ᐅ General Contractor – What Criteria Should Be Used for Choosing One?

Hello everyone,

We are now in the final negotiations for our construction project.
There are two general contractors (GCs) left.

GC1: 2 site managers, 1 draftsman, 14 masons, 20 years on the market, 30 houses per year.

GC2: 2 licensed architects, 1 structural engineer, 20 years on the market, 15 houses per year, all construction services subcontracted to well-coordinated firms.

GC1 is about 2,000 EUR cheaper with the same scope.
GC2 has put a lot of emphasis on details in the planning and provided very helpful advice.

Recommendations:
GC1: Visited 2 houses, positive feedback.
GC2: Visited 1 house, positive feedback, recommended by the expert.

GC1 might still reduce the price by around 5,000 EUR based on experience.
GC2 has already indicated that with a price of 290,000 EUR, a maximum discount of 1,500 EUR is possible because they price very tightly.
GC2 is very transparent regarding the list of subcontractors, etc.

Our favorite is still GC2.

Now the issue:
Due to health reasons, the structural engineer at GC2 will be absent for some time, which means 33 percent less workforce in the company.

What criteria did you consider when choosing your general contractor?

Where are you building in Lower Saxony? Gö-Ecke?

Area around Bremen

I would decide based on the offer, the breakdown, and the transparency. Where do I have the most certainty and clarity about what I am signing? Finally, trust your gut feeling as well.

I’ll step out of my 11ant house for a moment and ask my neighbor Infinite Monkey over the garden fence: he sends you a message that you should let the cube decide, as the result quality of this oracle is equivalent to that of more complex methods.

At first, this might sound like a silly joke, but based on the facts described, the two candidates are almost tied “on the whole.” Now, you might have omitted a tiny detail from us—not out of any ill will, maybe just some parametrically hard-to-grasp point—and then we would honestly guess the wrong choice with a 50:50 chance.

That’s why your gut feeling will have the same accuracy as (almost) any well-reasoned advice. Unfortunately, a method to eliminate this residual risk has not yet been invented ;-)

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11ant schrieb:
I'll step out of my 11ant house for a moment and ask my neighbor Infinite Monkey over the garden fence: he sends you a message that you should let the die decide, as the quality of this oracle's results is comparable to that of more complex methods.

This might sound like a silly joke at first, but based on the facts described, the two candidates are roughly tied "overall." Now you might have omitted just a tiny detail—unintentionally, perhaps some parametrically hard-to-grasp point—and then we would recommend exactly the wrong choice with a 50:50 chance in good conscience.

That’s why your gut feeling will have just as much success as (almost) any well-reasoned advice. Unfortunately, no remedy against this residual risk has been invented yet ;-)

I see it the same way here. They seem to be evenly matched. For me, in such a case, even 2000€ wouldn’t be decisive. Other factors matter — and in this context, gut feeling (when dealing with equally qualified providers) should not be underestimated.

If you find it hard to decide, you can also flip a coin...