Your opinions on the cost of building a single-family house

Hello everyone,

we are in the final stages before submitting our building application and wanted to ask around again whether the costs we have are realistic. We are building in the Gießen area.

It will be a city villa, 177 sqm solid construction, with a large garage 6 x 10 m (with cellar replacement room). The plot has already been purchased by notary. On the ground floor we have an office, utility room, WC, kitchen, dining room and living room in one large open area. Also a gable in the living room facing the garden will be built.

On the upper floor there is a large bathroom with tub and walk-in shower and double sinks, parents’ bedroom, dressing room, 2 children’s rooms. On the upper floor a concrete ceiling will also be added.

The construction company manages the building and the individual trades are priced separately and the invoices are also paid directly to the companies. My brother is currently building with this company and everything is going great.

These are the trades as they were priced:

Shell construction and earthworks
• Site setup
• All earthworks, excluding disposal of surplus excavation soil
• Sewer work including drainage under the building
and laying all pipes outside up to the property boundary
• Concrete and reinforced concrete work incl. concrete stair
- Interlocking pavers as garage floor
• Masonry work residential building and garage
- Exterior walls residential building made of 36.5 cm T9 brick
- Interior walls and garage made of perforated bricks according to statics
• Rainwater cistern 3500L Company: Finger / Type: Blanco
96,500.00 €

Carpentry work:
• Erecting the roof truss with structural solid wood (house)
• Erecting the garage roof as flat roof
• Roof sight boarding with tongue and groove 14mm
• Painting the underside boarding 3x light oak
13,700.00 €

Roofing work:
• Scaffolding for carpentry, roofing and masonry work
• Roof surface house covered with clay tiles (Braas Rubin 11V)
• Zinc sheet gutter
• Roof surface garage with an Alwitra sealing membrane
21,200.00 €

Exterior plaster
• Exterior plaster made of mineral lime-cement plaster
• Top plaster as scratch coat 2 or 3 mm
• Top plaster with leveling coat made of silicone resin paint
• Base made of troweled cement plaster
• Base painted twice with base paint
15,600.00 €

Interior finishing:
• Interior window sills made of marble
• Plastering of concrete ceilings
• Construction of installation walls in the bathrooms
• Stair covering made of granite or tiles
• Stair handrail made of beech
• Retractable ladder U-value 0.49
• Insulation above upper floor 24 cm
• Staircase railing masonry
• Ceilings in garage clad with Fermacell
• Ceilings on ground and upper floor wallpapered with fleece and painted
• Garage sectional door with drive
• Fire door from technical room to garage
21,000.00 €

Interior plaster:
• Interior plaster made of lime plaster (Rotkalk system 2-layer)
• Top plaster in all living rooms as felt plaster 1 mm
• Bathrooms in tiled areas as 1-layer lime plaster
• Garage and technical room with troweled lime-cement plaster
16,500.00 €

Screed work:
• Anhydrite screed including 10 cm insulation on ground floor
• Anhydrite screed including 6 cm insulation on upper floor
• Sealing on ground floor slab made of welding membrane V60
5,800.00 €

Windows and entrance doors
• White plastic windows; profile: Thyssen 84mm
Triple glazing thermal insulation glass Kv 0.5; aluminium window sills
• Entrance door made of white plastic (value 3,500.00 €)
• Secondary corridor door made of white plastic (value 700.00 €)
• Roller shutter boxes Roma recessed in wall thickness
• Roller shutters with belt
19,800.00 €

Interior doors
• Beech room doors; (9 pcs) CPL with rounded edge (value 280€ including installation)
• Sliding room door; (1 pc) same as above (value 380€ including installation)
3,000.00 €

Heating and sanitary
• Vaillant aro Therm air-water heat pump 8.1 KW
incl. 190L hot water storage and outdoor evaporator
• Underfloor heating on ground and upper floor (residential building) incl. electric actuators
• Towel radiator 600/1800 in bathroom upper floor
• Complete sanitary installation; incl. delivery of sanitary objects
all sanitary objects in standard price range
28,500.00 €

Electrical installation:
• Switches and sockets Gira System 55 pure white glossy
- Electrical installation as comfort equipment
• Intercom system from Gira System 55 for 1 residential unit
• Roller shutter control with individual switch
• Room thermostats for underfloor heating
12,500.00 €

Tiling and flooring work
• Floor tiles in bathrooms and technical room (tiles 20 €/sqm)
• Wall tiles in bathrooms and kitchen (backsplash) tiles 20 €/sqm
• Floor covering on ground and upper floors freely selectable (material + labor 50 €/sqm)
• Sealing of showers according to DIN
15,700.00 €

What do you think? That would now be a bit over 1,900 € per sqm and I don't think we have a top quality finish. Is that okay?

It would be great if you could give me your feedback.

Thanks!

Daniela

What about the construction site power box? Crane? Access roads? WC? Trash?

Why control for roller shutters when there are straps?

Why no satellite and network installation?

55 switches and sockets are few but may be enough.

Who is making the foundation for the heat pump or the outdoor unit?

How is the towel heater supposed to be operated? With the heat pump useless, so additional heating element and that costs electricity.

I think Gira System 55 is a product line/design, not the number of switches and sockets. But whatever it is supposed to be a comfort feature...

I quickly calculated it. Maybe I made a calculation error, but I come to a total of 269,800 EUR. With 177 sqm of living space, that is 1,524 EUR/sqm. How do you get 1,900 EUR/sqm? Edit: Okay, just noticed that all incidental building costs including architect etc. are not included.

Hello Silent010, the ancillary construction costs are not included in this invoice. However, the architectural services and construction management are included. The total gross price currently amounts to €329,000, which is €1,858 gross per sqm.

What exactly was the question now? Whether the price is okay for what is being offered?
You find that out by obtaining comparative offers.

and I don't think we have a top equipment

That is in the eye of the beholder. The house is not exactly small and next to a gable a large garage is planned – both not exactly free of charge. Inside, however, it sounds very much like standard with tiles (bathroom) at 20€, standard sanitary equipment (if the general contractor already calls it that...), flooring at 50€ including labor will also only be laminate or simple tiles, the electrical work can only be guessed at what is inside, painting is missing.
Additional construction costs will come on top, the garden is missing.