General contractor Vienna one party is liable for everything.
General contractor Vienna: from the building contractor that does the work — not from an agent.
General contractor Vienna: a general contractor coordinates all trades and is liable for the overall result. The mark-up compared with awarding trades separately is 8 to 15 % – in return the contractor takes over the construction schedule, the interfaces and the warranty. Fixed price under ÖNORM B 2110.
General contractor Vienna: costs 2026
Guide values net, as of 2026. The general contractor's mark-up is not a surcharge for the same work, but the price for coordination, responsibility for deadlines and liability across all trades.
| Procurement model | Mark-up | Who coordinates | Who is liable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Separate trade contracts | — | the client | each firm for its own trade |
| General contractor | 8–15 % | the GC | the GC for everything |
| Main contractor without own works (Generalübernehmer) | 12–20 % | the main contractor | the main contractor, does no work itself |
| Design-and-build contractor | 15–25 % | the design-and-build contractor | the design-and-build contractor, including design |
| Developers | in the purchase price | the developer | You buy a finished property |
Typical project sizes
| Project | Construction sum net | Construction time | Trades |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apartment renovation 75 m² | 70.000–135.000 € | 8–16 weeks | 7–10 |
| Gut renovation 95 m² | 140.000–240.000 € | 12–20 weeks | 10–12 |
| Renovating a detached house | 170.000–400.000 € | 6–12 months | 10–14 |
| Apartment building, base renovation | €0.8–2.5 m | 6–18 months | 12–18 |
| Apartment building, total renovation | €1.4–3.5 m | 12–18 months | 15–20 |
| Commercial fit-out | by area | 8–16 weeks | 8–12 |
What the GC mark-up includes
| Service | What it means |
|---|---|
| Site management on site | reachable daily, measurements, acceptance of the subcontractors' work |
| Construction schedule and control | fixed handovers between trades, re-planning in case of delay |
| Responsibility for interfaces | the points that cause disputes when trades are awarded separately |
| Uniform warranty | one contact for defects, regardless of which trade did the work |
| Tendering and award | Obtaining, checking and comparing subcontractor quotes |
| Site set-up | Scaffolding, skip, power, water, parking lane, protection |
| Documentation | Photos, reports, disposal certificates, acceptance report |
| Billing | one invoice instead of twelve, according to progress |
In return, around 60 to 100 hours of coordination work for the client disappear, as do the risk of delays and the question of who is liable when the floor lifts. Experience shows that separate trade contracts rarely turn out cheaper in the end – the difference does not show in the quote, but in the extra charges and the construction time.
General contractor for period building renovation in Vienna
Most enquiries we receive as a general contractor are not about new builds but about existing buildings: a period flat, an apartment building, a terraced house from the seventies. Existing buildings are the harder case, because only after demolition is it clear what is really there.
| Project | What the general contractor takes on | Usual construction time |
|---|---|---|
| Renovating a period flat | Demolition, electrics, plumbing, screed, drywall, tiles, floors, painting, doors | 6–14 weeks |
| Gut renovation with layout changes | additionally structural engineering, openings, complete building services | 12–22 weeks |
| Apartment building, base renovation | Roof, facade, risers, stairwell, handling of funding | 6–15 months |
| Converting and extending a house | Extension, structural engineering, envelope, building services, fit-out | 5–12 months |
| Shop or medical practice | Strip-out, fit-out to the user's concept, completion by the opening date | 8–16 weeks |
| New build, turnkey | from the excavation to handover, all trades | 12–18 months |
We are the building contractor that does the work. Regulated trades – electrics, gas, water – are carried out by licensed partner firms, coordinated by us and under our responsibility. For you nothing changes: one contract, one invoice, one contact person, one warranty.
General contractor, main contractor, general planner: the difference
| Role | What it does | Who is liable for the work |
|---|---|---|
| General contractor | carries out key parts itself, subcontracts the rest | the general contractor, solely towards the client |
| Main contractor without own works (Generalübernehmer) | does no work itself, subcontracts everything | also the main contractor, but without its own site capacity |
| General planner | designs and coordinates, does not build | for the design, not for the construction work |
| Separate trade contracts | The client commissions each trade directly | each for themselves, interfaces lie with the client |
| Master builder (Baumeister) | Trade licence for designing and building structures | for its own work |
What must be in the GC contract
How we work as a general contractor
What a general contractor adds on and what it saves
The GC mark-up is the question every client asks. The honest answer: it is 8 to 15 per cent on top of the sum of the individual quotes – and it almost always pays off, because separate trade contracts create costs that appear in no quote.
