ᐅ New Single-Family House Construction with Direct Contracting – Topic: "Using Own Materials"

When we built our new house, we had a water damage incident. It was caused by the washing machine, which the moving company had connected but did not include on the invoice. Understandably, since you hand the helpers 20 € (about 22 USD) and just say, "Come on, quickly hook it up."

The insurance company initially made things difficult and tried to deny the claim. But since I had a good policy, they eventually covered the damage.

At the time, I never thought that handing over 20 € (about 22 USD) could lead to such damage—I just wanted it done quickly.

You always get wiser after a claim. Next time, I will make sure to book a professional service for the washing machine installation.

We are also building a house in Upper Bavaria and are managing most of the work ourselves or subcontracting directly. We have obtained two quotes from plumbing companies. The first company is somewhat larger, with a nice showroom, and insists on installing only plumbing fixtures that they supply themselves. The second company is smaller, doesn’t even have a website, and prefers that we provide the plumbing fixtures, but in coordination with them. He says he doesn't have to charge an additional fee because he doesn’t need to maintain a showroom and can keep his inventory smaller.

I would simply recommend asking the companies directly how they prefer to handle this.

With our general contractor, this was not a problem at all. We provided the complete roof insulation ourselves, as well as all the products for the bathroom. We selected the tiles up to a certain price limit.

His craftsmen were familiar with this approach, and sometimes it was even offered to us to buy certain items ourselves so they could install them; this was sometimes easier for the craftsmen if the materials were already on site the next day, provided by us.

This is apparently not the standard procedure, but we clarified and asked about it from the beginning; the fact that the general contractor was otherwise somewhat weak had nothing to do with this matter.

For example, it was also no problem for us to arrange directly with the plumber to install the shower water lines within the wall, so that we wouldn’t have to use a shower rail; apparently, this is often charged very highly in the bill of quantities (which I find hard to understand).

If something doesn’t work later on, it is usually not due to the product installed, but rather to the installation or the interaction of various components. Complaining about a faucet or something similar wouldn’t occur to me; I would just have it repaired on my own. However, this has nothing to do with whether someone has a warranty or guarantee, but rather that I rarely counted on contractual partners during construction who wanted to take responsibility for something. Fortunately, I have not had any major damages or issues so far.

In our case, we only ever had to pay the actual additional cost of the product for something, such as the cubic meter price for stronger rafters, additional sockets, or the like. The roofer charged a handling fee because he installed “foreign” insulation, but overall, this was not a major cost driver for us, as I often read here.

Despite all the troubles during our build, this point was financially almost brilliant; looking back, it helps me view that time more calmly.

So there definitely are craftsmen who do this and only charge for their labor; you just have to find them. Generally, I see it differently and don’t really understand why a craftsman must add a significant profit margin on top of their hourly rate just from product sales. The argument of warranty or guarantee often seems contrived to me, since I can certainly take warranty (responsibility) for my well-paid craft work.

I am not saying I want to supply every single part of the house myself, but especially in the bathroom area, I wanted to make those decisions independently and freely.

Our general contractor said that dealing with the thousands of bathtubs and faucets would be too stressful for him, so he told us to buy them and then they would be installed.

TechMeister99 schrieb:

- What is the best way to approach this?

It’s wise to ask the contractor in advance if they have any issues with it. Then coordinate with them on how to proceed.

MachsSelbst schrieb:

Please, try to catch up with the 21st century. After 25 years, it’s about time.

Well, you have quite a cheerful tone. Show me a legally binding template like that.

When our roof was covered with Autarq solar tiles in 2019, the warranty issue definitely couldn’t be resolved with a template from the chamber of crafts.

Twenty years ago, that was all fine. Today, it still applies. For example, my tiler said he would only install my tiles if he supplies the adhesive. That way, there is also a warranty.