Which trades are suitable to be spun off in general contracting construction?

Hi!

We are building a solid house with a general contractor and are currently in the architect planning phase (the GC is also doing that).

The planning will hopefully be finished soon and the building application submitted, so that we can then focus on the topic of the construction contract etc. In this regard, the question arises for us as to which trades in a turnkey construction by the GC are suitable to be separated out. We don't want to do anything ourselves, as we are both totally unskilled, but maybe for one or the other trade it is better not to have it included under the GC umbrella.

In particular, I am thinking of topics such as:
- Electrical
- Flooring
- Sanitary
- Painting

Of course, this also has to make sense in terms of warranty, because the more expensive GC construction compared to an allegedly somewhat cheaper individual contract is precisely interesting because of the warranty issue, so that one trade cannot simply pass the blame to another...

Especially with electrical work, I notice that you probably get a rather standard 08/15 package with the GC or have to pay exorbitantly for special requests regarding smart home from the GC’s partner... precisely here we would certainly feel well taken care of with an electrician chosen separately.

What do you think about the other trades I have listed? Are there any other trades that I haven’t mentioned but that would make sense to separate out?

When you have the payment schedule in front of you, you will notice that the items you want to remove already include an underpricing.

Calculating trades out only really makes sense if you want to provide your own services.
Alternatively, you can have plans made directly by [architects], then you can assign all trades yourself.

Painting and flooring are not included in the general contractor price anyway. You have to do it yourself or find someone. Additional equipment for electrical and sanitary installations can then also be discussed directly with them on site.

Painting and floor coverings can definitely also be done by the general contractor. They cost us 7,500 euros each time, which is why we did it ourselves.

Furthermore, I painted the underside of the roof myself. 6 hours of work, credited 2,000 euros. The scaffolding was still available.

Furthermore, I did the doors myself. 7 pieces, 30 minutes each. I did it myself for the first time and it was no problem. We were credited 3,600 euros for that without any markup, which we definitely would have had to pay. Instead, we ordered seven doors on the internet for 1,500 euros. Everything was perfect.

We also did the electrical work ourselves. It was a lot of work and an electrician’s supervision is of course necessary. We have now paid 17,000 euros for the electrical materials and were credited 9,000 euros. With an electrician this equipment including labor would certainly have cost > 40,000. It was worth it, everything worked out. BUT you have to know what you are doing and it was really a lot of work.

We would definitely exclude sanitary objects next time. It was clearly too expensive for a compromise solution with the general contractor. But of course it can be different with other general contractors.

We also excluded tiles because the offer was too low and the surcharge for large tiles, etc. was already high.

The coordination with the site manager and the process worked very well despite the many trades we did ourselves.

Additional equipment for electrical and sanitary installations can then also be discussed directly with them on site.

However, you are bound to the executing company. They of course know that as well. We would never have chosen our electrician with individual contracts, as his advice was simply crap. It feels like this makes sense if you want to order a lot or do a lot of the work yourself.

What you should keep in mind is that you are then of course responsible for coordinating and checking the trades that have been taken out. You effectively act as the site manager for these trades. This may all work fine in a smooth process, but if other trades are delayed or any interfaces between trades don’t fit, it becomes problematic.

For example, we took out our staircase but ultimately commissioned the same staircase company from the general contractor. This had the advantage of being cheaper but still ensured that all the processes fit, as the staircase company, for example, had the keys for the general contractor’s construction locks.

What do you think about the other trades I listed? Are there any other trades that I didn’t mention at all but that would make sense to separate out?

The advantage of commissioning a general contractor (GU) lies, in my opinion, in the coordination and practiced cooperation of various trades. It follows that trades that have no or hardly any follow-up work can be easily taken out: wall and floor coverings are predestined for this ;-). Otherwise, you should make sure before signing that the package fits. If the GU electrician does not do KNX, then you need another GU (or you have to take the electrical work out). If you have *one* special trade, that will still work well. If you need more specialists, you should consider an architect and individual contracts.