Architectural planning costs 50% more expensive than agreed.

I was referring to this statement:

So far, we haven't found a single general contractor who would even calculate our contract.

Oh, I see. But: that is highly understandable. Because what else should a general contractor do if he receives plans for a house that is too expensive, and—possibly even with the note indicating the budget one would actually like to build with—is asked for an offer? Right, the same as I: cross himself (as a Protestant, mind you!).

Let us put ourselves in the shoes of this poor chap called general contractor: he is a professional and can see accordingly (thanks to architect’s plans that don’t have to be interpreted first like amateur drawings) with a quarter glance that this plan-budget gap is a hopeless case. He knows that he has no chance of fixing this with the usual modular means (in the guest WC only standard-sized tiles, downgrade of the cantilever to the stringer staircase, in the worst case just banal painted smokey eyes instead of clinker inlays). These measures would be effective if we were talking about 10% surface and 12% budget overruns—but here we are talking about four times those target misses. A derailed train can be put back on the tracks, but not a sunken ship.

So what is he supposed to do: be the bearer of bad news?—the history books at least from the Bible onward are full of what fate awaits the messenger!

If I were a general contractor, in such a case I would put the request aside for three or four weeks in case the potential client enquires by phone (because only in dialogue can it be clarified whether the client is open to solutions—which here must be painful). However, this must come from the client, never by email or the like, and honestly a cold inquiry per se is a path with little chance of success.

I would by no means have my highly qualified estimator make an offer here: neither state a price for the plan (because then I have thrown the anchor “expensive provider”), nor propose a house model fitting the budget (because then the client thinks: “incompetent or rude, he doesn’t even read my beautiful plan” or “they don’t deserve the good name, they only know cookie-cutter stuff”). In both cases, as a provider you would have lost here—and at least not waste the time of a well-paid employee.

To receive no answer to such a hopeless inquiry is, in my eyes, only one thing: absolutely to be expected. For a successful inquiry at a general contractor, you take someone who plans realistic houses instead of castles in the air—precisely what this architect should have been. That is why, in my opinion, the architect here has also delivered a genuinely poor objective performance—and that, instead of the original poster, I would not sadly but defenselessly swallow and write off the effort just like that. Taste differences can happen—but in my assessment, based on the presented “case files,” this is not the situation here!

But wait. The GUs don't even know our budget. We say that we have a building plan and are now looking for a GU to build with us. Shouldn't dollar signs be shining in their eyes?

From my experience so far, no one can stick to the cost estimates for long right now. We have a Rothbauer who said that we would only get the price guaranteed for the next four weeks. ‍♀️

In my experience so far, no one can currently stick to the cost estimates for long. We have a Rothbauer who said that we would only get the price guaranteed for the next four weeks. ‍♀

Four weeks is already a long time right now. I even know of one week and then straight into the next increase.

Hasn't it always been the case that there are no eternally long price locks? One week, ok very short, but four weeks has also been partially standard for years, hasn't it?

Isn't it always like this that there are no eternally long price guarantees? One week, okay very short, but four weeks has also been partly standard years ago, hasn’t it?

Unfortunately, I cannot assess that. According to the shell builder, the price guarantee of a maximum of four weeks is rather new. The architect also said once that he would preferably have to go into the detailed planning to get detailed offers. But of course, we did not want to do that.

But wait. The general contractors don’t even know our budget. We say that we have a building plan and are now looking for a general contractor to build with us. Shouldn’t dollar signs be more likely to be seen in their eyes?

Then the GU’s thought processes are a bit different than I described earlier, but the result for you (an unanswered request for a quotation) is the same. One cannot have dollar bills in their eyes while still rolling their eyes. The widespread assumptions of customers about the eagerness of providers when a potential customer comes along are naive. What is overlooked is: on one hand, how much effort it takes to create a qualified offer, but on the other hand, how pointless it is to give a roughly estimated “ballpark figure.” That is why many providers apply a distillation process which proceeds roughly as follows: Step 1) a cold inquiry first receives no response; Step 2) the customer realizes they are not getting any answers and understands they should switch to initiating a dialogue; Step 3) the customer lets a sales consultant guide them through the offer preparation.

When a prospective client requests an offer cold, the provider does not yet know who or what they are dealing with: who = “business people” or “dabblers” / what = offer or comparative offer. They do not yet know whether to woo a serious customer or play kindergarten with an information-gathering novice; likewise, whether the interested party a) is really looking for a provider, b) first wants to familiarize themselves with the price dimensions of their wish, c) already has an offer and wants to check its price-worthiness comparatively, or d) is already ready to sign with a competitor and only wants to provoke them with a comparison offer to finally make them reconsider “is there still something to be done on the price?”

I professionally handle requests for proposals in the capital goods sector (increasingly in construction again nowadays, and for a long time predominantly in another sector)—and never, ever, N-O-T without first introducing myself to providers I deal with for the first time and “getting to know each other.” Providers can already estimate their chances of winning the contract before they even invest the effort to calculate. Preparing offers costs time, and that time is spent by well-paid people and not a little. A construction company or craftsman receiving inquiries from builder Uwe Unknown, builder Karin Client Referral, and architect Dirk Regular Customer, and able to process two but must keep one waiting—which one do you think they will choose?