A renovation rarely needs just one tradesperson. A new bathroom calls for plumbers, tilers, electricians and often plasterers and painters; a roof renovation requires roofers, sheet metal workers and scaffolders. If you know the sequence and which trade is responsible for what, you negotiate better, avoid downtime on site and get comparable quotes. This overview organises 37 trades by building element, construction phase and category.
Most people describe their problem by the project or by the building element, not by the trade. A new bathroom, a leaking roof, draughty windows, a damp cellar. This overview therefore turns the logic around: you choose what needs doing and see the trades that work together on it, along with the order in which they arrive on site. For a roof renovation, these are roofers, roof metalworkers, carpenters and scaffolders, and for flat roofs waterproofing as well. For a damp cellar, they are structural waterproofing, a structural engineer and a builder. If you only know the affected building element, filter the trade list by the part of the house and go from «roof» to the three trades that work there.
Trades build on one another. Electrical and plumbing lines must be in place before the plasterer closes up; the floor comes after the painter, or the painter after the floor, depending on the specification, and the kitchen comes last. If you get the order wrong, you pay twice. The sequence chart shows in which phase a trade typically comes on site and which trades overlap.
You can appoint each trade separately or hand everything over to a general contractor. Contracting each trade separately delivers the lowest final price through direct competition, but requires your time for coordination and sign-off. The general contractor bundles everything into one contract and one schedule, but charges a premium for doing so. Which model suits you depends on how much time you have and your construction experience.
Two quotes for the same trade are only comparable if both describe the same scope of work. Make sure ancillary work such as dismantling, disposal, protective coverings and final cleaning is itemised, that quantities and unit rates are shown instead of a single lump sum, and that time-and-materials work is specified with hourly rates. Obtain two to three quotes per trade.
Trade work is a local business. Travel distances feed directly into the bill, and proximity matters in warranty cases. That is why each trade can be filtered by canton and municipality. The company directory is being built canton by canton; where no firms have yet been listed, we say so openly instead of showing a list that does not exist.