Construction costs for a single-family house and the question whether to choose a general contractor or an architect

The building application is done with application plans: these are design plans plus static calculations and drainage plans, but no detail plans. Afterwards, one cannot build, but is only allowed to do so. Anyone who uses the approval plans alone for building will get exactly those drywall orgies that is greeted with every morning in his bathroom and with which Princess has driven us crazy for pages (okay, for the bungalow there are of course no downpipes from the upper floor).

Fortunately, I was still able to prevent that. It would have been really bad if they had gotten away with it. We had the gas outlet relocated to the inside wall of the children's room; for that, the gas vent pipe now runs once along the entire ceiling in the utility room. But that seems to be allowed ;-) Without my intervention and my efforts and suggestions, nothing would have happened, strange that none of the planners had the idea otherwise... or that it was even initially positioned at that exact spot...

Without my efforts and suggestions, nothing would have happened there, strange that none of the planners had thought of this idea before... or that it was initially even positioned at that spot...

Not strange, but logical: the inclusive-sign lackey is supposed to slack off completely. That’s why when looking at the construction plans, he only makes sure that the sanitary subcontractor, the HVAC subcontractor, and the electrical subcontractor don’t get in each other’s way. He doesn’t care about optics, just like when he already only looked at the stamp during the approval planning, just to quickly complete all his vouchers. Anyone who wants to prevent technology from being translated into drywall "decoration" must be as vigilant as a hunting dog. That’s why it’s best to plan and supervise construction with a self-paid architect. Unfortunately, clients are always satisfied if everything looks pretty on the drawings — instead of being alarmed, because nicely looking drawings are an indication that things hidden in slots and under plaster before the Energy Saving Ordinance have not yet been planned. Since the Energy Saving Ordinance and Controlled Residential Ventilation, the client should always ask the planner WHERE all the innards are. Because THEY MUST EXIST somewhere — none of the utilities are beam-transmitted: water, wastewater, supply air, and exhaust air all definitely are not wireless, and only single power cables are satisfied with the plaster layer as a streambed.

Everything is correct... nevertheless, from my own experience I unfortunately cannot confirm the blanket canonization of architects. Nor can I confirm the constant devaluation of so-called 'draft slaves.' In both professions there are very good and very bad examples. And my personal ratio of "bad architect" to "very good draftsperson" is 3 to 1. Moreover, a good architect could also plan appropriate service shafts or doubled walls etc. for a design up to phase 4 and still leave the further details to the executing general contractor. The really major glitches cannot be caught by execution planning if sloppiness already occurred during the design phase.

Be that as it may, no matter how you do it, nowadays as a client you can hardly avoid thinking along and questioning when in doubt.

Whoever absolutely wants to go to the general contractor with the beautiful architectural design (me, for example, because unfortunately I don’t have enough trust in the architect when it comes to budget and schedule) – for them, one option would be to bring the architect on board...

He can check the work planning in the sense of the design and provide advisory support.
Will it work? No idea, I might try it...
GD

nevertheless, I unfortunately cannot confirm the blanket canonization of architects from my own experience. Nor the constant devaluation of so-called 'draftsmen'. In both professions, there are very good and very bad specimens.

I absolutely agree with you. Nevertheless, a draftsman cannot replace an architect – and if architects are used as draftsmen, then unfortunately in the very common case under poorly motivating conditions. Even my "own" architect can be a lazy fellow, but at least I am the direct client and in that sense the "disciplinary superior," whereas the general contractor’s draftsman is an agent for whom I lack the “control.”

Incidentally, a good architect could also plan corresponding supply shafts or doubled walls etc. up to phase 4 in the design and still leave the further details to the executing general contractor. The really big hickeys cannot be caught anymore through execution planning if sloppy work was done during the design phase.

In the plans of phases 3 and 4, such points to think along are not yet incorporated into the notation. Therefore, only the very greatest aces on the violin of saving in the wrong place make the mistake of making the cut at this point and switching to the general contractor and his draftsman – and the one at least relatively better off is the one who plans with the general contractor from the ground up. Because then the draftsman refines a design that also conceptually originated from him, so that he can take the thoughts from the earlier phases into account since they are stored in his own brain. The same risk of loss regarding the points to think along logically also exists where plans "from the internet" or from foreign catalogs are given to him as starting material. Just wrote that once more into the autograph book of all those who show up there with any "ready-made" plans.

He can check the workshop planning in terms of the design and provide advisory support. Does it work? No idea, I might try it ...

Would you maybe ping me via the classic email route sometime? - I would like to personally discuss with you this approach of "looking beyond the limits of the HOAI."