| Item | Separate trade contracts | General contractor |
|---|---|---|
| Quoted price of the trades | lower, because calculated without coordination | plus 8–15 % mark-up |
| Coordination | your time, often 5–10 hours a week | included |
| Standstill because preceding work is missing | borne by the client | borne by the general contractor |
| Defects at the interfaces | everyone points at someone else | one party responsible |
| Warranty | separate for each trade, different periods | uniform from one contract |
| Construction time | longer, because dates are negotiated one after the other | shorter, trades dovetail |
| Extras | from each trade separately | only for changes made by the client |
Everything from a single source: what that means in practice
"Everything from a single source" appears on many websites. With us the phrase has a verifiable meaning, namely these seven points.
| Point | What you gain |
|---|---|
| One contract according to ÖNORM B 2110 | one legal basis instead of twelve different sets of terms and conditions |
| One fixed price | the total stands as long as you change nothing |
| One schedule | one completion date, not twelve promises |
| One contact person | one number for everything, even when things get stuck |
| One invoice | one payment plan according to progress |
| A warranty | no dispute about which trade is to blame |
| One insurance policy | Construction liability insurance over €3 million for the entire project |
How to choose a general contractor
| Checkpoint | What to look out for | Warning signs |
|---|---|---|
| Trade licence | Master builder licence, verifiable in GISA | only the trades "property developer" or "building caretaking" |
| Own execution | which work the firm carries out itself | no information, everything is subcontracted |
| Quote | Individual items with quantities and unit prices | a lump sum without a breakdown |
| Contractual basis | ÖNORM B 2110 expressly agreed | own terms and conditions without the standard |
| Payment plan | according to construction progress, with a retention | large advance payment before work starts |
| Insurance | Construction liability insurance, have the sum proven | proof is not provided |
| References | comparable properties that can be visited | only pictures without place and year |
Where problems arise with separate trade contracts
- The screed layer arrives before the electrics are finished. Both are right, both have their date – and the client is stuck in the middle.
- The floor is laid too early. Without a moisture readiness test the parquet cups. The floor layer says the screed was too wet; the screed layer says the floor went down too early.
- The waterproofing in the bathroom is missing. The tiler thought the plumber would do it. It becomes visible at the neighbour's.
- A firm drops out. All subsequent dates shift, and nobody is responsible for re-planning.
- Material is missing on installation day. When the client supplies materials, the site stands still and the costs keep running.
- Nobody took the photos. Five years later someone drills into a pipe, and there is no documentation.
What we do ourselves, what subcontractors do
| Trade | Execution | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Demolition, gutting, excavation | our own people | Trade licence according to GISA |
| Drywall, screed, tiling | our own people | Trade licence according to GISA |
| Painting, floor laying, insulation | our own people | Trade licence according to GISA |
| Site management and coordination | our own people | There is still only one contractual partner |
| Master builder services, structural design, submission | licensed partner company | § 94 no. 5 GewO |
| Electrical engineering | licensed partner company | § 94 no. 16 GewO |
| Gas and sanitary engineering | licensed partner company | § 94 no. 25 GewO |
| Roofer, tinsmith | licensed partner company | regulated trade |
Skyline Bau is the brand of the construction and renovation division of Bling Bling GmbH, a restricted construction business under § 99 GewO – not a licensed master builder. Regulated trades are carried out by licensed partner firms named in the quote. You can check this in the public GISA register, for us as for any other provider.
General contractor for apartment renovation
Apartment renovation is the case where separate trade contracts most often go wrong. Six to nine trades work one after the other in eighty square metres, and each needs the previous one to be finished. If the screed is delayed by a week, the whole chain stops.
| Week | Trade | What is possible afterwards |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Demolition, disposal, dust protection | Pipes and cables can be run |
| 2–3 | Electrics and plumbing, chases and pipes | Walls can be closed |
| 3–4 | Drywall, service walls, repairs | Screed can be laid |
| 4–5 | Screed, then drying time | nothing – this time cannot be shortened |
| 6–8 | Tiles, bathroom waterproofing | Floors and doors follow |
| 8–10 | Floors, painting, doors | Installation of fixtures and appliances |
| 10–12 | Sanitary and electrical installation, kitchen | Handover |
Details on the process and prices can be found on the pages Apartment renovation, Gut renovation and Period building renovation.
