AK recovers money

House construction was 24,000 euros more expensive than agreed

The family from the Innviertel region had a detached house renovated.

(Bild: Pressefoto Scharinger © Daniel Scharinger)

A family from the Innviertel region commissioned a construction company to extend and renovate their home. However, the bill turned out to be 24,000 euros more expensive than agreed. When the clients objected, the company simply collected the money by bank guarantee.

The M. family commissioned a construction company to carry out bricklaying and concrete work on their detached house in the Innviertel region, which was supposed to cost around 95,000 euros according to the quote. However, after the work was completed, the clients received a final invoice for 116,000 euros, which was around 20,000 euros higher than expected.

Extended construction time
But that's not all: services worth around 5,000 euros were allegedly not provided, and the construction company had also charged excessive hourly rates and not called on the helpers provided. According to the clients, this is said to have extended the construction time from five to nine weeks.

Company not willing to talk
Talks with the company were not only fruitless, the company also called in the bank guarantee issued by the consumers and collected around 24,000 euros. That's not just the additional costs, but also the lawyer's and expert's fees.

Tips for house builders

1. Do not issue a bank guarantee to secure your own solvency.
2. No high advance payments.
3. Agree payment according to construction progress.
4. Withhold the final payment until all defects have been rectified.

Chamber of Labor recovers money
What was not justified from the point of view of the Upper Austrian Chamber of Labor, a lawsuit was filed in court. In order to avoid lengthy proceedings, the family agreed to a court settlement and the construction company had to pay back 17,500 euros.