Matthias9541
2017-01-28 18:25:53
- #1
Dear builders,
We want to build a house, 8m by 15m, on a gently sloping site. Viewed from the street, the garage should be attached on the right side of the house, where the entrance door is also located. There is a 3m distance between the house and the right property boundary, and the garage should be on the property boundary and directly next to the house.
The building regulations of the responsible building authority stipulated that the top edge of the floor may be at most 30 cm above the highest point of the terrain where the building body cuts into the natural ground at one of the building corners. Accordingly, the top edge of the floor may have been at most 200.13m above sea level, about 18 cm below the lowest point of the street. At this floor height, due to the slope of the building plot, a height difference of about 1.30 m would have arisen between the house entrance and the driveway to the garage. As a result, according to the architect, the stairs to the house entrance would have protruded up to 1.30 m into the driveway.
After the architect described this problem to me, I inquired about possible solutions. He proposed as the only solution to place the house about 75 cm lower in order to reduce the height difference between the house entrance and the driveway; the stairs would have protruded less into the driveway, and a car could have driven past the stairs into the garage. I agreed, as according to the architect there was no other solution. I simply relied on the architect as a professional. After that, I received the building permit.
When, after the building permit was granted, I was to re-sign the documents for the builder, I took a closer look at these documents again and found that there would have been another solution. If the entire building had been shifted about 1.30 m to the left viewed from the street side – there was still some room on the left – the house would not have had to be placed 75 cm lower; on the right side, a gap would have arisen between the garage and the house wall. Of course, I want the house to be only 18 cm below the street level and not 93 cm. Since this is what I want, according to the architect, additional costs are now coming up for me: a 500 Euro flat fee for the developer, new surveying, new static calculations, a new building application.
One might think that I should have looked at everything more carefully before obtaining the building permit. However, one could also think that the architect should have pointed out this second option to me. I am very interested in your opinion on this issue. How should I behave regarding the costs towards the developer?
Thank you.
We want to build a house, 8m by 15m, on a gently sloping site. Viewed from the street, the garage should be attached on the right side of the house, where the entrance door is also located. There is a 3m distance between the house and the right property boundary, and the garage should be on the property boundary and directly next to the house.
The building regulations of the responsible building authority stipulated that the top edge of the floor may be at most 30 cm above the highest point of the terrain where the building body cuts into the natural ground at one of the building corners. Accordingly, the top edge of the floor may have been at most 200.13m above sea level, about 18 cm below the lowest point of the street. At this floor height, due to the slope of the building plot, a height difference of about 1.30 m would have arisen between the house entrance and the driveway to the garage. As a result, according to the architect, the stairs to the house entrance would have protruded up to 1.30 m into the driveway.
After the architect described this problem to me, I inquired about possible solutions. He proposed as the only solution to place the house about 75 cm lower in order to reduce the height difference between the house entrance and the driveway; the stairs would have protruded less into the driveway, and a car could have driven past the stairs into the garage. I agreed, as according to the architect there was no other solution. I simply relied on the architect as a professional. After that, I received the building permit.
When, after the building permit was granted, I was to re-sign the documents for the builder, I took a closer look at these documents again and found that there would have been another solution. If the entire building had been shifted about 1.30 m to the left viewed from the street side – there was still some room on the left – the house would not have had to be placed 75 cm lower; on the right side, a gap would have arisen between the garage and the house wall. Of course, I want the house to be only 18 cm below the street level and not 93 cm. Since this is what I want, according to the architect, additional costs are now coming up for me: a 500 Euro flat fee for the developer, new surveying, new static calculations, a new building application.
One might think that I should have looked at everything more carefully before obtaining the building permit. However, one could also think that the architect should have pointed out this second option to me. I am very interested in your opinion on this issue. How should I behave regarding the costs towards the developer?
Thank you.