ᐅ General contractor/developer/architect – which option makes the most sense?
Created on: 31 Aug 2020 18:01
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Niedersachse35
I have been quietly following this forum for a while, but I haven’t been able to find answers to my questions yet, so now I’m starting my own thread.
After some careful consideration, my wife and I have decided to build a house. Buying an existing property is not really an option due to the limited supply, and fortunately, we have access to a fully serviced 1000 sqm (approximately 10,760 sq ft) building plot within the family.
The question now is how to approach the project. We have very clear ideas about what we want to build, and the zoning plan allows for a full story, so the house will effectively be 1.5 stories. We also want to include a basement. The planned living area is about 200 sqm (2,150 sq ft) plus a double garage.
At the moment, like many others, we have come across Viebrockhaus during our research. We like some of their house models, but the floor plans would serve more as a guideline for us. Can anyone tell us how flexible the floor plans are? Is it possible to plan for more windows as well?
We are planning a living/kitchen area with a fireplace, a study/guest room, and a guest bathroom on the ground floor. Upstairs, there will be a master bedroom with en-suite bathroom and walk-in closet, as well as two children’s bedrooms and a children’s bathroom. The basement is planned to include a fitness room, utility room, and storage/technical room.
Our budget is a maximum of €600,000 (plus a 15% contingency and possibly architect fees for phases 1-8). Is this even realistic? Doing work ourselves is ruled out due to lack of experience and time.
Maybe someone can also recommend a good general contractor in the Hannover area that we could contact for more information?
Thank you in advance for your tips!
After some careful consideration, my wife and I have decided to build a house. Buying an existing property is not really an option due to the limited supply, and fortunately, we have access to a fully serviced 1000 sqm (approximately 10,760 sq ft) building plot within the family.
The question now is how to approach the project. We have very clear ideas about what we want to build, and the zoning plan allows for a full story, so the house will effectively be 1.5 stories. We also want to include a basement. The planned living area is about 200 sqm (2,150 sq ft) plus a double garage.
At the moment, like many others, we have come across Viebrockhaus during our research. We like some of their house models, but the floor plans would serve more as a guideline for us. Can anyone tell us how flexible the floor plans are? Is it possible to plan for more windows as well?
We are planning a living/kitchen area with a fireplace, a study/guest room, and a guest bathroom on the ground floor. Upstairs, there will be a master bedroom with en-suite bathroom and walk-in closet, as well as two children’s bedrooms and a children’s bathroom. The basement is planned to include a fitness room, utility room, and storage/technical room.
Our budget is a maximum of €600,000 (plus a 15% contingency and possibly architect fees for phases 1-8). Is this even realistic? Doing work ourselves is ruled out due to lack of experience and time.
Maybe someone can also recommend a good general contractor in the Hannover area that we could contact for more information?
Thank you in advance for your tips!
Niedersachse35 schrieb:
but have been a silent reader for quite some time Then I wonder where you have been looking while reading if you haven’t already become completely fed up with the recurring question about hiring an architect despite having a general contractor.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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Niedersachse351 Sep 2020 04:57The question was not about defiance, but about choosing one or the other.
This question will likely receive different answers from prospective builders. In general, as a summary, I would say that beyond the question of purchasing a plot of land and the associated costs, there is an increasing level of involvement required and also enabled for the builder, ranging from a property developer to a general contractor with construction management (not a general contractor!) up to an architect with individual contract awarding. (Basically, a combination of architect plus general contractor is also possible.) Which option suits you best is hard for us to determine. However, it should be noted that the services of a good to very good and especially creative architect become more necessary the more complicated the initial situation and/or requirements are, for example a “challenging” plot of land, a very restrictive budget, minimal space requirements, and so on. It should also be mentioned that there are very good general contractors with construction management—typically smaller providers—whose architectural services are equivalent to those of an independent architect, although this is less common. Ultimately, there is also a difference in team affiliation. The architect works on your team and will, if necessary, advocate even “against” opposing tradespeople. The general contractor with construction management usually has a stronger connection to “their” tradespeople, which can potentially lead to a conflict of interest. Furthermore, they will naturally try to carry out the work as inexpensively as possible since the price is fixed from the outset. Property developers tend to cover more mass-market projects, which means that the individuality of the build is reduced in order to achieve the desired economies of scale.
You will find further aspects if you read more here than you have so far.
You will find further aspects if you read more here than you have so far.
K1300S schrieb:
(Basically, a combination of architect + general contractor (GC) is also a conceivable option.)Incidentally, the other way around is also true: I generally advise clients of independent architects to always allow general contractors (GCs) in the tender process.https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
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