Hello everyone,
My partner and I would like to build a solid, masonry house (or have it built) with about 140 square meters (1500 square feet), including a basement and a garage. We have already visited two local home builders, but both only carry out a small portion of the trades themselves and subcontract the rest.
Now we are wondering if it might be more cost-effective to plan the construction ourselves with an architect and request individual quotes for each trade. How much can you typically save this way, and is it advisable for us as novices to plan the project on our own, or is the risk of making mistakes too high?
Thank you.
My partner and I would like to build a solid, masonry house (or have it built) with about 140 square meters (1500 square feet), including a basement and a garage. We have already visited two local home builders, but both only carry out a small portion of the trades themselves and subcontract the rest.
Now we are wondering if it might be more cost-effective to plan the construction ourselves with an architect and request individual quotes for each trade. How much can you typically save this way, and is it advisable for us as novices to plan the project on our own, or is the risk of making mistakes too high?
Thank you.
That shouldn’t matter if I explicitly instruct him to obtain several quotes and then explain to me, based on the bill of quantities, exactly why supplier X has submitted a better offer than supplier Y. I don’t have to conduct a tender, but if I’m paying for it, I should be able to expect the architect to deliver that, right?
Vanben schrieb:
but shouldn't that be exactly ensured by commissioning service phase 7?!I just wanted to suggest that there are certainly differences in how this scope of service is carried out. Some do it simply to complete the task, while others put more emphasis on ensuring the client receives the best possible offers. It's like with any service—there can be variations even when you commission the same service from different providers.
E
Elisabeth787 Mar 2016 12:13Thank you very much for the numerous responses!
Then we will probably get a Gü.
Then we will probably get a Gü.
E
Elisabeth785 Apr 2020 10:26Hello everyone,
I wanted to get back in touch and share my experiences with you.
We had the plans drawn up by an architect and obtained quotes for the trades ourselves.
We also organized the entire process on our own.
Known contractors did the tiling and exterior plastering, which saved us about 25,000 euros compared to the offers we received.
We handled the garden and outdoor areas ourselves with the help of an excavation company, a paver, and a lot of personal effort.
How did we manage the costs?
We ended up at the same overall price.
However, in addition to the general contractor’s offer, we included:
- Completed outdoor facilities / sloped site
- Kitchen
- Furniture
- Central ventilation system
- Concrete staircase with solid wood covering instead of a wooden staircase
- Better doors
- Wood-burning stove
- Bathroom furniture plus higher-end fittings
- Expensive tiles and floor coverings
- Built-in spotlights throughout the house
I hope I didn’t forget anything. This matches the experiences of others I have spoken with. Of course, you shouldn’t underestimate how much research is involved and the effort it takes to obtain multiple quotes.
I also expected coordinating the trades to be much more challenging. Honestly, it wasn’t difficult at all!
Of course, there were sometimes one or two weeks of downtime, but I was happy to accept that for the savings.
We moved into our house after a total construction period of 15 months.
This despite having issues with the screed because it dried poorly due to the weather conditions.
I would definitely do it this way again!
I wanted to get back in touch and share my experiences with you.
We had the plans drawn up by an architect and obtained quotes for the trades ourselves.
We also organized the entire process on our own.
Known contractors did the tiling and exterior plastering, which saved us about 25,000 euros compared to the offers we received.
We handled the garden and outdoor areas ourselves with the help of an excavation company, a paver, and a lot of personal effort.
How did we manage the costs?
We ended up at the same overall price.
However, in addition to the general contractor’s offer, we included:
- Completed outdoor facilities / sloped site
- Kitchen
- Furniture
- Central ventilation system
- Concrete staircase with solid wood covering instead of a wooden staircase
- Better doors
- Wood-burning stove
- Bathroom furniture plus higher-end fittings
- Expensive tiles and floor coverings
- Built-in spotlights throughout the house
I hope I didn’t forget anything. This matches the experiences of others I have spoken with. Of course, you shouldn’t underestimate how much research is involved and the effort it takes to obtain multiple quotes.
I also expected coordinating the trades to be much more challenging. Honestly, it wasn’t difficult at all!
Of course, there were sometimes one or two weeks of downtime, but I was happy to accept that for the savings.
We moved into our house after a total construction period of 15 months.
This despite having issues with the screed because it dried poorly due to the weather conditions.
I would definitely do it this way again!
Elisabeth78 schrieb:
Hello everyone,
I wanted to check in again and share my experiences with you.
We have now had a plan drawn up by an architect and obtained quotes for the trades ourselves.
We also organized the workflow on our own.
Known people did the tile installation and exterior plastering for us, saving us about 25,000 euros compared to the quotes.
We completed the garden and outdoor areas ourselves with the help of an excavation company and a paver, plus a lot of own work.
How did we manage the costs?
We ended up at roughly the same price.
However, in addition to the general contractor’s (GC) offer, we included:
- Finished outdoor areas / sloped site
- Kitchen
- Furniture
- Central ventilation system
- Concrete staircase with solid wood covering instead of a wooden staircase
- Better doors
- Wood-burning stove
- Bathroom furniture plus upgraded fixtures
- Expensive tiles and floor coverings
- Built-in spotlights throughout the house
I hope I haven’t forgotten anything. This also matches the experience of others I have spoken with. Of course, you shouldn’t underestimate how much research work is involved and how much effort it takes to gather several quotes.
I had imagined coordinating the trades would be much harder. Honestly, it wasn’t difficult at all!
Of course, there were sometimes one or two weeks of downtime between tasks, but I’m happy to accept that for these savings.
After a total construction time of 15 months, we have moved into our house.
And that despite having problems with the screed because it dried poorly due to the weather.
I would definitely do it this way again! Thanks for this report!
A 15-month construction period is certainly quite long.
How exactly were the scopes of work for the quotes defined? I still can’t quite picture how to structure a public tender or request for proposal. For that reason, I would probably leave this to the architect.
Did you get through the construction phase without any defects?
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