Earthworks: Making the right choice of provider

take the cheap one and keep the 25k in the back of your mind or 10k in reserve.

The cheap one is only cheap because it calculated less quantities. Not because it is cheaper in itself.

Then it is not cheap. 100g Jagdwurst at 1.19 is more expensive than 200g at 2.20.

Normal procedure:

Create a table, enter individual items, enter estimated quantities (the architect can help here), unit price from the suppliers and total price (quantities x unit price). Check the reputation of the suppliers.

Choose the supplier who is the cheapest in the total price (with the same quantities) and has a good reputation. Negotiate an additional 2% discount and 3% cash discount.

Take photos on the construction site every evening. Measure the excavation with a tape measure. For the invoice, a reasonable supplier will provide you with an extract of their quantity calculation. Compare this with the measured dimensions and photos. In case of uncertainties, visit the site to have it explained or point out errors.

The cheap one is only cheap because it calculated smaller quantities. Not because it is cheaper in itself.

I agree with you, however, these 10k savings probably entice the OP.

It is what it is, the 15k is initially anchored in the mind and somehow the benchmark.

We received an offer with an item list from our GU and his partner civil engineer. A local civil engineer asked for the same list, of course blacked out and without prices. He wrote his prices on it and I compared. It was interesting that large individual items, like manholes, were more expensive with the local provider, but the quantity-dependent items (per kg or per cubic meter) were cheaper. And so I decided on this one. That was of course convenient with the local civil engineer.

So do it as HilfeHilfe said. The cheaper one must of course be the one cheaper per unit. Not considering the calculated quantity. That would make no sense.

Thank you for the tips!

I have now meticulously "standardized" the two offers and compared the items against each other as far as possible, and surprisingly, both are almost equally expensive when applying the same measurements to both. One loses on the gravel, the other on removal, etc. In this respect, they are quite similar ...