With or without an architectural plan? (General contractor / shell construction)

The fact is, however, that since there are fixed suppliers, not every precisely selected clinker brick, not the exotic tile, and every other wish can be fulfilled.

And I say: "and that's a good thing." If you change many ingredients in a proven recipe, the purpose of choosing a general contractor is correspondingly diluted. What I always say, "use the routine of the installer and don't have a red bricklayer do white masonry (or vice versa)," applies analogously to "wall decor" as well as to "wall construction." With tiles, I even boldly claim that you can only taste the color difference between "Sandbeige Turin" from manufacturer X and "Sandbeige Madrid" from manufacturer Y in the highest price categories :-)

I think the OP means more that cost items are coming up that were not included in the offer. (Reinforcement, positions "on the client side", entrance platform, etc.)

Oh... that makes sense, and this sentence too:

By "transparent" I mean that the general contractor really lists all costs. As laypeople, something could slip past us. Or is this concern unfounded? Or are there ways to be sure that we don't overlook anything?

All costs that can additionally arise on the client side...

Some need to be told what they need, others want to collect and keep their own list. Ok, this may lead to uncalculated gaps.
I think that with the construction documents, a paper with possible as well as necessary costs is also handed over.

Apart from that, you have already been actively dealing with the topic of house construction for over a year, so you surely have all kinds of costs at hand.

Thank you for your constructive comments! I finally found yours too :)

I'm afraid to ask because I'm scared of the answer. :p

Not a big deal. I am a therapist and the architect was once my patient.

Exactly, by transparency I meant which cost items will come up, of which we as laypeople don't realize that they are not included in the offer.

And I say: "and that's a good thing." If you change many ingredients in a tried and tested recipe, the point of choosing a general contractor is correspondingly diluted. What I always say is, "use the processor's routine and don't have a bricklayer do plastering (or vice versa)"

You speak my mind.
That's why we also don't want to demand exotic/special services. Our architect just said that it's important to list the exact services (I can't think of the term.. Included would be e.g. number of sockets, material, etc.)

Apart from that, you have been actively dealing with the topic of house construction for over a year now, so you surely have all sorts of costs ready.

That would be a logical conclusion ;) but since we were fixed on one company for such a long time and only focused on the house model, building inquiry, and our room requirements (the price initially seemed so low that we hardly paid attention to it), we are only now starting to discover the actual costs. Well, and that happens to two experienced freelancers who are otherwise used to regularly dealing with costs and services :-/

Well then, best start here:



And here:



You will neither get a complete list from a general contractor nor from an architect. An architect usually works with cost estimates at the beginning, and a general contractor has their construction service specifications which are individual. You won't get around going through point by point.

and the general contractor simply has their construction service description, and it is individual.

I keep having problems with all the abbreviations. Is there an overview here in the forum? Thanks.