ᐅ Looking for a construction company in the Greater Stuttgart area!

HoisleBauer22 schrieb:

That almost sounds like a threat or a warning. Take it easy with the young horses. So far, I have successfully collected many detailed construction specifications and quotes. From those, I form my opinion and calmly decide with whom to have in-depth discussions and negotiations.

I think what Nida is trying to say is that you might hit some limits with your rather analytical approach. You’re attempting something that might not work well, and I believe your exclusion criteria can be confusing to some – for example, excluding face-to-face meetings or company visits as a rule. You just categorize things differently.

Then there are situations where you get criticized: you want to organize something as complex as building a house efficiently and quickly. At the same time, considering the region and your requirements, you have a relatively modest budget. And all that in the current market situation, which is not a buyer’s market. So maybe the warning is just a hint that your approach could make things difficult for you.
And 11ant sometimes likes to provoke a bit. I work with someone on the autism spectrum, and self-assessment or analysis using colors is not unusual: blue, for example, tends to be associated with data affinity and analysis 😉 I find it rather odd to see autism as an insult.

HoisleBauer22 schrieb:

I really appreciate how you respond, Nida. Others might have reacted abruptly right away. The usual approach is to ask around first, then select 2-3 contractors and have individual meetings with them, I assume?
I’m happy to keep you updated. I think it’s a great thing when this is valued here.

I want to add something. For us, during the renovation, two or three things became very important:

1. Honesty -> Something can always go wrong somewhere, and where people work, mistakes happen. Our problems only arose when someone tried to cover up mistakes or simply didn’t say anything.

2. Reliability -> They all have a lot to do. I hate it when someone tells me they’ll start on Monday but by Friday still haven’t shown up. I’d rather have someone who immediately says it’s going to take time.

3. Thinking ahead -> In the end, it was our structural/drywall/helpers crew who came up with good ideas at many points or prepared work for other trades. Other trades often think only about their own part and don’t consider what comes after.

You won’t find any of this in a standard scope of work. For us, our longtime site manager was invaluable—he simply works with very skilled craftsmen.

Additionally, we would never have found our general contractor using your method—he’s so small he slips right through any search net. And here too, everyone stayed engaged, and each trade knew what to expect from the others. That’s how, after the topping-out ceremony, we ended up with an unplanned gallery space. It has now become the grandchildren’s favorite room.

@Trademark: Thank you for your straightforward, clear, and conciliatory post (https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/baufirma-im-grossraum-stuttgart-gesucht.28802/post-535307), I can really agree with it as it stands.

Trademark schrieb:

You won’t find any of that in a standard building specification. For us, our long-established site manager was worth his weight in gold, simply because he works closely with very skilled tradespeople.

100% agreed. However, I assume that very skilled tradespeople come at a price, and when plots in suburban areas already cost as much as the house including additional expenses today, it’s difficult to afford them without sacrificing a lot of living space and the basement. A local construction company, probably working with local trades, wanted about €150,000 more for our solid house than a large turnkey solid house provider. That says it all 🙂
For me, it’s very hard to tell which construction company would hire worker teams from Eastern Europe and outsource trades practically Europe-wide, and which provider has a site manager who works exclusively with very skilled local tradespeople.
Furthermore, these teams don’t necessarily perform worse than local companies, although it’s more likely.
And what if the top site manager suddenly changes or resigns due to illness, for example? That can happen too.
Also, it’s possible that very skilled tradespeople might drop out or need to be replaced at short notice due to scheduling conflicts, resulting in someone else doing the work who then makes many errors—especially in a very important trade.
Maybe it’s just luck when a construction project goes smoothly all around. Such a long-established site manager—was he assigned by a turnkey builder or directly commissioned by the architect?—is certainly part of it.

HoisleBauer22 schrieb:

The usual approach is to ask around and then select 2-3 providers for one-on-one meetings, I guess?

I have been active here for about three quarters of a year, plus about one year of browsing posts before registering, and I am also active in other forums. As far as I can see, there is no typical usual approach. However, I would say your approach can be called typically unusual, namely, to flat-out decline the offers of the contacted companies for personal discussions. The not doing this is, by my observation, the main commonality among the different approaches of all the others.
A quite common approach is to visit home exhibitions and browse the internet to "collect" around three to four big-name companies, then to catch another provider (usually a regional general contractor, often something like "my brother-in-law was quite satisfied with them") through informal talks with colleagues during breaks, and then to inquire with those companies similarly to your method. But with the significant difference that one accepts their invitations to talk.

Trademark schrieb:

And 11ant sometimes throws in a curveball. I work with an autistic person, and self-assessment or analysis using colors is not unusual: Blue just tends to have an affinity for data and analysis 😉 I find it rather confusing to view autism as a derogatory term.

I am not throwing curveballs. I asked a clarifying question about whether I am dealing here with a pure Blue type or a Blue type and autistic person. Because there are many Blue types who are not autistic. Of course, I limited myself here to the color typology: Blue types and Red types approach the selection of their building partners in significantly different ways—at least I am not aware of similarly distinct methodologies between choleric and phlegmatic temperaments.

HoisleBauer22 schrieb:

A local construction company, which probably works with local tradespeople, wanted about €150,000 (about $165,000) more for our solid masonry house than a large turnkey solid masonry house provider. So much for that.

The mentioned difference sadly points to an apples-to-oranges comparison between an honest price from the local general contractor and a prettified promotional offer from a big-name provider, where the concrete slab is expected to be provided by the client and the portable toilet on site is extra. Or it was a defensive offer because a provider would rather be accused of having an overly expensive quote than openly reject with "We don’t serve senior academics," which would be considered discriminatory.

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https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/

11ant schrieb:

We don’t serve senior secondary school teachers

Well, that’s something. Now certain professional groups are being excluded. I hadn’t encountered that before. Are there other professions that get similarly discriminated against in this unpleasant industry?
Regarding the rejection response: It sounds as if a potential customer pressured the home builder so aggressively for an offer that they have to “defend” themselves… I find that hard to believe. They could simply say: We have no more capacity and want to continue providing good service to our existing customers, etc.