Hello everyone,
I have a general question about the costs when building with architects and with a general contractor (GC), as we are currently considering how we want to have our house built. There are several options to consider.
1) Architect contracted individually for all phases of services
2) Architect handles the design and the GC handles the construction
3) GC takes care of both design and construction
From what I have learned and understand, theoretically, none of these models should be inherently more expensive or cheaper if the quality and scope of services are the same. I also assume that a GC cannot manage without planning and site supervision, which must be included in their calculation. That’s why I’d like to ask those of you who have experience with this: Is a house built with an architect generally more expensive in practice?
Best regards
I have a general question about the costs when building with architects and with a general contractor (GC), as we are currently considering how we want to have our house built. There are several options to consider.
1) Architect contracted individually for all phases of services
2) Architect handles the design and the GC handles the construction
3) GC takes care of both design and construction
From what I have learned and understand, theoretically, none of these models should be inherently more expensive or cheaper if the quality and scope of services are the same. I also assume that a GC cannot manage without planning and site supervision, which must be included in their calculation. That’s why I’d like to ask those of you who have experience with this: Is a house built with an architect generally more expensive in practice?
Best regards
DASI90 schrieb:
Thanks first of all for all the many responses. I think this also confirms our gut feeling.
The first architect calculates as mentioned using the midpoint rate, fee zone III, and 4% for additional services. That sounds fair to me. What is usually customary?For a standard single-family house, exactly that!Zaba12 schrieb:
I have had very, very good experiences with a type 1 architect. I don’t know if yours works the same way as mine. He did a lot more than he actually charged for.
Our type 3 was a younger female architect who first wanted the contract signed for design phases 1-4. Only after that would she even start gathering requirements. Type 1 was different. After 2 weeks he came back with a hand-drawn floor plan, without any prior payment, and only fine adjustments were needed afterwards. Experience is simply unbeatable.
@Type 2: What do you mean by 1 year of planning? 1 year until submission of the documents for the building permit / planning permission? If that’s what you mean, that’s definitely not acceptable to me!
Number two estimated the planning phase up to before preparation of tendering would take about one year (design phase 1 to design phase 5).
guckuck2 schrieb:
Number 2 is an artist. Don’t go with that.
The most extravagant houses here are overseen by such an artist and have one thing in common: they never get finished and costs explode.What do you mean by artist? I wouldn’t have thought of number two as an artist. The process and the large team involved seemed very professional.
DASI90 schrieb:
Number two estimated the planning phase up to before preparation of the tender to take about one year (work phases 1 to 5).
What do you mean by artist? I wouldn’t have considered number two as an artist. The process and the large, established team seemed very professional to me. That’s a joke. Up to one year for work phases 1 to 5? He would be out of the running with me. 90% of that time is just downtime while guy number two works on other projects and isn’t available to you.
My architect needed only 1 to 2 weeks for work phase 5.
The most time-consuming part, which everyone underestimated, was coordinating between the building authority, the zoning architect, and the neighbors to clarify the site conditions for the submission planning. Otherwise, work phases 1 to 4 would have been completed within 2 weeks.
Zaba12 schrieb:
That’s a joke. Up to one year for design phases 1-5? He’d be out of my running. 90% of that time is just downtime where the architect is working on other projects and isn’t available for you.
My architect would have needed 1-2 weeks for phase 5.
The most complex part, which everyone underestimated, was coordinating between the building authority, the zoning plan architect, and the neighbors to define the site conditions for the permit application. Otherwise, phases 1-4 could have been completed within 2 weeks.Yes, I tend to agree. But 1-2 weeks is certainly very ambitious. It’s not unreasonable that planning takes a few months. I would say it generally takes 3-6 months (can take that long), especially if you’re starting from scratch and doing a custom design.
Similar topics