Where we work as a general contractor
| Region | Typical jobs | Travel included in the price |
|---|---|---|
| Vienna, all 23 districts | Period buildings, apartment buildings, flats, shops, new builds | included |
| Klosterneuburg, Korneuburg, Stockerau | Detached houses, extensions, renovation on slopes | included |
| Mödling, Baden, Perchtoldsdorf | House renovation, attic, new build | included |
| Schwechat, Wiener Neudorf, Gerasdorf | Commercial, halls, residential construction | included |
| Rest of Lower Austria | Projects from about €80,000 contract value | depending on distance |
Who we work for as a general contractor
Private clients
From apartment renovation to gut renovation. One contact instead of eight sets of appointments and the question of who is to blame.
Tenement building owners
Base and total renovation, often while the building is occupied, with funding handled via wohnfonds_wien and coordination with MA 19 and MA 37.
Property management companies
Verifiable bills of quantities for owners' resolutions, maintenance and improvement shown separately, weekly photo reports.
Investors and developers
Several units in series, on schedule, with consistent quality and one invoice per property.
When you do not need a general contractor
For a single trade without interfaces you pay the mark-up for nothing – only a new floor means a floor layer, only painting means a painter. If you are in the trade yourself, have time and know the trades, separate contracts are cheaper; the mark-up pays for exactly the work you would then do yourself. And if your project is not yet clear – layout open, budget unclear, funding unchecked – a site visit with a cost frame is worth more first than a contract.
General contractor in all 23 districts of Vienna
As a general contractor we take on renovation, conversion, extension and house-building trades in every district with one contract. We work in 1010 Innere Stadt, 1020 Leopoldstadt, 1030 Landstraße, 1040 Wieden, 1050 Margareten, 1060 Mariahilf, 1070 Neubau, 1080 Josefstadt, 1090 Alsergrund, 1100 Favoriten, 1110 Simmering, 1120 Meidling, 1130 Hietzing, 1140 Penzing, 1150 Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus, 1160 Ottakring, 1170 Hernals, 1180 Währing, 1190 Döbling, 1200 Brigittenau, 1210 Floridsdorf, 1220 Donaustadt, 1230 Liesing. What is typical in which district is explained on the page Construction company Vienna.
Period flat with a general contractor: what runs differently in a flat than in a house
Anyone renovating a period flat is building in a house they only partly own. That is exactly what changes a general contractor's work. Stairwell, courtyard, risers and chimneys are common parts on which the property management and co-owners have a say. Before a jackhammer starts, coordination with the management is needed: when may the lift be used for materials, where does the rubble skip go, which quiet hours apply under the house rules, and who shuts off water and gas at the riser?
Typical of Gründerzeit flats, for example in Margareten in the 5th district (1050) with its dense blocks of apartment buildings, are timber-beam ceilings, Dippelbaum ceilings and old lead pipes in the walls. The GC decides the order in which things are opened up: first floors and shafts, then the findings, then the price for the concealed items. If a ceiling turns out to be weakened, structural engineering and possibly a report to the building authority (MA 37) are needed. A general contractor who provides for this in the contract as a contingency item protects you from the classic "construction stop, new price".
For the client one thing changes in practice: they speak to one person who deals with neighbours, the management and the trades. How such a flat is converted step by step is shown on the page Apartment renovation in Vienna; if the flat is opened up to the shell, it is worth looking at gut renovation.
General contracting in Austria: which duties the client still has
"Generalunternehmen" and "Generalunternehmer" mean the same thing: a firm that takes on all construction work in one contract and answers for the whole. In Austria more is attached to this than just coordination. You should know three points, because they apply even when you commission a GC.
- Construction work coordination: if several firms work on site at the same time or one after the other, the Construction Work Coordination Act (BauKG) requires, depending on size, a planning coordinator and a site coordinator as well as a health and safety plan. The client can delegate this task – but it does not disappear.
- Client liability: in construction, the client can be liable for social security contributions not paid by its contractor. This is checked via the list of companies exempt from liability (HFU list). Commercial clients usually check it before every payment.
- Contractual basis: ÖNORM B 2110 governs changes to the scope, claims for additional costs, acceptance and retentions. A GC contract that adopts it is more predictable for both sides than a freely worded contract for work.
For clients outside the capital the same legal situation applies – our sites, however, are in Vienna and the nearby surroundings. Projects in Lower Austria are described on the page Construction company Lower Austria.
