing about the change.

Hello Stefanie,

Therefore, my questions now are: Is it technically okay that there is only 45 cm of space between the stairs?

In comparable situations, a "tread" of 1.00 m is mandatory; I don't see it differently with a BET ... but I haven't had this case before to know for sure.

After all, the current position was not discussed with us and the changes made have significant impacts on our use of the attic. Can we reduce the purchase price if the stairs remain/have to remain as they are?

Why does the first question always lean towards reduction?

It might not be easy to bring the BET to the intended place – corresponding cutouts in the collar beam ceiling have already been made – but I would still favor this option. If only because I wouldn’t want to break my neck; of course, this means your contracting party has to put money into it.

As a first step, you should have the "structural necessity" for changing the location presented/proven to you – here your contracting party is obliged – and then you can see further; it might be that he actually acted correctly. Until clarification, any further work in the area of cladding/drywall work/interior plaster should of course be stopped.

Rhenish greetings

We have received feedback from our prefab house manufacturer: The attic ladder was changed by the planning department without consulting the structural engineering department. After review by the structural engineering department, we have received feedback that the original position of the attic ladder is indeed possible. This will now be changed again. We are very relieved.