Site works

Preparing the site: the programme from decision to delivery.

The house takes weeks to build and the site often takes longer to be ready. Running them in the wrong order is the most common cause of a house waiting on a lorry.

Site works

The house takes weeks to build and the site often takes longer to be ready. Running them in the wrong order is the most common cause of a house waiting on a lorry.

Start the utilities first, always

Connection lead times run from weeks to a year depending on region and utility. It is the longest single item in the programme and the one most often started last, after the house is ordered.

Apply as soon as the plot is secured, before the model is chosen. Everything else can be compressed; this cannot.

Ground investigation before groundwork

A probe costs little and decides the foundation type, which decides the groundwork cost and duration. Skipping it means finding out during excavation, when the machine is already on site and charging by the day.

On sloping or made ground, get an engineer's opinion at the same time. Two site visits at the start prevent a redesign in the middle.

Access before anything is delivered

The route from the public road to the final position has to take a lorry and a crane. Widening a gate, trimming a branch, laying a temporary track or arranging a road closure are all lead-time items measured in weeks.

Do the walk with a tape and a camera. Photograph the entrance, the narrowest point, the last turn and the standing position for the crane, and send them with dimensions.

Sequence the groundwork so it cures

Concrete needs time. A strip foundation poured the week before delivery is a foundation being loaded before it has reached strength. Build the wait into the programme rather than discovering it.

Screw piles avoid this entirely, which is part of why they suit a compressed schedule even where a strip would otherwise be preferable.

The week before delivery

Confirm the crane, confirm the levels with an instrument, clear the standing area, arrange the mats if the ground is soft, and make sure someone with authority is on site on the day. A delivery with nobody empowered to make a decision is a delivery that stops.

Have the utilities terminated where the house will meet them, capped and marked. Connecting on the day is a morning; digging on the day is a week.

Questions

Site works

The house takes weeks to build and the site often takes longer to be ready. Running them in the wrong order is the most common cause of a house waiting on a lorry.

The groundwork is days to a fortnight. The utility connections are weeks to a year, and that is what sets the programme.

Apply for the utility connections, before choosing a model. Everything else can be compressed; connection lead times cannot.

Access. Widening a gate or arranging a road closure is a lead-time item, and it is discovered on delivery day more often than any other problem.

Five destination markets

What has to be settled in each country.

The same question is answered differently in Copenhagen than in Zurich. These five points belong in every project check, whatever detail you are researching right now.

Germany

Responsible: the lower building authority of the district or independent city.

Governing plan: the Bebauungsplan, or an assessment under §34 or §35 BauGB where there is none.

Permanent living is possible where the plot lies within a built-up area or a Bebauungsplan permits residential use and the project is approved. In the outer area under §35 BauGB, living is privileged only in narrowly defined cases — the most common reason German projects fail.

Germany →

Netherlands

Responsible: the municipality, through the Omgevingsloket.

Governing plan: the municipal omgevingsplan under the Environment and Planning Act.

Permanent living requires a residential function in the omgevingsplan. Many attractive sites are designated for recreation, where permanent residence is not allowed — even where it happens in practice.

Netherlands →

Denmark

Responsible: the kommune.

Governing plan: the lokalplan together with the zone status (byzone, sommerhusområde or landzone).

Permanent living requires a site in byzone or an equivalent designation. In sommerhusområder year-round residence is restricted in principle, and exceptions are tied to personal conditions.

Denmark →

Luxembourg

Responsible: the commune.

Governing plan: the plan d'aménagement général (PAG) and the associated plan d'aménagement particulier (PAP).

Permanent living is possible where the PAG zone permits residential use and the autorisation de construire is granted. Because municipalities are small, practice differs noticeably from place to place.

Luxembourg →

Switzerland

Responsible: the municipality together with the canton.

Governing plan: the municipal land-use plan and the zoning ordinance.

Permanent living is possible inside the building zone where the zone permits residential use and the Baubewilligung is granted. Outside the building zone, living is admissible only in narrowly defined exceptions — the most common reason Swiss projects fail.

Switzerland →
All questions and answers per destination →
Models

Which models come into question.

Eight plans on one technical basis, 2.55 metres wide. What differs is length, layout and specification depth.

ModelLayoutLengthEx works
MD 1Panorama and loft8.00 m or 9.70 m44,900 €
MD 2Two lofts for families9.00 m52,900 €
MD 3Loft plus extra room8.00 m or 9.70 m47,900 €
MD 4Loft, room and veranda8.00 m or 9.00 m50,900 €
MD 5Compact with extra room8.00 m or 9.00 m46,900 €
MD 6Chalet with pitched roof8.00 m or 9.00 m54,900 €
MD 7Entry model8.00 m42,900 €
MD 8Compact, upgraded line8.00 m45,900 €
See MD 1 to MD 8
Checklist

Five points before ordering.

  • A written answer from the responsible authority on admissibility at the specific plot — verbal assurances do not carry a project.
  • Access and unloading point, with photographs and dimensions. In practice the last hundred metres cause more trouble than the long haul.
  • Servicing: the distance to power, drinking water and sewer. That distance sets one of the largest secondary items.
  • Type of use and number of people. Permanent living, holidays and letting lead to different specifications of the same model.
  • Budget range including foundation, connections, unloading, planning, fees and insurance — not just the ex-works price.

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