General contractor - What criteria for choosing one?

Hello everyone,

we are facing the final negotiations for our construction project.
There are 2 GUs left.

GU1: 2 site managers, 1 draftsman, 14 bricklayers, 20 years on the market, 30 houses per year

GU2: 2 graduate architects, 1 civil engineer, 20 years on the market, 15 houses per year, all construction services outsourced to experienced companies

GU1 is about 2k EUR cheaper with the same scope.
GU2 placed a lot of value on details in planning and had very helpful tips.

Recommendations:
GU1: visited 2 houses, positive
GU2: visited 1 house, positive, recommendation from the expert

GU1 might possibly give about 5k EUR discount based on experience.
GU2 has already indicated that at the price of 290 kEUR a maximum discount of 1.5 kEUR is possible, as they calculate very tightly.
GU2 is very transparent regarding subcontractor lists etc.

Our favorite is still GU2.

Now the point:
At GU2, due to health reasons, the civil engineer will be absent for the next period, i.e. 33 percent less work capacity in the company.

Which criteria did you consider when choosing your GU?

Where are you building in Lower Saxony? Gö-Ecke?

Bremen Surrounding Area

I would decide based on the offer, the breakdown, and the transparency. Where do I have the most security and clarity about what I am signing. Lastly, still gut feeling ..

I step out briefly from my [11antenhaus] and ask my colleague Infinite Monkey over the garden fence: he sends you word that you should let the dice decide, as the result quality of this oracle is equivalent to that of more complex procedures.

At first, that may sound like a silly saying, but: according to the facts described, the two candidates look almost evenly matched "on the whole." Now you just have to have omitted a tiny detail from us - not out of malice, perhaps some parametrically hard-to-grasp point - and already we would, in good conscience, advise you with a 50:50 chance exactly the wrong choice.

And that is why your gut feeling will have the same hit rate as (almost) any well-founded advice. Unfortunately, a remedy against the residual risk has not yet been invented ;-)

I step out of my 11th-floor apartment briefly and ask my colleague Infinite Monkey over the garden fence: he sends you a message that you should let the dice decide, the result quality of this oracle being equivalent to that of more complex procedures.

That may initially sound like a stupid saying, but: based on the described facts, the two candidates "in total" look almost equally matched. Now you just have to have omitted a tiny detail from us— not out of malice, maybe some parametrically hard-to-grasp point— and already we would, in good conscience, give you exactly the wrong advice with a 50:50 chance.

And that is why your gut feeling will have the same success rate as (almost) any well-founded advice. Unfortunately, a remedy against this residual risk has not yet been invented ;-)

I see it exactly the same way here. They seem to be equally matched. For me, in that case, even €2000 would not be decisive. Rather other factors—and in that, the gut feeling (with equivalent providers) is certainly not to be neglected.

If the decision is difficult for you, you can also flip a coin....