Municipality of De Ronde Venen
Builders in Abcoude
Building work and maintenance in Abcoude, at a fixed price for the work as described and paid in four instalments.
Abcoude has belonged to the municipality of De Ronde Venen since 2011 and lies not on the Vecht but on the Angstel and the Gein. The centre around the Hoogstraat, the Kerkstraat and the Brugstraat is designated a protected village area, and on the edge of the village stands Fort Abcoude, part of the Defence Line of Amsterdam (Stelling van Amsterdam). That combination means that in and around this village, more places than elsewhere are subject to rules about what may be built and how it looks.
The buildings along the Gein consist largely of old farmhouses and dyke houses on peat, with foundations from several different centuries. Building work there means first of all investigating what is already standing: which parts are original, what was added in the twentieth century, and how those parts have settled relative to one another.
In the newer parts of the village, towards the station and the Molenweg, it is post-war housing with the usual work: extensions, dormers, structural openings and replacing window frames. The peat rule applies there too: new weight goes on piles, and the extension is kept structurally separate from the existing house.
What decides things here
- Protected village area around the Hoogstraat, the Kerkstraat and the Brugstraat
- Fort Abcoude and the Defence Line of Amsterdam add rules at the village edge
- Old farmhouses and dyke houses along the Gein on peat, with mixed foundations
- Permits run through the municipality of De Ronde Venen
Work we do in Abcoude
Extensions
Extra room at the back or the side of the house, at a fixed price before the first brick is laid.
Loft conversions and dormers
A storey added or a dormer let in, without the structure below becoming a problem.
Openings in load-bearing walls
A wall out, a steel beam in, and a calculation that stands behind it.
Bathrooms and kitchens
A complete wet room, with one party responsible for the pipework and the floor as well.
Maintenance of the house
Pointing, window frames, rot, gutters and painting, surveyed and planned instead of postponed.
How building work in Abcoude runs
Nine steps. Each one states who is there, how long it takes and what you pay at that moment. On the steps where money actually changes hands, the amount is set in the heading face under "What you pay" and the step number is filled in. Handover is called oplevering in Dutch, and it is the step your contract will refer to.
Step 1: Phone call
You call, or leave a callback request. We ask about the type of work, the year the house was built, the place and roughly what you have in mind. By the end of that call you know whether this is work we take on and whether your budget and your plan meet. If they do not, we say so there and then.
- Who is there
- You and the work planner
- How long
- 15 minutes, within one working day
- What you pay
- Nothing
Step 2: Survey at your house
We come round, measure up, look in the crawl space (kruipruimte) and the loft, and assess the foundation, the structure and the connections to the existing house. For a loft conversion or a structural opening we establish whether a structural engineer (constructeur) is needed. You hear on the spot which price range is realistic.
- Who is there
- You and the site manager
- How long
- 45 to 90 minutes, within two weeks
- What you pay
- Nothing
Step 3: Quotation with a fixed price
You receive a quotation (offerte) with a fixed price for the work as described, a list of what is explicitly not included, and provisional sums (stelposten) for items you choose yourself. No figure in it is an estimate: what the quotation says stands, as long as the work does not change.
- Who is there
- We supply it, you read it
- How long
- Within five working days of the survey
- What you pay
- Nothing
Step 4: Design, calculation and permit
Only where the work requires it. Drawings, a structural calculation, and the permit application (omgevingsvergunning, the Dutch building permit) with the municipality of Stichtse Vecht or De Ronde Venen. If the permit is refused, the project stops and you pay for this phase only, at an amount stated on the quotation in advance.
- Who is there
- Draughtsman, structural engineer and the municipality
- How long
- 4 to 12 weeks, depending on the procedure
- What you pay
- The cost of this phase, named separately on the quotation
Step 5: Planning and start date
The start date is fixed in writing, with a week by week plan and the days on which it will be loud or dusty. Materials with long lead times are ordered in this phase, so the job does not come to a halt halfway through waiting for a window frame.
- Who is there
- You and the work planner
- How long
- 1 to 2 weeks
- What you pay
- Nothing
Step 6: Work starts on site
Day one: fencing, floor protection, a place to unload, and demolition. From this day there is one site manager who is your point of contact and whom you can call directly on working days.
- Who is there
- The site manager and the crew
- How long
- Day 1
- What you pay
- First instalment: 30 per cent
Step 7: Shell complete
Foundation, structure, brickwork, roof and window frames are in place and the work is wind and watertight. This is the moment you can stand in the new space for the first time, and the last moment changes are possible without demolition.
- Who is there
- The site manager walks it through with you
- How long
- Depends on the job, usually after 3 to 6 weeks
- What you pay
- Second instalment: 30 per cent
Step 8: Services and fit-out
Electrics, water, heating and ventilation are installed and tested. Then plastering, floors, tiling and painting. This phase is quiet but long; it is the phase in which people get impatient and in which the weekly plan matters most.
- Who is there
- Installer, plasterer and fit-out crew
- How long
- 2 to 5 weeks
- What you pay
- Third instalment: 30 per cent
Step 9: Handover and snagging list
We walk the work through together and write down everything you see, however small. In Dutch this step is the oplevering and the list is the opleverlijst. That list is cleared within fifteen working days. Only once every point on it is signed off does the last instalment fall due.
- Who is there
- You and the site manager
- How long
- 1 to 2 hours, points cleared within 15 working days
- What you pay
- Final instalment: 10 per cent, after the snagging list is cleared
The payment schedule
Nothing is paid in advance before work starts.
Each block in the bar is as wide as its share of the contract sum (aanneemsom). The pale block on the right is the final 10 per cent: it only falls due after handover (oplevering), once every point on the snagging list has been dealt with.
| Instalment | Share | When |
|---|---|---|
| First instalment | 30% | The day work starts on site |
| Second instalment | 30% | Shell complete, the work is wind and watertight |
| Third instalment | 30% | Services tested and fit-out complete |
| Final instalment | 10% | After handover, once every snagging point is cleared |
| Together | 100% |
The cost of drawings, the structural calculation and the permit sits outside these four instalments and is named separately on the quotation, so you can see what you would be out of pocket if a permit is unexpectedly refused. The total being paid in instalments is the contract sum, called the aanneemsom in your contract.
Questions about building work in Abcoude
What does being near the Defence Line of Amsterdam mean for my plans?
Around the forts of the Stelling van Amsterdam additional building rules apply, because the area as a whole is protected. Whether that covers your plot depends on the exact location. We check it with the municipality of De Ronde Venen before there is a design or a price.
My house on the Gein is partly very old. Where does a project start?
With a survey of what exists: which parts are original, how it is founded, and whether the parts move relative to one another. Only then comes the question of what you want. On a listed building, discussion with the municipality is added, and that takes time which belongs in the planning.
Do you work on listed buildings?
On ordinary structural maintenance and on alterations agreed with the municipality, yes. For specialist restoration work on a national monument we refer you on: that calls for a restoration contractor with the matching experience, and we would rather say so beforehand than halfway through.
Talk through your plan in Abcoude
Calling is quickest. In fifteen minutes you know whether this is work we take on and whether your plan and your budget meet.