Tendering individual trades by architects: expensive?

Anyone who sprays the shot with a watering can during tenders will soon have a problem with their reputation as a serious partner.

In the mentioned example, that does not apply to the architect. I would do exactly the same. The companies can think whatever they want.

The feeling is that the price requests from the suppliers are alarmingly high – for example, the roofer’s offer is about 40% above the architect’s calculation assumption. Yes, we are aware of the current development of building material prices.

I share the opinion of the previous writer that the architect has poorly estimated and apparently the market development

Would you simultaneously obtain offers from general contractors?

No.

A craftsman once said that he doesn’t make money by writing offers

He probably didn’t understand it and/or simply can’t do better.

There is truth in both statements. As a craftsman, it is worthwhile to consider for whom you write an offer and for whom you do not. How much time do I invest and what are my chances of success? If a tender is poorly made, obviously sent to many participants, and it is even clear that one cannot meet the expected scope, then it is better to decline participation – or, less well but pragmatically, simply ignore it.

Of course, it is good if you take care of it yourself. We proceeded as follows: The architect described the service to be offered. We selected the craft companies with his support. First, we looked at who we actually wanted to work with, then requested an offer. Then we chose. Of course, we wanted a fair price, but the security of good execution was more important to us – and here we trusted our gut feeling and our experience.

There is truth in both statements. It is worthwhile for a craftsman to consider who to write an offer for and who not to. How much time do I invest and what are my chances of success? If a tender is poorly done, obviously goes to many participants, and it is even clear that one cannot meet the expected standard, then it is better to decline participation – or, less well but pragmatically, simply ignore it.

Absolutely right. It makes sense and is his good right to weigh this up here. However, the blanket statement made by the craftsman implies that he would not value much, if at all, submitting "a proper offer." It may be that his statistics still work out and he is satisfied. But I claim that he would still earn more money with (proper) offers than without. At least, such an offer would be more likely to win me as a customer. Exceptions prove the rule.

I also proceeded in two stages - having lost my GÜ-Sanis. First, I checked who was even available, then informally contacted them with a rough description of what it was about and whether there was any interest and capacity, and for those who showed interest, I then sent out the tender with a request for an offer. In the end, I had three genuine offers. In the first step, I had contacted well over 10, closer to 20. The winner was the one who from the start expressed his interest but at the same time honestly warned that it could take longer timewise, but then was very committed. Coincidentally also the cheapest, which was just the cherry on the cake. If the price had been the same as the next one, I would still have chosen him because he simply addressed my wishes and fears the most. That he is also in future proximity was the cream, which the third competitor shared with him as well, but he was the least committed and the most expensive... So my recommendation would be to proceed like this, because this way you don't make so much effort at first and you already filter out those who basically are into the project. Then send the proper specifications from the architect only to the interested parties or even - if many respond - only to those who triggered the best gut feeling in the first contact.

A craftsman once said that he doesn’t make money by writing offers

He obviously didn’t understand it and/or simply isn’t any better at it.

I claim, however, that he would still earn more money with (proper) offers than without.

This craftsman is absolutely right, but his insight is intellectually imprecise in a manner appropriate to craftsmen. Writing proper offers takes time from qualified personnel and thus also costs a lot of money. Not every craftsman is trained to recognize whether the request for an offer comes from a serious interested party or from a dimwit who simply collects offers or wants to organize a parade from his throne as King Customer, where the contractor worms come whining for his favor with discount prices. But every craftsman has to keep his business running, and he doesn’t do that with people of the latter sort. Some craftsmen respond in the same quality that the inquiry was made; others always respond in a qualified manner but simply do not respond at all to unknown inquirers in case of doubt. I can only recommend every builder to approach the craftsmen personally. Cold inquiries (emailing a PDF with one sentence of drawings and expecting someone to respond with a detailed offer) are rubbish – but the kind of rubbish that yields nothing.

For almost thirty years, obtaining offers has been part of my business. My projects are scattered nationwide and I always address providers from the region of the respective delivery and performance locations. Therefore, I regularly deal with some bidders for the first time (or only after a multi-year interval). I would never be so stupid as to save money by not letting myself be briefly "sniffed out" personally. Good providers like to work for good customers and leave the discount offer collectors to the desperate. People who consider it coincidence that doesn’t have a “butcher’s house” cannot be helped anymore ;-)

In the given example, that doesn’t apply to the architect. I would do exactly the same. The companies can think whatever they want.

Actually: I was talking about the case where the builder and the architect together address an unreasonable number of bidders. They know each other, notice this, then definitely count the builder as part of the architect and in the future will only serve this architect if they would otherwise have idle time.

Appreciation and loyalty are not one-way streets. Whoever can’t or doesn’t want to remember this makes things unnecessarily difficult for themselves – even if they do not realize it and learn nothing from it.