ᐅ List of Trades Involved in a New Construction Project

Created on: 7 Sep 2019 09:23
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Warlaan
When reading construction diaries, one of the biggest challenges that stands out is that so many different companies are involved in a build, and their schedules need to be coordinated. It becomes even more problematic if a task is overlooked and the conditions for the next step are not met.

Therefore, I think it would be helpful to create a list of the steps involved in building a house (which may be required). This might help some people notice something they might have otherwise forgotten during the construction or cost estimation process.

If anyone notices something missing or incorrect, please leave a comment. I would also like to include the correct technical terms for the relevant companies and work steps to make searching on Google easier. I am assuming a situation where you already own a plot of land and know exactly how the house should look. It should also be clear that not everyone needs every step, and sometimes multiple steps can be carried out by one company.

And yes, you should be able to rely on the site managers, general contractors (GCs), etc., to be familiar with these steps, but especially when it comes to cost estimates, it’s probably a good idea to go through such a list and check what might be missing in the scope of work description.

List of work steps:
- Obtaining documents related to the property: extract from the land register, zoning plan / planning permission, information on easements
- Soil survey / geotechnical report
- Written preparation of the building permit application / planning permission application
- Lighting design (interior architect ?)
- Electrical planning
- Submission and approval of the building permit / planning permission
- Construction of a site access road
- Securing the construction site
- Surveying
- Detailed staking out / layout setting
- Depending on the region, special reports may be required (e.g., contaminant report for soil disposal, clearance report for unexploded ordnance in areas bombed during World War II)
- Excavation
- Disposal of unusable soil
- Connection for temporary construction power
- Connection for construction water
- Rental and installation of portable toilets
- Waste containers for disposal of materials (rubble, plastic, etc.)
- For geothermal heating: drilling or earthworks
- Installation of empty conduits (ducts) for utilities
- Construction of the basement / foundation slab
- Construction of a splash protection barrier around the foundation
- Wall construction (masonry)
- Installation of intermediate ceilings / floors
- Construction staircase (temporary)
- Roof structure construction (carpenters / roofers)
- Installation of windows
- Installation of the construction entrance door
- Routing of cables, switches, and sockets within walls (electricians)
- Installation of heating, potable water, and wastewater pipes (heating and plumbing contractors)
- If applicable, installation of underfloor heating, mounting of radiators
- Heating system installation
- External insulation
- Exterior plastering / brick veneer
- If applicable, installation of solar thermal collectors for hot water
- If applicable, installation of photovoltaic panels for electricity
- Installation of screed flooring
- Drywall installation
- Internal insulation
- Installation of floor coverings and/or tiles (tilers)
- Plastering walls (masonry)
- Painting walls (painters) or wallpapering (wallcovering installers)
- Exterior painting (painters)

If anyone corrects or adds anything, I will update the list here.
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guckuck2
7 Sep 2019 12:42
Is someone trying to skip professional site supervision again and doesn’t even know the necessary trades involved?
Mycraft7 Sep 2019 12:47
So I have now added some details, made corrections, and changed the order. But it is still far too vague.
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Maria16
7 Sep 2019 14:22
guckuck2 schrieb:

Is someone trying to skip project management again without even knowing the necessary trades?

We basically did the same, you can manage, especially when comparing various construction schedules.

But even two years later, I’m still glad and don’t regret a penny of the additional costs because we didn’t subcontract everything individually and coordinate it ourselves, but rather had one company responsible for the shell construction from excavation to roofing (except for the metal roofer). Just the timing of who continues work on the scaffolding, adjusts it for the roofers, rebuilds the roofing protection for the plasterers, or when an earthworks contractor digs or backfills somewhere...