Possibilities or possible types of building

Good day,

since we unfortunately have to abandon our previous plans to build a timber-framed house with a company that handles everything from drawings to application submissions, we are now wondering what other ways there are to build a house.

Here in the area, almost no one builds turnkey. Most have a drawing created by an architect and then contract individual trades.

This happens even with the simplest single-family homes. Do these people then always conclude a complete architect contract, or are there also partial services?

If you have a floor plan drawn by the architect and then contract a company that builds turnkey, what do you have to pay an architect?

Or is an architect even necessary, or are there alternatives?

We currently do not know how to approach the whole topic. So far, we have only dealt with companies that offer the complete package and basically offer a fixed price for everything in the end.

Is it possible to agree on a cost cap with an architect?

We would be very pleased to receive some information.

Persons authorized to submit plans can certainly also be, for example, carpenters. The less planning knowledge one has, the more a freelance architect is recommended, since the application document draftsmen of the general contractors are not good at advising the lay client against clumsiness, provided these are basically approvable. Their task is only to get the construction started so that the construction company can earn its money.

The HOAI (Fee Structure for Architects and Engineers) divides the architect’s services into phases, which can also be "booked" individually. It also specifies fee rates, which in practice are often agreed upon at lower rates. I would always assign an architect the detailed planning and site supervision after the design phase.

And I would always have the architect carry out the tendering as well. Reasonably, one should at least not exclude the possibility that a bidder offers to carry out the entire project, i.e., as a "general contractor" offering all trades and performing the majority with their own personnel.

What has become of your preference for a half-timbered house, or what remains of it? – best you imagine that here, fill out the questionnaire (at the top of the floor plan section), and explain your priorities. Regarding the topic of “floor plan procurement,” we also see it best to proceed only afterwards.