ᐅ Hiring trades separately or using a general contractor / turnkey solution?
Created on: 1 Feb 2022 09:07
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Elias_dee
Hello everyone,
What would you recommend for our situation? We are currently renting and have purchased a plot of land about 50 minutes away in another town, where we want to build a single-family house. Our architect lives just a few minutes from us (so also in our current town, not the new one).
I have already contacted about 10 companies from the area near the future construction site. Only two of them could build as general contractors on a turnkey basis, and they only have availability at the end of the year. I would actually prefer this because a) we don’t have much experience with building projects, b) the architect cannot supervise construction, and c) we cannot be on site every week. However, first of all, there aren’t many companies currently able to build this way for us, and secondly, I recently read an article stating that turnkey construction often leads to more defects because there is little control over the subcontractors used.
What would you do in our case? Go with turnkey construction or invest some time to learn about the process and handle everything by requesting and awarding contracts separately?
Thank you very much!
Best regards
What would you recommend for our situation? We are currently renting and have purchased a plot of land about 50 minutes away in another town, where we want to build a single-family house. Our architect lives just a few minutes from us (so also in our current town, not the new one).
I have already contacted about 10 companies from the area near the future construction site. Only two of them could build as general contractors on a turnkey basis, and they only have availability at the end of the year. I would actually prefer this because a) we don’t have much experience with building projects, b) the architect cannot supervise construction, and c) we cannot be on site every week. However, first of all, there aren’t many companies currently able to build this way for us, and secondly, I recently read an article stating that turnkey construction often leads to more defects because there is little control over the subcontractors used.
What would you do in our case? Go with turnkey construction or invest some time to learn about the process and handle everything by requesting and awarding contracts separately?
Thank you very much!
Best regards
Usually not included in the initial offer. Later, during the planning phase, sometimes. It depends on the general contractor. Some save effort by letting the trades handle the material selection and other details themselves. Others don’t relinquish control and finalize everything with the homeowner before passing the information on to the trades all at once...
We asked about it, and he responded.
Electrical company X or Y
Plumbing company Z. Can't Hans do it? No, I can’t work with him. Asked Hans on Sunday if he would, no, not with him.
You have to accept that.
Since we already knew more than half of the companies, I didn’t bother with the rest.
Personally, we got along well with our two points of contact. The general contractor (GC) was a good fit for us.
The expert was suggested by the GC. Simply because their quality standards are met, and the GC doesn’t have to supervise the companies closely. We would have chosen one anyway because some craftsman friends said it’s best to have an expert.
So even having an expert benefits both sides.
Electrical company X or Y
Plumbing company Z. Can't Hans do it? No, I can’t work with him. Asked Hans on Sunday if he would, no, not with him.
You have to accept that.
Since we already knew more than half of the companies, I didn’t bother with the rest.
Personally, we got along well with our two points of contact. The general contractor (GC) was a good fit for us.
The expert was suggested by the GC. Simply because their quality standards are met, and the GC doesn’t have to supervise the companies closely. We would have chosen one anyway because some craftsman friends said it’s best to have an expert.
So even having an expert benefits both sides.
We also built a turnkey house in Bavaria and would definitely do it that way again. The construction company worked exclusively with local tradesmen, and we even knew a few of them personally 🙂 The quality was excellent, but of course, you can sometimes have really bad luck.
If the company has a good reputation, it’s worth waiting until the end of the year 😉
If the company has a good reputation, it’s worth waiting until the end of the year 😉
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Elias_dee1 Feb 2022 10:17Okay, thanks again, very nice people here in the forum 🙂
The district is Kehlheim.
Best regards!
The district is Kehlheim.
Best regards!