General contractor or architect + trades: which to choose?

The two setups.

The classic setup: you sign with an architect for design and project supervision, then with each trade (plumber, electrician, plasterer…) separately. The architect coordinates, but each company is contractually responsible for its own package only.

The general contractor: you sign a single contract with one company that carries everything — design, execution, coordination of all trades — and commits to a price, a timeline and a result. This is W.A.R.D's model, also known as design & build.

Point-by-point comparison.

The three possible setups.

In reality, the choice is not limited to two options. On the Paris market, three setups coexist:

• 1. Architect + trades in separate packages — the architect designs and supervises, you contract with each company. Maximum control over each package, maximum coordination burden too.
• 2. Architect + general building company — the design stays with an independent architect, and execution is entrusted to a single all-trades company. Two contracts instead of ten: the coordination of the works is solved, and only the design–execution interface remains to manage. This is the setup we run alongside the architects who entrust us with their sites.
• 3. General contractor (design & build) — design and execution under one contract, one commitment on price, timeline and result. This is the heart of our work as a general contractor in Paris. And if your project starts with the design of the spaces themselves, our interior architecture studio in Paris works within this same model: designing and building with one hand.

Setups 2 and 3 share the same decisive advantage — a single company responsible for execution — and differ on the design: integrated, or carried by your own architect.

What you are not told often enough.

• The classic setup can cost less… when everything goes well. But when the tiler waits for the plumber who waits for the electrician, the idle weeks get paid for — in rent, bridge loans, energy.
• Not all ten-year warranties are equal. Always check the coverage ceiling and the insurer's soundness. Ours covers each project up to €5,000,000.
• A general contractor does not exclude the architect — at W.A.R.D, design is carried by our in-house architects, matched to the nature of your project: residential, retail or office.

When architect + trades remains the right choice.

Saying it plainly is part of honest advice: our model is not the right answer to every situation. The classic setup keeps genuine strengths:

• You already have your architect — a relationship of trust built over several projects is worth a great deal. In that case, the right question is not whether to give it up, but how to secure the execution (setup 2 above).
• Your project is single-trade — repainting, laying a floor, redoing one isolated bathroom: a general contractor adds no value where there is nothing to coordinate.
• You want to run it yourself — some clients have the time, the site experience and the taste for daily arbitration. Separate packages give them direct control over every euro spent.
• You are hunting the floor price, package by package — accepting, in return, that you carry the coordination risk and the interface disputes between companies yourself.

In every other case — and particularly as soon as the project involves more than three or four trades — coordination becomes a profession in its own right. It happens to be ours.

Responsibilities and guarantees: what the law says.

Whatever the setup, statutory guarantees frame your project in France. What changes is how simply you can call on them:

• The one-year "perfect completion" guarantee — the company must remedy every defect noted at handover or during the following year. With separate packages, each snag must be addressed to the right company; with a general contractor, one handover, one party responsible for clearing the snag list.
• The ten-year warranty (garantie décennale) — it covers damage that compromises the structural integrity of the work or makes it unfit for purpose. Point of vigilance: check that each party's insurance genuinely covers its actual activity. Ours covers each project up to €5,000,000, under the general contractor activity.
• Responsibility for coordination — this is the real dividing line. In the classic setup, if a defect arises from poor coordination between two companies, each points at the other. Under a single contract, the question never arises: the general contractor answers for the overall result.

Before signing, demand currently valid insurance certificates — and read them: the coverage ceiling and the declared activity are there in black and white.

The right questions to ask before signing.

• Who is responsible if the deadline slips — and what does that trigger contractually?
• Is the price firm, adjustable, or "indicative"?
• What is the ceiling of the ten-year warranty insurance, and does it properly cover general contracting?
• Who handles co-ownership approvals and administrative procedures?
• Can I visit a live site and speak to a client after handover?

A serious professional answers these five questions without hesitation. That is precisely how you recognise one.

The single contract, in practice.

Concretely, a project under a single contract always follows the same thread: a design phase (surveys, plans, material selection, detailed costing), the signature of a contract that commits the price and the handover date, then execution run by a single site manager coordinating all the trades — through to handover and the clearing of the snag list.

This is the setup that allowed us to deliver Le Marquis, 130 m² in 6 months, Le Vénitien, 240 m² in 7 months, and Le Trocadéro, 227 m² and 16 coordinated trades in 10 months. Three surfaces, three ambitions — one point of contact from the first meeting to the handover of keys.

Three frequent questions.

Does a general contractor cost more than architect + trades?

At equal specification, the headline gap is small — and often deceptive. Separate packages show optimised unit quotes, but leave the friction costs with you: idle weeks between companies, interface rework, cascading change orders. A single contract includes the coordination and commits the price at signature. What matters is not the lowest quote, it is the most predictable final cost.

Can I keep my architect and work with W.A.R.D?

Yes — it is a setup we run regularly: your architect keeps the design and the artistic direction, and we carry the all-trades execution with a commitment on price and timeline. We work hand in hand with architects, never against them.

How do I check a general contractor is sound?

Three reflexes: ask for the ten-year warranty certificate and read its ceiling (ours: €5,000,000 per project), visit a live site, and speak to a client after handover. Add the five questions listed above — a solid professional answers them without hesitation, figures in hand.

To go further: find out how long a renovation in Paris really takes and what a Haussmann renovation costs, line by line.

Want to see what the integrated model delivers in practice? Browse our projects — from retail for Dior to the heritage renovation of Le Trocadéro — or tell us about your project.