General contractor yes or no?

We have submitted a building application, the architect has made the drawing. Since we have little knowledge of the subject, we tend to look for a general contractor who will create it for us. The architect believes that one should also look for individual companies for the different trades. How should we proceed?

that is a matter of belief! If you want to award the trades individually, you are dependent on the architect. The advantage is you can build more individually, the disadvantage is that the house will probably be significantly more expensive.

It is different if you take the drawing and look for a general contractor. A GC usually has something "off the shelf" and will probably not agree to these plans.

But why are you putting the cart before the horse?

Such things are clarified before the building application.... Enough money because of building?

Such things are clarified before the building application....

Why? ... Can't a general contractor build a house based on a finished drawing from the architect? We can obtain quotes ourselves. Yes, the money is available.

Why? ... Can't a general contractor build a house based on a finished drawing from the architect? We can get quotes ourselves.

You can't do it yourselves without a bill of quantities, unless you want to really mess up. You need the architect for awarding contracts and construction supervision. You have less stress with a general contractor; if it's nothing special otherwise, that's not a problem.

Depending on the wall construction, the GU's have different wall thicknesses Some only want to sell their catalog houses Structural engineering, hillside location, etc. do not make a 1:1 implementation any easier Some maybe good GUs are already out because the house is not feasible for them.

I would not trust myself to write out offers and compare them myself. I would leave that, just like construction supervision, in experienced hands. In your case, an architect.

But as Hilfe already wrote, the question arises before the building application. At least GU or architect with individual contracts. This way you also get prices or offers before the building application. GUs create more or less finished offers based on the construction specifications, architects estimate or builders obtain offers from the individual trades beforehand.

In my opinion, the individual award should always be done by the architect who also made the plan (and who also supervises the construction)!

We can obtain quotes ourselves.

Since we have little knowledge of the subject matter

That doesn’t add up: with little knowledge of the subject, you pay more lessons learned when obtaining quotes than you would have paid the architect in fees.

We have submitted a building application, the architect made the drawing.

If the architect only made the submission plans for the permit, further involvement will bring little benefit. Building with an architect only really pays off when you also have him make detailed plans (and supervise the construction).

A general contractor mostly has something “off the shelf” and will probably not go along with these plans.

No, they are regularly grateful for approved plans that don’t cause them any more work.

Depending on the wall construction, the general contractors have different wall thicknesses

With a finished approved planning, you have to find the GC suitable for the approved walls. How (total thickness, monolithic or multi-layer or ETICS) are they planned?

We tend to look for a general contractor who will create it for us.

Please don’t have the naive idea that a GC builds the whole house with its own staff. Some are even quasi mailbox companies with only subcontractors except for the construction manager.