ᐅ General contractor / prefabricated house supplier with an existing cost estimate (equivalent to HOAI Phase 4)
Created on: 16 May 2021 12:38
T
TommyNRW
Hello dear house building experts,
we would like to find the right partner for our house construction after obtaining the building permit / planning permission.
Background:
My wife and I have purchased a plot of land and initially searched for a general contractor or a prefab home provider who could offer us a finished move-in ready house at a fixed price. This is important to us, as we have heard many negative experiences from acquaintances regarding price surges when building with architects.
However, the companies we spoke with (and there were quite a few) were not able to address our specific requirements and the particularities of the site in enough detail, at least not before signing the construction contract.
Our plot has some special features: a narrow building envelope (tapering), a tightly defined floor area ratio / FAR, a slight height offset in length and width (about 1m (3 feet)), two parking spaces need to be created, and more. In our opinion, related external facilities such as garages, carports, storage rooms, parking spaces, driveways, etc. must already be planned from the start, as they also influence the actual house. At the latest with these external facilities, all providers referred to their own architectural services, which – as mentioned – are only available after signing.
Since we do not want to rely on the assumption that a satisfactory solution will be found then, we have now decided to work with a local architect. He knows the local conditions very well, has already designed another house in the new development area, and knows how to fully utilize the building permit / planning permission given his good contacts with the authorities.
After HOAI Phase 4, that is once the building permit / planning permission is granted, we would like to have the corresponding design implemented. The architect is absolutely fine with this and has successfully done so multiple times before.
Which providers would you consider most suitable in this case? We are not looking for the cheapest option, but definitely a reliable, experienced partner with a good price-performance ratio.
Thank you very much for your opinions and support.
we would like to find the right partner for our house construction after obtaining the building permit / planning permission.
Background:
My wife and I have purchased a plot of land and initially searched for a general contractor or a prefab home provider who could offer us a finished move-in ready house at a fixed price. This is important to us, as we have heard many negative experiences from acquaintances regarding price surges when building with architects.
However, the companies we spoke with (and there were quite a few) were not able to address our specific requirements and the particularities of the site in enough detail, at least not before signing the construction contract.
Our plot has some special features: a narrow building envelope (tapering), a tightly defined floor area ratio / FAR, a slight height offset in length and width (about 1m (3 feet)), two parking spaces need to be created, and more. In our opinion, related external facilities such as garages, carports, storage rooms, parking spaces, driveways, etc. must already be planned from the start, as they also influence the actual house. At the latest with these external facilities, all providers referred to their own architectural services, which – as mentioned – are only available after signing.
Since we do not want to rely on the assumption that a satisfactory solution will be found then, we have now decided to work with a local architect. He knows the local conditions very well, has already designed another house in the new development area, and knows how to fully utilize the building permit / planning permission given his good contacts with the authorities.
After HOAI Phase 4, that is once the building permit / planning permission is granted, we would like to have the corresponding design implemented. The architect is absolutely fine with this and has successfully done so multiple times before.
Which providers would you consider most suitable in this case? We are not looking for the cheapest option, but definitely a reliable, experienced partner with a good price-performance ratio.
Thank you very much for your opinions and support.
N
nordanney23 May 2021 11:39TommyNRW schrieb:
We want a fixed-price guarantee, which the architect cannot provide (and neither can anyone else), but a general contractor / prefab home provider certainly can. ... because they immediately pass on any possible, but not certain, cost increases to you, rather than during the course of the construction project.
The architect estimates €500,000 and the homeowners are very disappointed if the house ends up costing €550,000. But they praise the general contractor / prefab home provider highly if there is a price guarantee of €575,000 for the same house.
But who actually built more affordably in the end? Those building with an architect often don’t consider the budget carefully enough and are therefore disappointed.
TommyNRW schrieb:
We want a fixed-price guarantee, which our architect cannot provide (and neither can anyone else), but a general contractor or prefab home supplier definitely can. Fixed prices can be agreed upon in the tender process. Laypeople often have many misconceptions about this. But the architect should be able to explain how a tender works.
TommyNRW schrieb:
Therefore, we want to combine the best of both worlds by advancing the design with a local architect and then proceeding with construction through a general contractor or prefab home supplier. The architect has already taken this approach with other clients several times. If you want to continue advancing the design with the architect—which I recommend—you will have the best of both worlds. However, the last sentence confirms my concern that you may have chosen the wrong architect: many clients today specifically look for architects only up to stage 4 of the design phases, and some architects adapt to this by simply not offering the "remaining" services at all. Naturally, they are relieved when they don’t have to do what they cannot. Lazy artists :-(
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Our general contractor, who also works as a construction manager (and even as the actual builder), recently mentioned that outsourcing the planning doesn’t significantly reduce his portion of the costs, since his architect/project manager first needs to familiarize themselves with the project and some ideas from the application planning may require considerable thought (and time) to implement. However, I was very satisfied with the architectural services.
K1300S schrieb:
Our general contractor, who also works as a construction manager (and even a genuine building technician), recently said that outsourcing the design hardly makes his share any cheaper, since his architect/site manager first has to get familiar with the project. If phase 5 of the work (execution planning) is omitted, an external planner effectively just disrupts the contractor’s routine. Small mistakes are immediately punished – in this case: with drywall. The phrase “hardly cheaper” is, of course, a major understatement.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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