Prefab house expert - sensible or wasted money?

I am now mainly wondering about two things: 1. Can they assess solid construction just as well as timber frame construction? 2. How open-ended is the evaluation, since I have the impression that they specialize in timber frame construction.

Unfortunately, I cannot answer either question, as it was decided from the start that we would build a prefabricated house. Perhaps someone else knows more.

If someone already calls themselves a prefabricated house expert, I would only hire them for prefabricated houses and not for solid construction. I also wouldn’t get the Microsoft consultant to set up a Linux server for me ;)

I am now wondering about two things in particular: 1. Can they examine solid construction just as well as timber frame construction? 2. How open-ended is the assessment, because I have the impression that they have specialized in timber frame construction.

Stone and wood frame panel houses differ quite fundamentally, but in terms of construction service description, contract design and the like, basically not at all. So for 1. I expect a clear "yes". I do not understand the specialization here as a commitment/preference, but simply as a consequence of the fundamental differences. You do not sensibly specialize in ophthalmology and orthopedics at the same time. So I do not expect in 2. a politically missionizing vegan who preaches hatred against meat houses or who wears blinkers. I do not take a truck or bus to the car repair shop, c’est tout. I therefore advise you not to enlist a declared "prefabricated house expert" for the question of which provider of both construction methods you should choose; but only to involve him once you have made the decision for the construction method. Then he will be able to be useful to you for the further selection process between Fertighaus Müller and Fertighaus Meier; or regarding solid construction Huber and solid construction Schmitz you can then only need him for the construction service description and contract review.

If someone already calls themselves a prefabricated house expert, I would only book them for prefabricated houses and not for solid construction.

So far, I assumed that a prefabricated house expert comes from the (key) prefabricated house and simply purchases a larger percentage of houses made of wood than of stone.

So I advise you not to involve a declared "prefabricated house expert" in the question of which provider of both construction methods you should choose; but only to involve him once you have made the decision for the construction method. Then he can be useful to you for the further selection process between Prefabricated House Müller and Prefabricated House Meier; or regarding Solid Construction Huber and Solid Construction Schmitz, you can only use him then for the construction service description and contract review.

Thanks for the tip. The five companies we selected were chosen based on regionality, reputation, and size or smallness. The wall structure is therefore relatively unimportant to me; my wife leans more towards a stone house. I'll be curious to see if we can already decide on stone or wood after the initial talks. I'm quite skeptical about that.

The colloquial term "Fertighaus" is a "prefabricated house" that is usually built using timber frame construction. There are also other types of prefabrication such as room modules, but I believe those are more of a niche. Turnkey is simply a construction stage and the often futile desire of the builder for an all-inclusive package, but it has nothing to do with the construction method.

The "prefabricated" house actually means a "preassembled house" in the sense that its walls are prefabricated as panels in a factory hall and only "erected" on the construction site. These are also available made of bricks, expanded clay or other "stone" materials, but often made of constructions colloquially but technically incorrectly called "woodstud walls," which are actually woodframe panels.

The five companies we selected were chosen based on regionality, reputation, and size or smallness.

That already sounds like a recommendable approach. I am curious about your selection process.