ᐅ Turnkey Construction or Building with an Architect?

In the end, it is a "gas or charcoal grill" decision. Some prefer one, others prefer the other.

Gas is not an alternative 🙂 (Well, it is in the kitchen, but not for the grill 😀)

Thanks for the detailed answers. I understand that whether you choose an architect or a developer, there can always be problems or issues.

I’m just curious about the advantages of an architect compared to a developer. But from what I see, at least for us, there are no advantages to working with an architect. Our expectations are not very high, and we are fine with standard solutions, at least regarding the appearance.

It’s important to me that we have a single point of contact who handles everything, and that we don’t have to deal with dozens of subcontractors running around.

I’m leaning strongly towards choosing a developer, but I have no idea who would be the best choice. Is it allowed to mention names here in the forum?

Best regards,
Marcus

We were open to everything during the initial phase. To be honest, the "work involved in tendering" somewhat discouraged us from hiring an architect. So, I went through catalogs and clicked on every possible house company online, just to see if there was a house we might like. We planned for possible changes to the roof design, facade, and floor plan. A flexible floor plan was important because I didn’t like the standard layouts in 99% of cases for houses of a normal size. We wanted a ground-floor room in addition to a spacious living area, with less space on the upper floor since it’s just the two of us.

In the end, we chose our construction company. We are building with an architect who runs a family-owned regional construction company.

Here’s a practical tip: I realized that many things wouldn’t have been possible so quickly (bank, finances, building permit / planning permission, insurance) if I hadn’t been able to sit at a desk with a PC in the office and make calls between my work tasks. Imagine if I were working in retail or on an assembly line... I would have gone crazy having to organize everything in the evenings at home. I wouldn’t have been able to make calls or handle arrangements during the day.

If you’re not flexible during the day, I would recommend hiring a builder. That is, if you’re happy with standard designs 🙂

@ypg
Do you mean with BU the general contractor / main contractor?

There are just as many differences (both reliable and unreliable) with the general contractor / main contractor as with hiring an architect who individually awards contracts.
If you choose to have "everything from a single source," the first step should be to review (or have someone review) the building specification. This document reveals a lot.
Once you have an initial cost estimate, you can easily calculate the price per square meter.
Nowadays, anything below 1200 €/m² (around $130/sq ft) should be viewed very critically in terms of quality.
Somewhere, costs are being cut. 🙄 A reputable general contractor / main contractor also offers options beyond the standard.

vokono schrieb:
@ypg
do you mean BU = general contractor / main contractor?

No, I mean a construction company. BU?

vokono schrieb:

If you choose a “one-stop shop” approach, you should first review (or have someone review) the building specification. A lot can be learned from that.
Once you have an initial cost estimate, you can easily calculate the price per square meter.
Anything below 1200€/m² (about $130/sq ft) should be viewed critically in terms of quality nowadays.
There will be cost-cutting somewhere. 🙄 A reputable general contractor / main contractor also offers options beyond the standard.

Whether reputable or not is another matter.
The building specification is another topic. First, the question above needs to be answered. Then, as you said, offers have to be selected and compared 🙂