Recommendation of construction company for solid city villa in Erftstadt near Cologne

There lies the main advantage of the self-commissioned architect, not in the floor plan drawing, even if clients are pathologically erotically fixated on this small excerpt of architectural activity.

Yes, I never had that on my radar. For me, an architect was someone you can tell what you want/desire. He turns it into something feasible, submits everything to the building authority, finishes it, and then you proceed with the building permit to a construction company that then converts these preliminary activities into stone/wood :D

Because of the anchoring effect of the first impression, it would have been wiser to get an overview from someone who does not want to sell you any construction service. That means first going to a non-sales building consultant (I actually see an architect as the "first choice" here). By the way, I repeatedly miss any signs that you have looked beyond your own thread and browsed in the threads of other prospective builders – I have given you several keywords for the forum search. The answers to your most burning questions have all been given here repeatedly over the last three months. If I were you, I would have called me a long time ago – have you at least looked into the house construction roadmap?

So I'm looking forward to the architect. And something else regarding your previously mentioned search terms. I'm doing something wrong there, no matter what I enter I get hits where you had given other naive prospective builders the same search terms. Sorry

Who you will build with, you shouldn’t want to decide yet, because essential basics are still missing. Before performance phase 6, it’s not even clear who might be suitable for that. I strongly recommend: "Get rid of impatience – bring in competence!". For going to a general contractor (GC) without an architect there is a folk saying: "only the very dumbest calves choose their butchers themselves". Free yourself from the naive notion that building a house is a four-point program (floor plan – price – signature – moving date) – that would be utterly wrong!

Okay, I’ll keep that in mind and still don’t know who I want to build with :)

Where you should start is by entering the terms I briefly mentioned again for you in post #15 into the forum search. Then you’ll have reading material for the whole rest of the week, and afterward, you will never again be an easy victim for construction companies, but an informed potential client. And ideally, before the architect introduction meeting, you should have read at least two episodes of the house construction roadmap, namely the first ("A house construction roadmap, also for you: the HOAI phase model!") and the latest: ("House construction roadmap reloaded: a valuable active break"). Approaching construction companies directly about smart home is like asking your wife in the first dance lesson which names she would like for your children. Construction companies like it when someone goes in like Blücher. But that can also make you quite poor. How a general contractor’s business works, I can gladly explain to you quickly on the phone (or you can read the article that is supposed to come out in February, which would still be early enough). The named ones are definitely full general contractors, and you should let them remain so.

Since I’m not handling the forum search well as mentioned above, I will scroll through all posts.

Oh, that’s going to be athletic, given how you have so far neglected your homework. Then read your ears off now ;-)

You encourage me.

I assume so.

Thanks

Tell me, where does your urge to build come from: did you buy the plot a long time ago with a construction obligation, and now have to proceed quickly with the first groundbreaking, otherwise it would have to be given back?
Whoever “finds the fellow builder with shared heart among the crowd” you can already have read here many times in the last ten weeks alone. I even want to say that currently you hardly need to scroll back more than four weeks.

So the urge to build comes from knowing that exactly in 2 years and some days, on 01.01.2026, I will work 160 km farther away. Since I cannot commute that distance, the urge to "hopefully" live there before that day.

So you will call the building authority before the architect appointment on Wednesday to check whether it is really a §34 area. Two-story buildings would only be no problem if there were already some there.

So the urge to build comes from the fact that I know that in exactly 2 years and a few days, on 01.01.2026, I will be working 160 km further away. Since I can’t commute that distance, the urge is to "hopefully" live there before that day.

Yes, I never had that on my radar. For me, an architect is someone you tell what you want/wish, who turns it into something feasible, submits everything to the building authority, prepares it, and then with the building permit you go to a construction company, which then turns these preliminary activities into stone/wood.

So I’m looking forward to the architect. And one more thing about the search terms you mentioned earlier. Somehow I’m doing something wrong, no matter what I enter I get hits where you gave the same search terms to other naive prospective builders. Sorry.

Do you mean calling you, correctly by phone? Do I have your number?