ᐅ List of Trades Involved in a New Construction Project

When reading construction diaries, one of the biggest challenges that stands out is that so many different companies are involved in a build, and their schedules need to be coordinated. It becomes even more problematic if a task is overlooked and the conditions for the next step are not met.

Therefore, I think it would be helpful to create a list of the steps involved in building a house (which may be required). This might help some people notice something they might have otherwise forgotten during the construction or cost estimation process.

If anyone notices something missing or incorrect, please leave a comment. I would also like to include the correct technical terms for the relevant companies and work steps to make searching on Google easier. I am assuming a situation where you already own a plot of land and know exactly how the house should look. It should also be clear that not everyone needs every step, and sometimes multiple steps can be carried out by one company.

And yes, you should be able to rely on the site managers, general contractors (GCs), etc., to be familiar with these steps, but especially when it comes to cost estimates, it’s probably a good idea to go through such a list and check what might be missing in the scope of work description.

List of work steps:
- Obtaining documents related to the property: extract from the land register, zoning plan / planning permission, information on easements
- Soil survey / geotechnical report
- Written preparation of the building permit application / planning permission application
- Lighting design (interior architect ?)
- Electrical planning
- Submission and approval of the building permit / planning permission
- Construction of a site access road
- Securing the construction site
- Surveying
- Detailed staking out / layout setting
- Depending on the region, special reports may be required (e.g., contaminant report for soil disposal, clearance report for unexploded ordnance in areas bombed during World War II)
- Excavation
- Disposal of unusable soil
- Connection for temporary construction power
- Connection for construction water
- Rental and installation of portable toilets
- Waste containers for disposal of materials (rubble, plastic, etc.)
- For geothermal heating: drilling or earthworks
- Installation of empty conduits (ducts) for utilities
- Construction of the basement / foundation slab
- Construction of a splash protection barrier around the foundation
- Wall construction (masonry)
- Installation of intermediate ceilings / floors
- Construction staircase (temporary)
- Roof structure construction (carpenters / roofers)
- Installation of windows
- Installation of the construction entrance door
- Routing of cables, switches, and sockets within walls (electricians)
- Installation of heating, potable water, and wastewater pipes (heating and plumbing contractors)
- If applicable, installation of underfloor heating, mounting of radiators
- Heating system installation
- External insulation
- Exterior plastering / brick veneer
- If applicable, installation of solar thermal collectors for hot water
- If applicable, installation of photovoltaic panels for electricity
- Installation of screed flooring
- Drywall installation
- Internal insulation
- Installation of floor coverings and/or tiles (tilers)
- Plastering walls (masonry)
- Painting walls (painters) or wallpapering (wallcovering installers)
- Exterior painting (painters)

If anyone corrects or adds anything, I will update the list here.

Please not in this order. You still have a lot of work ahead of you. You should do a bit more thorough research✌

Yes, the sequence is not quite right. Some trades also come to the site multiple times depending on the progress.

Roofers, metalworkers (sheet metal workers), and scaffolders would also be very helpful. I didn’t pay enough attention to see if anything else is missing.

Instead of construction diaries, I would recommend searching for construction schedules.

I had assumed that, like in most forums, it would be possible to edit posts here as well... but unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

@Milo3: The response is unfortunately not very helpful. If you know what is still missing, please just say it. And if the order is wrong, please indicate where. I already understand that the list is not yet correct or complete, after all, I didn’t post here to show off my knowledge.

@Maria16: Thank you, I had already noted scaffolding in another place but forgot it here. And I hadn’t actually considered the difference between roofers and sheet metal workers before. Thanks also for the tip about the keyword “construction schedule,” very helpful!

@Warlaan ... as in most forums, you can edit your post within the first 10 minutes or so. However, once replies have been made, editing is no longer practical because the text could be completely changed, making the existing replies no longer relevant.

If your list were roughly correct, various things could be added. However, there is still so much missing that this thread would need another 10 pages. This is not meant negatively; you should definitely study the topic more thoroughly. You will need several trades multiple times (backfilling, structural shell —> drainage, scaffolding, plastering). Some tasks run more or less in parallel. Others need to pause intermittently (drying times).