Outdoor facility: hire the general contractor or individual trades?

Hello everyone,

we are in the final planning phase. It will be a semi-detached house on a flat rectangular plot. We are building turnkey with a general contractor. The question currently is what to commission from the general contractor regarding outdoor facilities and what to handle later with separate providers. The thought is: construction start is only in 12 months – no one knows what will happen with prices by then, they are currently exploding. If we reserve the current price with the general contractor now (even if it is a bit more expensive), it will be cheaper than hiring the craftsmen later? And then it would be better to have things like foundations done right away by a groundworker together with the basement, otherwise there is extra effort with technology and merging with the house. We would include a concrete slab for the garage, a foundation for the entrance platform as well as the platform and paving work at the entrance/garage, possibly also the terrace. Is there anything else? How was it for you? Thanks for your answers!

Best regards Nils

In the current situation, focus on the house, if the house is finished and there is still € left, you can still have paths, terrace, garage, fence system done and commissioned at short notice. Keep the extra buffer of € in reserve.

We have reserved €25,000 for outdoor facilities in the financing. Of this, we have already commissioned externally:
- Fence including electric gate, mailbox, number.
- Right side fence to the neighbor (73m; double rod panels)
- Terrace approx. 45 sqm

We will then pay for the driveway from the equity.

These were the most important points for us. We will tackle the paving and the garden once the house is standing and we know how much money is left over. This will probably be the case in September :cool:

Hello everyone,

we are in the final planning phase. It will be a semi-detached house on a flat rectangular plot.
We are building a ready-to-move-in house with a general contractor.
The question currently is what exterior work to commission from the GC and what later through separate providers.
The thoughts are: the start of construction is only in 12 months – no one knows what will happen with prices until then, they are currently exploding. If we now reserve the current price with the GC (even if it is a bit more expensive), it will be cheaper than commissioning the craftsmen later? And then better to have things like foundations done right away by a civil engineer together with the basement, otherwise there will be extra effort with technology and merging with the house.
We would include a base slab for the garage, a foundation for the entrance platform as well as the platform and paving work at the entrance/garage, possibly also the terrace. Is there anything else?
How was it for you?
Thanks for your answers!

Best regards
Nils

Well, I would currently have it done by the GC right away. We had it done that way and it worked out well. The pavers and landscapers here are really unreliable and extremely booked up. In the end, it was rather not more expensive.
What else is missing I can hardly judge... But if the guys are there anyway, you can also arrange some things on site. Possibly filling soil in the garden and leveling? Foundation for a little shed, digging and connecting some pipes etc.