ᐅ Quotes from General Contractors – Are Large Price Differences Normal?

Hello dear forum members,
we are currently looking for a general contractor for our construction project (semi-detached house, two stories plus a half attic).
We have received an offer of 340,000, but have also gotten initial rough estimates from three other companies ranging from 410,000 to 450,000.
Is it common for offers to vary that much?
Is a price of 340,000 considered “cheap”?
Of course, we will examine the detailed scope of work descriptions more closely, but what factors could justify such large differences?

Would you also be concerned if someone offered a fixed price without a time limit?

Best regards

Relatives of ours have just received three offers for a semi-detached house with two full stories, all just under 500,000 (170m² (1,830 sq ft) plus basement). Our offers and those of our friends were around 30,000 lower. In this respect, this downward deviation seems strange to me.

KnibbelDibbel schrieb:
Naturally, we will take a closer look at the scope of construction work, but which factors could justify such huge differences?

In all of them 😉

I wonder how you are building. Architect? Because then you specify the scope of construction work yourself. Otherwise, making a comparison will be difficult.

nordanney schrieb:

In all of them 😉

But I wonder how you are building. Architect? Because then you specify the scope of work.
Otherwise, it will be difficult to make a comparison.

No architect, several larger companies were contacted.
The cheapest offers came from Helma and a local general contractor (GC), while Viebrockhaus and two other local companies were more expensive.

Best regards

KnibbelDibbel schrieb:

No architect, several larger companies were contacted.
The cheapest offers came from Helma and a local general contractor, the more expensive ones were from Viebrockhaus and two other local companies.

So you basically received quotes for a Dacia, a Passat, a Mercedes, and a Porsche. Because you told everyone you needed a car. Figuratively speaking.

KnibbelDibbel schrieb:

We are currently looking for a general contractor for our building project (semi-detached house, two stories plus a half attic).

Don’t put yourself through the trouble of requesting a quote for half of a semi-detached house. Plan together, even if you want to use different contractors or different building methods.

KnibbelDibbel schrieb:

We have an offer for 340k, but have received initial rough estimates between 410k and 450k from three other companies.
Is it really common for offers to vary this much?
Is a price of 340k already considered "cheap"?

All offers—including the most expensive one—may have left out significant items.
For non-professionals, there is arguably only a bigger pitfall than a non-binding request for proposal, and you’ve unfortunately fallen right into it ("beginner’s luck" turned own goal!): that is, also challenging big-name companies.

KnibbelDibbel schrieb:

We have asked several larger companies.

Is this meant to be an Olympic triathlon?
1. Half a semi-detached house; 2. Without an architect; 3. Big-name companies

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