House Planning - Comparison of Services

We have given it some thought and want to incorporate as much in-house work as possible.
We only need the planning at a fair price.

We would only take on the planning and the site manager services.

I did not understand what you want. There are two offers with very different scopes of services. They are not comparable. Being able to recognize and categorize this would be an excellent prerequisite to be capable of taking on site manager services – that is exactly where you need a lot of expertise. I see challenges coming your way if you want to provide this service yourself.

I did not understand what you want. There are two offers with very different scopes of services. Not comparable. Recognizing and being able to classify that would be a great prerequisite to be able to take on construction manager services - exactly there you need a lot of expertise. I see challenges coming your way if you want to provide this service yourself.

it seems that I used the wrong words. my German is not perfect. if I commission the architect, I would let him plan the house as usual and also give him the assignment as construction manager; all other services of the architect we would do ourselves. if I accept the offer from Argisol, I still have to pay the architect there as construction manager.

Your house will not become cheaper by striking out items from offers that you believe you do not need. Furthermore, you have a large number of misconceptions about how the whole thing works. The architect has merely broken down some items of his offer for you. This is not equivalent to being able to strike out any of them. He only offered you 1 to 9 or 1 to 4. Therefore, you cannot simply put together "1 to 4 and then only 8." Besides, his fee offer will not apply if you specify the construction system. You should never choose an architect for a house made from his formwork stone system who is not specifically accustomed to it. In general, I can only recommend formwork stone houses as a turnkey option: these systems have specific characteristics that require craftsmen experienced with these systems. Additionally, you will have difficulty with the tendering of craftsman services because craftsmen either do not dare to tackle it at all or charge extra for the additional effort required due to the specifics of the systems. Keep in mind that you must necessarily contract some trades to specialist companies: for example, electrical and heating systems may not be put into operation by a layperson in Germany.

What the kit manufacturer offers you as so-called planning is only a permit planning (on the condition that you accept at most the third revision of the single design!) and subsequent work planning, starting with converting the house plans into stone piece lists. You cannot combine an architect's design (service phases 1-4) with detailed planning (service phase 5) by the kit manufacturer!

In particular, with the search terms "Neopor" or "formwork stone," you will find some posts related to this topic here. Additionally, Google will surely lead you to "Caution with formwork stones - risk of bursting!" which I was inspired to mention by a post in this forum. An alternative for self-builders of the shell who want significantly better compatibility with subcontracted finishing trades would be a kit from an aerated concrete manufacturer.

Your house will not become cheaper by striking out items from offers that you think you do not need. Besides, you have a lot of misconceptions about how the whole thing works. The architect has only broken down some positions in his offer for you. This is not equivalent to being able to strike out any of them. He only offered you 1 to 9 or 1 to 4. So you cannot put together "1 to 4 and then only 8." Furthermore, his fee offer will not apply if you dictate the construction system. You should never take an architect for a house from his formwork block system who is not specifically familiar with it. In general, I can only recommend formwork block houses as a turnkey variant: these systems have specifics that require craftsmen who are accustomed to these systems. Additionally, you will have difficulty with the tendering of the craftsman services because craftsmen will either not dare to tackle it at all or will charge extra for the additional effort caused by the specifics of the systems. Keep in mind that you must necessarily assign some trades to specialist companies: for example, in Germany, you as a layperson are not allowed to commission electrical and heating systems yourself.

What the kit manufacturer offers you as so-called planning is only a permit planning (on the condition that you have to accept a maximum of the third change of the only draft!) and subsequent detailed planning, beginning with the conversion of the house plans into stone piece lists. You cannot combine an architect's design (performance phases 1-4) with a detailed planning (performance phase 5) of the kit manufacturer!

In particular, with the search word "Neopor" or also "formwork block" you will find some posts here on this topic complex. Additionally, Google will surely lead you to "Caution with formwork blocks - bursting hazard!" which was triggered by a post in this forum. An alternative for DIY shell builders that is significantly more compatible with outsourced finishing trades would be a kit from an aerated concrete manufacturer.

Thank you very much for your feedback. I am aware of the risks associated with the construction systems. We have also looked at aireatedconcrete, but the company’s service in our area was too unfriendly. A friend of ours has just finished his house and they did it exactly the way we are trying, and they saved an enormous amount of money. The only problem is that they had it planned by an architect near them and that is very far away, so we wanted to commission an architect from our area to plan the house. I have now arranged a meeting with their architect.

A friend of ours has just finished his house and they did it exactly the way we are trying to, and they saved an enormous amount of money. The only problem is that they had it designed by an architect near them, and that is very far, so we wanted to hire an architect from our area to plan the house. I have now arranged a meeting with their architect.

If I understand correctly, the friend has an architect who specifically designed the house for him using a certain formwork block system and is familiar with it? - then I would recommend using the same formwork block system with this architect. Actually, I would also use the same craftsmen, but due to the distance, that probably doesn't make sense here.

If I understand correctly, the friend has an architect who specifically planned the house for him using a certain formwork stone system and is familiar with it? - then I would recommend using the same formwork stone system with this architect. Actually, I would also take the same craftsmen, but due to the distance, that probably doesn't make sense here.

We have decided on that, but the architect is 350 km away from the construction site, which could be a challenge.