Municipality of Stichtse Vecht
Builders in Breukelen
Building work and maintenance in Breukelen, at a fixed price for the work as described and paid in four instalments.
Breukelen lies in the municipality of Stichtse Vecht and is built around the old ribbon development along the Vecht. The Herenstraat, the Brugstraat and the Kerkbrink form the historic centre, with the country estates around it, of which Nijenrode is the best known. Part of that centre is a protected village area (beschermd dorpsgezicht), which sharply limits what can be done on the street side.
In practice that means the following. The view from the public road is fixed: window layout, roof shape, colour scheme and the profile of the pointing. Adding space therefore happens at the back or upwards, and whatever happens there has to stay invisible from the street. A dormer at the rear is usually possible; a full depth loft conversion, almost never.
The houses on the water between the Brugstraat and the Zandpad are partly deep and narrow, with foundations from different periods: a front house on strip footings and a rear addition from the 1930s or 1950s on something else. For an extension or a structural opening that is the first question to answer, because two parts of a building that settle differently open a crack along the joint that no amount of plastering will fix.
In the newer parts towards the Broekdijk and Breukelen-Noord none of that applies and it is the standard work: an extension at the back, an opening through to the kitchen, and replacing window frames and pointing from the original building period.
What decides things here
- Protected village area around the Herenstraat, the Brugstraat and the Kerkbrink
- Deep, narrow plots along the Vecht with building parts from different periods
- Additions are only possible at the rear and must stay invisible from the street
- Permits run through the municipality of Stichtse Vecht
Work we do in Breukelen
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 Breukelen 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 Breukelen
Can I have a loft conversion in the centre of Breukelen?
Inside the protected area, almost never across the full depth, because the ridge height and the view from the street both change. A dormer at the rear is usually open to discussion. We check it with the municipality in advance and put the answer in writing before there is a price.
My front house and rear addition are settling differently. What now?
Measure first, repair second. We fit measuring points and follow them for several months. If the movement has stopped, cosmetic repair will hold. If it is still moving, foundation repair is the answer and filling cracks is pointless.
Are there separate rules for pointing in the centre?
Yes. Inside the protected area, pointing has to come back in the same colour, composition and profile, and old brickwork does not tolerate a hard cement mortar. We work there with a lime-based mortar and lay a sample panel before doing a whole elevation.
Talk through your plan in Breukelen
Calling is quickest. In fifteen minutes you know whether this is work we take on and whether your plan and your budget meet.