General contractor, general renovation, construction company: which page suits your project
Many searches land on the wrong page with us because the terms overlap. The distinction is easy if you sort by the question that is on your mind right now.
| Your question | What it is about | Matching page |
|---|---|---|
| Who takes on the contract, coordination and liability for all trades? | the form of contract – this page | General contractor |
| What happens technically when a whole building is renewed? | Scope and sequence of the construction work | General renovation |
| I am looking for an executing firm for a single project. | Range of services and way of working | Construction company |
| I already have firms and need someone to supervise them. | site supervision and scheduling | Site management |
The core here remains the question of responsibility: a GC owes a finished, defect-free overall work. Site management owes careful supervision, but not the work itself. Anyone who confuses the two only notices when a warranty claim arises.
How a GC quote comes about and why it is more than a sum
A serious general contractor quote does not come from a square-metre figure but from a specification. It starts with a survey, photos, plans and a conversation about your wishes. Then every trade is broken down into items – demolition, plumbing, electrics, screed, drywall, tiles, painting, floors – and given quantities. Only from these items does the total price including the coordination share result.
Why this effort? Because only an itemised quote shows what is missing. If there is no disposal, no site set-up or no protective covering in the stairwell, the low price is an invitation to extra charges. Also look for three details: a construction schedule with milestones, a payment plan that follows progress, and a clear list of which work is done by authorised partner firms. When comparing several quotes, a simple rule helps: same quantities, same qualities, and only then put the prices side by side.
Frequently asked questions about general contractors in Vienna
What does a general contractor do?
What does a general contractor cost?
Are separate trade contracts cheaper?
What is the difference from a main contractor who does no work itself?
What is a design-and-build contractor?
Who is liable if a subcontractor does poor work?
What warranty is there?
Is the general contractor's price a fixed price?
How high are usual extras?
What happens with hidden damage?
What protects me if I pay in instalments?
How is the final payment secured?
Can penalties be agreed?
What happens if construction is delayed?
Are the subcontractors named?
Can I provide individual trades myself?
Do you also take on design and permit submission?
Do you take care of funding?
Do you also work in occupied buildings?
How big does a project have to be?
What do I receive at the end?
What if the general contractor becomes insolvent?
What insurance is in place?
Who bears the risk towards third parties?
What does a general contractor in Vienna cost?
What is the difference between a general contractor and a Generalübernehmer?
Do you take on a period building renovation as a general contractor?
What should I look for when choosing?
What does "everything from a single source" mean with you?
How does coordination with the property management work for a period flat?
Is the client liable for social security contributions despite having a general contractor?
Who takes on site coordination under BauKG in a GC contract?
How can I tell whether a GC quote is complete?
Related services
Everything from a single source — including the cleaning.
Final construction cleaning is the last trade before handover. Through our partner company Bling Premium Cleaning it runs within the same construction schedule, without you having to commission it separately. More at bling-bling.at.
Send enquiry
Enquire directly here — fixed-price quote free of charge. Skyline Bau replies within 2 working days.
A new bathroom — without surprises
We check pipes, floor build-up and electrics on site. Then you get the price. Not the other way round.
Legal note: Skyline Bau is the brand name of the construction and renovation division of Bling Bling GmbH and is not a separate legal entity. The sole contractual partner is Bling Bling GmbH — a restricted construction trade business under § 99 GewO, GISA number in the legal notice. It is not a licensed master builder.
Under § 99 (5) GewO, the title “Baumeister” (master builder) is reserved exclusively for businesses licensed under § 94 no. 5 GewO. Regulated trades — master-builder services (§ 94 no. 5), electrical engineering (§ 94 no. 16), gas and sanitary engineering (§ 94 no. 25), tiling (§ 94 no. 38) — are carried out exclusively by authorised, licensed partner companies. On request, you receive their proof of authorisation before signing the contract.
Note: Skyline Bau is the brand name of the construction and renovation division of Bling Bling GmbH and is not a separate legal entity. The sole contractual partner is Bling Bling GmbH. Bling Bling GmbH is a restricted construction trade business under § 99 GewO (Austrian Trade Regulation Act) and not a licensed master builder (Baumeister). Under § 99 (5) GewO, the title “Baumeister” is reserved for businesses licensed under § 94 no. 5 GewO. Regulated trades — master-builder services, structural engineering, gas and sanitary engineering, electrical engineering — are carried out exclusively by authorised, licensed partner companies.