Very first floor plan draft of the ground floor

To Alex, we compared, but more regionally, the big ones were quickly out because either too expensive or felt not kosher. Sloppiness exists everywhere. But what 11ant said was something different. He said, take an architect, otherwise they'll cheat you. And I say, quite seriously, no, cheating by company owners you know personally is very unlikely. You can talk about botched work and get rid of it among reasonable people. But it's not worth making a movie about a three mm scratch on the door handle. You recognize botched work if you occasionally inspect the construction site with an acquaintance who is an expert. Even a layman sees obvious botched work. When drywall panels warp and the ceiling looks like a mountain range, you don't have to be an architect to notice that. Then you don't talk right away to the old man, but first to the foreman and say, guys, you are professionals, and this is not your level here. Please, I will not pay like this. Do the room again. My experience is, it works this way. Karsten

But I am not Alex [emoji6]

That’s a completely different matter. As I said above, you obviously have to compare and also get other offers. But basically, I prefer to have someone there whose work I know, rather than a complete stranger.

Basically yes, but do you really know everyone’s work just because you know them? Village gossip is always a tricky thing. It doesn’t matter to me whether I sat in the same school class with them or how many beers we drank together. More important is if, for example, the architect says they try to charge for every little deviation expensively or if they let things slide. How punctual appointments are kept, etc.

So without regular construction supervision, a lot of botched work can be slipped in regardless of whether you have known the company's boss for 20 years or not. Because usually he doesn't build himself, but his employees do. It's not about the crooked drywall panel, that doesn't matter. It's about faulty sealing, saved rebar in the reinforcement, etc... And of course, when problems arise, you first talk to the foreman, and if the ceiling is poured properly, there will be a snack and beer. By the way, we have found that much cleaner work is done if you simply stop by every day, ask a few questions, and document well.

But what 11ant said was something else. He said, take an architect, otherwise they'll rip you off. And here I say, very seriously, no, getting ripped off by company owners you personally know is very unlikely.

And here I say, you are right about that. But I didn’t refer (only) to the construction management. Rather: when the layman says,

of course you have to compare and also get other offers.

then he usually makes a typical layman tender, which the bidder immediately recognizes as such and mostly takes advantage of (maybe unless you are in the same choir or the same fire brigade).

It works like this for example: The builder sends craftsmen his approved plans, writes down what he wants.

Craftsmen write back: "Offer". At the bottom total price, in between blabla what exactly is offered. Window number of panes profile thickness U-value. The small AD or MD is hardly noticed. Descriptions of services in the response are often changed. "Proper", "according to DIN", "bleached", "oiled" – some differences the layman cannot classify. "Frostproof", "diffusion open", "Class XYZ". Was "or equivalent" correctly interpreted? – there the bidder can leverage the advantage, and he knows that.

Or, as said, the topic "time and material hours":

More important is if the architect, for example, says he tries to charge every little deviation expensively or just lets things slide.

"I had to fiddle longer than expected, my predecessor finished his trade sloppily". Laymen can be fooled quickly. How much does it cost alone to omit the note that the measurements on site need to be checked (?)

In the drawings, dimensions are given to half a cm "accurately" – the builder often confuses that with manufacturing accuracy. Or tolerances, when something is too crooked or the like. The supposedly relevant DIN (or unfortunately just its cousin from the same series) is quickly googled (and misinterpreted).

(Professional) experience cannot be replaced here. With three decades (and a nearly finished house now and a previously long-lived-in one before!) more life experience, as Karsten has over the OP, of course, that relativizes things. But first, you have to be at that stage.

Nana, don't make a construction expert out of me. I manage properties and land that is leased to farmers. The land requires little work, the properties need to be maintained, preserved, renovated or also sold or newly built or converted. We do that, except for minor things, with the help of architects. But these are not just my friends, they also have their own interests, alone because HOAI is linked to the construction price. I am then the naysayer who keeps an eye on the costs. And I am quite good at saying no. Construction expertise, I am a layman, like most participants here otherwise. With some experience, yes. But without vocational training in construction. Karsten