ᐅ Hiring an architect only for the shell construction phase—is that possible?

Hello everyone,

I am planning to build a solid KfW70 house with 200-230 sqm (2,150-2,480 sq ft) including a granny flat in Baden-Württemberg. The budget is 300,000 €.
Is it possible to hire the architect only for the enclosed shell construction?
I want to arrange the interior finishing, heating, electrical work, etc., myself. Some of the work will also involve DIY contributions.
Thank you very much for your help.

Best regards,
Sebastian

Hello Sebastian,

I believe you can definitely enter into a contract with an architect.

One more question regarding your budget of EUR 300,000 (approx. 330,000 USD) – what exactly should be included in that?

Best regards,

Dirk

A bit too little budget for a house with a granny flat in one of the most expensive states, wouldn’t you say? Interior finishing, electrical work, and heating are usually contracted out separately anyway – architects rarely handle detailed building services engineering; they mostly provide the framework that the contractors then fill in.

In my opinion, you probably wouldn’t save much this way at all...

Thanks for the quick responses.

I calculated it like this: 300,000€ / 200 m² (2,150 ft²) = 1,500€ per m² (14 per ft²).
I’ve seen this figure quite often when building a turnkey house. Additionally, I want to contribute some work myself. Incidental construction costs are not included in the 300,000€. Do you think this amount is not sufficient?

Regarding my question about the architect: assuming the completed shell costs 150,000€, is this the amount on which the architect’s total fee is based? Or does the architect calculate the fee based on the "finished" house?

Best regards,
Sebastian

What I forgot to mention, we want to build without a basement! We have a 1000 m² (10,764 sq ft) plot of land.

And what is also missing: the plot probably has a 10° slope, is located in a stream catchment area, and sits on very porous karst rock. The soil report is still missing, and without knowing what foundation options are actually feasible on the site, any estimate is equivalent to reading a crystal ball in a very cloudy sphere...