Turnkey Construction - Exclusion of Trades

Hello dear house building forum,

we would like to build a turnkey (or "ready for painting") single-family house soon and have the first meetings with various general contractors (GU/GÜs) in the next few days.

We are currently considering whether it basically makes sense to exclude certain trades from the contract (typically flooring and painting work) and to contract these individually ourselves.

We expect a cheaper offer price from the individual craft businesses, especially regarding any special requests, as these would not be tied to the GU/GÜ, and we could then turn to another company if offers are overpriced.

On the other hand, I fear that the GU/GÜ might price these trades rather low in the offer and negotiation phase to prevent us from excluding the trade from the contract.

What are your experiences with this? Is it even worthwhile to exclude trades if you cannot do it yourself but still rely on (other) craft companies? As said, the advantage would certainly be not being tied to the GU and thus having certain options.
What do you think?

There is actually no general answer to the question.

Example based on our example:
We partially removed floor coverings because we can install them ourselves.
The gross material price was estimated at €30/m². For 70m² we were reimbursed €4900, which results in an installation price of €40/m². If I were to contract that out separately, I would probably have to pay extra.

Additional requests are billed directly with the respective trade in our case. This means the general contractor does not earn anything from these items. But the same applies here: if I can do it myself, there is potential for savings; if I want to contract it out separately, it will probably be a break-even deal, at best I save a few euros.

Another disadvantage is that you have to take care yourself that the relevant trades have time when you need them.

As mentioned, we only trusted ourselves with part of the floor coverings; we can install these within the required time ourselves.

Our contractor quantified all shortfalls for the trades before the contract. This way, we knew exactly how much would be credited to us. Trades could then be excluded or included up until the execution planning was prepared or until the equipment appointment.

You could also inquire about this before signing the contract.

Edit: We did the electrical work ourselves or are currently doing it, due to the installation of a bus system, and we removed floor coverings because we are doing them ourselves (laminate) or are contracting them out ourselves, as the selection from our construction company was too limited and/or too expensive. In all cases, we are cheaper or roughly cost-neutral.

As a rule, removal is not worthwhile, unless the trade exceeds the capabilities of a general contractor (e.g. bus systems) or your requests are so specific that the prices the general contractor calls for are simply beyond reality. (because he has to buy in the experience)

Additional requests are billed directly with the respective trade in our case. This means the general contractor does not earn anything from these items. But the same applies here: if I can do it myself, there is saving potential; if I want to award it separately, it will probably be a zero invoice, at best I save a few euros.

Okay, I understand that the general contractor then does not earn anything from these special requests if you have the option to bill directly with the trade.

But isn't it then similar to staying with the general contractor, since you are bound to the respective craft business for this specific trade (e.g., electrical installation) and then more or less have to pay the price called by the company (...and not the reasonable market price)?

In general, it sounds to me like removing and awarding electrical / flooring work yourself does not bring much savings, unless you can actually do it yourself?

Say goodbye to saving money, especially in regions like BW where there is practically full employment. Your main contractor has his company to which he provides a solid order situation, he coordinates the trades, and usually the companies already know each other when they build the main contractor's houses. A good main contractor hardly ever or never changes his companies.

If you then want to do a trade alone and mess with the plans, it could end up meaning that the construction takes longer and costs more.

If you expect to get it done cheaper, a craftsman has to be extremely eager to get a house order and offer you a super dumping price. That is a fairy tale in full employment.

And then there's the liability question. If something happens, blame is often shifted around.

Good luck, my personal advice: leave it be.