Municipality of Stichtse Vecht
Builders in Maarssen
Building work and maintenance in Maarssen, at a fixed price for the work as described and paid in four instalments.
Maarssen has been part of the municipality of Stichtse Vecht since 2011 and consists, in building terms, of two worlds with nothing in common. On the east side lies Maarssen-Dorp: the old ribbon development along the river Vecht, with the Straatweg, the Zandpad and the Diependaalsedijk, much of it designated as a protected village area (beschermd dorpsgezicht). On the west side, behind the Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal, lies Maarssenbroek, built in the 1970s.
In the protected part, building work is mostly a question of what is allowed on the outside. Window layout, pointing, roof shape and window heights are largely fixed, which means an addition has to be found at the back. The houses along the Zandpad and the Diependaalsedijk also often sit on narrow plots with nowhere for a crane, so materials go in by hand. That is not an objection, but it belongs in the price rather than arriving as a surprise.
Further from the river, towards the Kaatsbaan and the Bisschopswetering, stands post-war housing where the usual work applies: a full width extension, an opening through to the kitchen and a dormer at the back. There the soil is sandy enough near the surface to use strip footings more often than in De Ronde Venen, which makes an extension measurably cheaper.
What decides things here
- Protected village area in Maarssen-Dorp: appearance, pointing and window layout are fixed
- Narrow plots along the Zandpad and the Diependaalsedijk with no room for a crane
- Sand and clay near the surface, so strip footings are more often possible
- Permits run through the municipality of Stichtse Vecht
Work we do in Maarssen
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 Maarssen 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 Maarssen
Can I extend if my house is inside the protected village area?
At the rear, often yes; on the street side, almost never. Inside a beschermd dorpsgezicht the exemption for permit-free building is restricted, so a permit is normally required. We check it per address with the municipality of Stichtse Vecht before you receive a price.
Can a crane reach the plots on the Zandpad?
On most of them, no. Materials then go over a walkway, through the garden, or in with a telehandler from the road under a temporary road closure. That costs extra hours and they appear separately in the quotation, so you can see what the location costs and what the work costs.
How long does a permit procedure take in Stichtse Vecht?
For a standard application we reckon on eight weeks, with the possibility of an extension. If the house sits inside a protected village area or is listed, a second assessment is added and it usually runs up to three or four months.
Talk through your plan in Maarssen
Calling is quickest. In fifteen minutes you know whether this is work we take on and whether your plan and your budget meet.