House Building Prices: Architect vs. Developer

but you also know that almost everyone means the construction contractor (general contractor) when they say developer.

the cheap way is always the one where you can do something yourself (or know someone). if you know an architect who does the work for free, a contractor can't be cheaper. if I am a craftsman and know many people from various trades who do the work at a fraction of the cost, a contractor can't be cheaper.
a contractor is for people who want a finished house without being construction experts. at the end, painting or throwing a few LAN cables into the house is not what is meant by "craftsmen and cheaper"...

to the thread creator: if you are from the construction field and know people for some expensive trades and get material cheaply, the architect is very likely cheaper.

the calculated costs of individual trades with the contractor are almost always ridiculously low when removed. very often only the net value is deducted, although it is paid gross. most contractors don’t want you to cut out the trades. that's why they make it unattractive. there are some where it works better, but then they don't have standard companies for their trades, which is also not particularly great. (not well coordinated)

you also know that almost everyone means the construction contractor (general contractor) when they say developer.

...)

My knowledge that TE means GC instead of DE does not change the fact that the error should be corrected for TE as well as for other users.

the calculated costs of individual trades in the BU are almost always ridiculously low when they are removed, by the way. very often only the net amount is deducted, although the payment is made gross. most BUs don't even want you to remove the trades. that's why they make it unattractive. there are some where it works better, but they don't have standard companies for their trades either, which is not particularly great. (not coordinated)

I find it understandable that the BU tries to prevent too many trades from being removed. They only have trouble with that, because possibly self-performed work that is not completed on time delays the entire construction progress, possibly also disputes arise in warranty issues, etc. If, for example, the expensive wooden staircase is scratched due to self-performed work and the client blames other craftsmen for it, the contractor has the trouble at handover. In individual contracts, however, each job is accepted separately. What happens afterwards no longer concerns the company.

For example, I removed the interior doors and was credited €4,400. For about the same amount, I would receive the same service including installation from a local craft company. I found that quite fair. For sanitary fixtures, on the other hand, I was only credited the "value" of the objects; assembly effort was not taken into account. Nevertheless, it was still very worthwhile for us.

Unfortunately, you can't say that in general. Basically, I have the feeling that many think they save the costs for the architect by using a [GÜ], but the [GÜ] also needs an architect. If someone wants to build very cheaply, they can certainly save money by buying "a house off the shelf" from the [GÜ] or a prefabricated house manufacturer. Certain planning costs can certainly be distributed among several home builders here. But as soon as it comes to customization, it doesn't matter. The argument that the [GÜ] gives larger volumes of orders to craftsmen is certainly true, but I don't believe that makes the whole thing cheaper. This is because, on the one hand, the [GÜ] also adds a profit margin to these trades and, in addition, must also cover the risk (warranty, defects, etc.). I don't believe in savings here. If you take such trades out of the contract and want to do them yourself, I have the feeling that the actual value is not credited properly, so this often is not worthwhile. Especially for people who are skilled in crafts and do a lot themselves, I believe that individual contracting is the more worthwhile decision. A good friend saved about 100,000€ compared to the [GÜ] offer when building with individual contracting. However, this cannot be generalized. Maybe the [GÜ] was also heavily booked and the counter offer, who knows.

Ultimately, you would probably have to build the same house twice to know which variant would have been cheaper. Maybe it also depends on negotiation skills and how busy the general contractor [GU] is. We had several offers from [GU]s for a comparable house and estimates from two architects. The [GU]s did not differ much ±10,000.- €, the architects’ estimates were significantly more expensive and that without any guarantee that the price could not be even higher... For this reason, the decision was not too difficult. In our case, it may be worth mentioning that the company makes most of its revenue as a building material dealer and, according to their statement, supplies half of all companies in the region. Therefore, they can probably offer better prices again due to the purchasing conditions for the materials.