Timeline house planning

We had consciously decided that we wanted to make a combination of floor plans from model house catalogs. You don’t need an architect for that.

Even if you don’t want to build an individual floor plan – although it doesn’t really matter whether it is composed from your own imagination or from "existing" templates – in Germany you need an architect to obtain the building permit planning alone.

The problem probably lies in the fact that the architect is often perceived only as a floor plan drawer. If that were really all he earned his fee for, he would indeed be overpaid.

But apart from the fact that the fee can also be freely agreed upon, the architect does much more. Among other things: saving money. Simply because he knows his insiders. Organizing tenders is not advisable for beginners. By the third house you know the tricks, but most home builders only build one. And coordinating the construction participants also requires a lot of luck without practice.

So you do need an architect, and best to take one yourself. Then you are the client. No architect becomes more expensive just because you pay him transparently yourself – or conversely: cheaper just because his fee is hidden in a house price. With the architect of the house provider, you are more like "victim" than client, because his bread and butter is the house provider – with interests differing from those of the builder.

: who took care of combining and submitting your "combination" of the floor plan templates (ready for building application), and what did you pay for it? – and: how much did you have to spend on hourly work?

Ideally, the process is as follows: You look through catalogs, talk to various sellers of the house providers (quite difficult, since they are selling and don't necessarily want to advise), and once you have your floor plan together, you get a price from 3 preferred providers. Ideally, before signing a contract, you also talk to an excavation contractor regarding the earthworks. After that, you take the offer that suits you best, add the excavation costs as well as 30% of the fixed price as incidental costs. If your budget is still not exhausted then, you can sign and get started.