Order tiles now or only when needed?

Hello inflation-hit builders! :(

I would like to know your opinion, I’m not sure if I am seeing this too simply:

- Our construction (if everything stays the same) will start in September
- It will be built with a general contractor (GU)
- The fittings like tiles, floor coverings, fixtures, ... are calculated with amount X, we will then choose the corresponding ones. If we stay under, that’s good - if we go over, we have to save somewhere else (it is a local GU, but this approach is okay for me and actually desired).
- Financing is already signed, on the left there is a "large" pile of money that is basically losing value all the time :)

My question now regarding the current unclear "inflation situation":
Would you, as soon as the groundbreaking is done, buy and have the tiles, floor coverings, fixtures, etc. delivered immediately (and pay accordingly), assuming you have some space in the garage?
Or would you postpone it until the time when it arrives just in time but as late as possible?

My assessment would actually be: As soon as the groundbreaking is done, I order everything that could possibly cause variable costs and stockpile it in the (large) garage... Am I thinking correctly or too simply? :)

Thank you all very much,
best regards
Rüdiger

Have ordered everything that is not easily available in larger quantities or especially directly after the start of construction. Mainly floor coverings / sanitary equipment... It was less about price increases and more about avoiding that something is not there by the required date... now we have everything here (some things had a 6-7 week lead time and if you have the space... why not)

My assessment would actually be: As soon as the groundbreaking is done, I order everything that could possibly incur variable costs and store it in the (large) garage... Am I thinking correctly or too simply? :)

Based on my experience over the past approximately 3 weeks (so quite recent), I recommend this approach. Regarding bathroom fixtures and much more, I monitored the indicated delivery times and availability on the suppliers’ websites for my desired items for several months and, among other reasons, also delayed ordering. However, I did not consider that many suppliers nowadays only state the delivery time on their websites that they need to ship the goods from their own logistics center in Germany to me as a customer in Germany. (This is vaguely and hiddenly indicated somewhere, but not very clearly and understandably.) So usually only a few days of delivery time. At first this sounds really good. :) But! After ordering/paying, you then find out that the goods will only arrive in 2-4 months because the time the manufacturer needs to produce the goods and the time until they send the goods to your supplier is not taken into account. The delivery time information for the end customer is thus partly worthless, since the postal and shipping transit times within Germany are often well known anyway.

How far is your storage location from the construction site and how do the items get to the construction site? Don’t underestimate how much material accumulates and what all of it weighs.

From my own experience, I would buy whatever is possible. For us, certain tiles suddenly became unavailable because they changed the range. And it doesn’t get any cheaper. From my point of view, there is no reason not to do it this way. If the construction site and garage are not too far apart, you can always take it with the car once the shell is finished and the windows are installed.

Are you sure that you are supposed to order the materials yourself when this is actually included in the [GU] service? I know it as the [GU] or their trade partner acting as the purchaser.

For example, with the tiles it was like this for us: - We have tiles for price X in the construction service description from the [GU]. - Then we chose tiles at a building materials supplier. The building materials supplier sends an offer to the tiler from the [GU]. - The tiler calculates possible additional costs and sends us the offer for the additional costs. - We give the tiler our okay and he orders the tiles. - The tiles are stored at the building materials supplier until they are needed.