ᐅ Looking for a construction company in Calw/Böblingen area for a solid (masonry) house

Hello everyone,

We are planning to build a single-family house with a separate apartment in the Calw district and are looking for a construction company. If anyone has experience with any providers, I would appreciate your feedback.

About the project:
- 2 full stories, 220m² (2,370 sq ft) plus basement
- Separate apartment in the basement
- Gable roof
- KFW 55 energy standard
- Double garage

We have decided to use filled Poroton bricks with a thickness of 42.5cm (17 inches). The architect plans to send out the bill of quantities next week, so any experience would be very helpful.
The building permit/planning permission has already been approved, so we only need a contractor without additional architectural services.

So far, based on a Google search, I have found and considered the following companies interesting:

- U-HAUS
- AWS Massivhaus GmbH
- Köhler Bauunternehmung

Best regards

mete111 schrieb:

The architect intends to send out the specifications next week,

When planning (and I would also recommend involving the site management) with the architect, it surprises me if they do not know the correct recipients for their specifications themselves (?)

mete111 schrieb:

Companies I have found so far through a Google search and consider interesting:
- U-HAUS
- AWS Massivhaus GmbH
- Köhler Bauunternehmung

... I have just reviewed them and would consider all of them as serious candidates. They have already been discussed here:
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/baufirma-im-grossraum-stuttgart-gesucht.28802/page-18#post-389535
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/baukosten-einschaetzung-bawue.34404/page-3#post-391923

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

Thank you for your quick response.

Our architect is a family friend and is not from the local area. Therefore, we agreed that he will not supervise phases 7 and 8 (I believe these are the last two stages) and that construction management will be handed over to the contractor.

The architect recommended companies as well, but they are also not local.

Thank you for the links. I will browse through the threads.

If the architect who is designing the project is not also the site architect (though hopefully they still handle the detailed planning), then you should also find an independent expert to accompany the construction. The so-called "site managers" employed by the general contractor usually have a different role and basically do not represent your interests.

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

We also looked at Bauer from Engelsbrandt. They made a solid impression. They build about 30 single-family homes per year. Their operating area is quite limited, as they are more regional. Depending on where you live in CW, you’ll need to check if it’s still within their range.

In my opinion, AWS is more of a construction coordinator. They only have a small planning office and also offer turnkey solutions. However, they do not carry out the construction themselves; they subcontract it.

We also considered Härtter from Renningen. In my view, their work is reliable and professional, and they have a good reputation around Renningen, although they are quite busy.

We also got an offer from Hauser. But you have to be prepared to live in a concrete house (Liapor) if you choose them.

mete111 schrieb:

Companies I have found so far through a Google search and found interesting:
- U-HAUS
- AWS Massivhaus GmbH
- Köhler Bauunternehmung

We had appointments with all three companies mentioned and several others as well. If you have specific questions, feel free to ask. Otherwise, here’s a brief summary again: https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/baufirma-im-grossraum-stuttgart-gesucht.28802/post-397684

Härtter was eliminated because they only had available appointments more than a year later.
AWS was significantly more expensive than the other providers (about +50,000 Euros adjusted for the specifications). However, they made a competent impression.
Haus der Handwerker had the cheapest offer but was crossed out due to experiences shared here in the forum and our gut feeling.

Regarding the top 3, I’ll quote myself from the linked thread above:

U-Haus had a friendly contact person who put a lot of effort in. The offer was priced in the mid-range, and in the end, the gut feeling really made the difference. I can’t really say what the deciding factor was. If anyone has questions here, feel free to ask.

Hauser had the best price after HdH and also a really nice contact. You immediately feel well taken care of, and everything is explained in detail. At Hauser on-site, the “standard equipment” is also displayed, so you can get a direct impression. We still find the concept with Liapor precast walls quite good and would have considered it. Also very positive was that they questioned the zoning plan instead of just complaining about it. There were one or two points that were not entirely clear in my opinion, and most people immediately said “that won’t work,” but Hauser said that this should be clarified and tried to find a solution. One minor negative point for me was the accessibility, which was not always ideal, and we sometimes waited a long time for callbacks. I believe they are just extremely busy at the moment. Thanks to @Markuss85 for the tip.

With Köhler, the building feeling also matched. A down-to-earth family business that not only builds houses but also larger projects. Very pleasant contact with a lot of experience, and here you also feel welcome immediately. They took a lot of time during conversations even though the contract wasn’t finalized yet. Köhler comes from the shell construction sector and brings a lot of experience from that, plus they build extensively in the surrounding area and know all the relevant local trades and contacts at the municipalities. Costs are discussed openly, and contact with other homeowners is no problem. We both had the impression that honest, grounded work is still being done here, with a strong focus on the customer and their satisfaction.

For us, a drawback with Hauser was the ceiling height. They install a suspended ceiling, I believe 12–14cm (5–6 inches) thick, everywhere to accommodate pipes and cables. That would have meant about 5–10cm (2–4 inches) less ceiling height compared to the other providers. It sounds like a small difference but was important to me.

With Köhler, we have now completed the entire planning phase. A positive aspect is that you first sign a planning contract for a smaller sum in Euros. This includes plans up to and including the building permit application. So at that stage, you haven’t signed a contract for the house itself. Once the plans and cost calculation are ready and the building permit application is submitted to the authorities, you can decide whether you want Köhler to build the house or not. If not, you only have to pay the planning costs and receive the plans. During the planning itself, they take plenty of time across several appointments to discuss different options and answer questions. We are very happy with our current floor plan. The only criticism is that you don’t communicate directly with the architect but through Köhler, who then passes on the information. This sometimes causes an extra loop. By now we have the architect’s contact information – maybe we should have requested that earlier.

As I said, if you have further questions, feel free to get in touch.