Provision of food for the craftsmen during the construction phase

Good morning,

we are slowly entering the critical phase, our house handover is planned for the end of May. My wife is now wondering how and how often one should provide food for the craftsmen.... We need about 4 months from the house handover to the final transfer, and it’s hardly feasible to bring food every day for 4 months straight.

How did you handle this? How often is reasonable and at which stages of the construction project? And what did you bring then? (The good old liver cheese sandwich is probably no longer so well received)

Thanks, Jörg

Good morning!
We rarely had "normal" food, but very regularly cake. Thanks to relatives, coffee was even possible daily if needed.

Otherwise, we provided soda and water. Beer was very rarely accepted when we offered it (never available).

And yes, everyone we talked to about food said they couldn't stand Leberkäs anymore... (I then rather had sausages).

Wasn't there already a thread about this here!?

Anyway, on the day of the house installation we made sure there was enough food, such as sandwiches, sausages, drinks, etc. The rest of the time we did not provide continuous catering, because on the one hand the craftsmen brought their own food, not everyone eats everything, and also not every (planned or announced) day craftsmen were on site. Therefore, it was not possible to plan whether catering would be useful or not. When we went there and knew there was work going on at the construction site, we sometimes brought sandwiches and cold cuts or cookies. Drinks (water, coffee, after-work beer) were basically always on site; for coffee we provided a coffee machine, which was gladly used. The beer always lasted the longest. But basically, the craftsmen appreciate it when something is provided, but they do not expect it, at least ours do.

It's hard to believe, but the craftsmen get paid for their work and bring their own lunch independently. Or do you go to work without lunch (if there’s no canteen or something)?

During the construction phase, you're rarely there, so naturally, there's nothing. If you participate yourself, you can certainly offer to bring or get something occasionally. Especially something warm for lunch is often appreciated (fries, currywurst, döner, pizza, etc...) if the client has it ready on time for the break.

Otherwise, on weekends it’s certainly nice to somehow let the poor guys who have to work there join in eating.

Special features Winter: Coffee is well received in winter when people have to work in the cold. Summer: Cold drinks are great when the sun is shining fully.

The construction doesn’t get better if you offer stuff. People don’t put in more effort either. It could even be the other way around, as it distracts them from work, but they still only have the same amount of time…

At the construction site, there was ALWAYS: a crate of Flens non-alcoholic, a crate of Selter. Always cake. Every day, 5 a week, 5 months.

I think you don't have to do anything. These are adults who won't forget to eat if you don't serve anything. In developer projects, commercial buildings, etc., there won't be anything either. I consider cake a good snack. Or water in the summer. Someone also once mentioned a fridge on the construction site - I think something like that is worth more than forcing everyone to have lunch.