Who asks the builders also gets an answer

I could write a novel about what would have gone wrong during the house construction if we hadn’t intervened.

They already exist, also as screenplays.

KG pipes laid in gravel,

Oh dear, real [F(l)achloite].

and I had to see that there were fresh footprints in the screed. It turned out that the drywall installer had forgotten to take a measurement, which at that time could still have waited.

Sometimes I get the impression that some people have read the collected works of Ephraim Kishon (and mistakenly thought they were textbooks).

Ruppsn, our general contractor plans concretely only two weeks in advance. Without knowing what agile methods are, they have found that they cope better with them. Agile methods also allow ordering something weeks in advance.

We built a wooden house. Only on site was it considered where the electrical wiring should be routed to the upper floor and a hole was drilled there. Likewise light outlets and the like. There was no execution plan even for the stairs. That was discussed on site and calculated on the wall. That was much easier for us as clients to imagine. And it turned out really beautiful.

I do not demonize any waterfall. I contradict the statements that there must be an execution plan for everything and that this is the best option.

My main point was that the chosen methodology should fit the task at hand and that one should not blindly apply trendy methodologies to areas without checking whether they are suitable. I often experience this in my professional life.

It may well be that this works with your timber house manufacturer, so such an approach is suitable there. I have no problem with that. However, not everyone builds with your general contractors but also with prefab house manufacturers or with brick and mortar. And with your approach, you will likely run into problems for the mentioned reasons of lead time, statics, etc.
Before I committed to brick and mortar, I also had discussions with typical prefab (wood) manufacturers. There was usually a planning phase that ended with the formal approval of the work plan. Then the house went into production. Lead time up to a year... I would therefore assume that you are rather the exception and can count yourself lucky. However, I doubt that this can be generalized to the entire construction industry.

you are of course right there. However, in this case it was only a 20x4cm breakthrough in the floor, as we or rather the heating installer shortened the path of the underfloor heating pipes from the manifold. Structurally everything according to plan :)

May I guess, you are the boss in the company and have to take your incompetent colleagues by the hand

Methodology back and forth, set too high. Smaller companies can simply be more flexible. Within limits. If windows are ordered in Poland, you can't just quickly change their dimensions. If the roof truss is ordered from a factory, you can't decide on Monday that you want a 35-degree pitch and then only 30 on Friday. But of course, with good! communication with the bricklayer, we were able to change internal door layers and widths, but then we also had to make sure that this information reached the joinery so that the correct doors would be ordered. Naturally, we only finalized details of the staircase very late. Since it was craftsmanship produced in-house and not outsourced, no problem. However, it seems to me best for all parties involved and for the costs to clarify as much as possible in advance and to only change very little or finalize it late in the process. For example, we decided on the tiles very early. Two weeks before the tiling started, the tilers' journeymen came and discussed the details with us. Up to where, how high, which pattern, etc. Then we approved it, and the quantities were ordered from Fliesenharry in Lübeck. So that was fixed. Karsten

so we built with the general contractor with 250 employees and after the preliminary discussion (which roof tiles, bathtub, tiles, etc...) we received a sheet with the exact planning of who does what and when. all companies involved in the construction were listed with the date they were supposed to appear at our site. we as the clients were also listed with "house connections in week x" and "drainage in week x+1". the sheet arrived in May and was dated up to the handover in mid-October. only from the screed to the tiling there was an uncertainty factor, since the readiness for covering had to be reached first. up to the screed, EVERY trade completed their tasks on time. one sometimes came a week early, someone else came 2-3 days late (roofer on Saturday), but everyone finished on time so that there was not a single delay. only the screed did not dry on time, which caused a 2-week delay. we were annoyed that the heating was off for one week longer than necessary because the gas-water guy turned it off. (screed drying program expired) with the tilers, things then proceeded on schedule. everyone came promptly afterward. the boss of the company was our site manager, nobody wanted to upset him. I assume the general contractor rewards subcontractors with full order books but demands punctuality. everyone praised the general contractor and his good payment. seems to work... otherwise, I agree with the thread starter that thinking along and asking questions is a clear rarity - even among otherwise good people.