Why a Cheap Set of Plans is Not Wise is about this Architect explaining what goes into a proper set of CDs (Construction Documents).
“Hey, you an Architek? Can ya stamp some plans fer me? I’ll give ya 600 bucks, okay?”
Noooooo. Definitely NOT okay.
Why a Cheap Set of Plans is Not Wise :
1. Signing and Sealing (What buffoons and criminals call “stamping”) is illegal in every State in the USA.
2. You are certifying that you, yourself created those documents, or that you have personally replayed every single recreation process in your mind to result in you “owning” that design and becoming completely responsible for everything on them.
3. It’s dangerous. You take a vow when you become an Architect to protect the Health, Safety & Welfare (HSW) of the public in your work. This is the equivalent of “taking a dive” in the boxing arena. Which is also illegal and grounds to lose your license. A falsely sealed set of Construction Documents can have all sorts of improper drawings and notes depicting cheap ways and cheap materials to improperly build a house or commercial structure, resulting in buildings falling down, rotting, injuring or killing the people inside and around it. And of course, missing documents can have the same effect, because when left without specifics, Contractors will default to whatever they want to do. Not all Builders, but there are many of their subcontractors, who when faced without details, will do things in the easiest way possible and if the GC (General Contractor) doesn’t correct them, you will get problems in the construction.
This Architect knows another Architect who lives and practices in a very large urban city to the east (who shall remain nameless). He’s a great Architect. And guess what? He said he once failed to detail how a mantel on one of his fireplaces should be attached to the wall behind it. The Contractor built it the way he wanted to, using cheap methods. Sure enough, several months later, the mantel fell and injured a child. Lawsuit against both the Builder and the Architect.
What does this real world example tell us? One: even with the best Architects with the best intentions, some things can slip through the cracks, resulting in Builders taking shortcuts, with disastrous results and injury to clients and other users of the home or building. And that’s with good intentions. Can you imagine the hundreds if not thousands of opportunities for problems resulting in an intentionally cheapened and minimalistic set of Construction Documents? Huge.
BTW: the Construction Documents to build a house or building are properly called CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS (CDs), not “Plans.” Because: there is much much more to CDs than just a floor plan. Dozens of documents more. We will get into this shortly. Just know that you can’t build a house with just a floor plan.
When and if you, as a homeowner, are offered a short list of CDs, such as, for instance: 10 sheets of drawings as the full, entire list of 24″x36″ drawings for any house, that probably is going to be a skimpy set of documents. Meaning: the chances of not having everything that goes into the construction cannot possibly be in those 10 sheets.
But, you can say to yourself: “Hey, I only had to pay $10k for my documents. Look at all the money I saved.”
However: did you really save anything at all? For instance when your fireplace mantel falls and kills your daughter, or the stone above your windows falls because there were no details showing that a steel angle (galvanized steel, actually) should have been there over each and every opening involving masonry veneer? And when your wife and son die from COPD because there were no details or specifications to limit VOCs or to prevent moisture from migrating through your roofing and walls, resulting in mold growth? Happy with your savings on your Architect’s fees now? Perhaps it would have been more prudent to pay your Architect to do a proper job. And for your Architect to have a spine and require that he/she be paid to do that proper job.
And for your Architect (or of lesser status: a residential “designer”) to do a much more thorough job and not be absorbed with trying to earn a buck using some ridiculous, unprofessional and unethical “business model” for lower fees for less documentation? Because local Contractors like that and hire you more? That would be the same thing as a Home Inspector only spending an hour inspecting a home rather than taking the hours and hours a proper inspection would require to review the approximately 600 line items that the State requires. Same principle. It is unethical to do less that required to meet your licensed professional code of conduct and to meet the professional requirements of your discipline.
In a similar vein, what if a Cardiac Surgeon refused to close up the surgery because he took the operation at a substandard price? Outrageous? Yes. Same as if an Architect took a design project for a substandard fee and then did a minimal job of drawings. Outrageous again. Unethical.
IT IS NOT GOOD BUSINESS TO CREATE OR REQUEST MINIMAL SETS OF DRAWINGS FOR A HOUSE TO BE BUILT. That will result in mistakes, dangers and problems and in the GC or subs taking liberties and using less than “best” materials and practices to construct your house. If you think the local Building Department will protect you, think again. It is Not their job to insure that your Builder constructs your house in accordance with best practices, or often, even in compliance with Code.
Case in point: the IRC (International Residential Code) and the NC Residential Code requires all houses to have termite flashing around the foundation wall tops before a wooden sill plate is attached. Guess what? 99% of framing subcontractors and thereby most GCs do not install this important barrier to insect infestation. And the local building departments normally to not enforce this code requirement. Lackadaisical. Without a diligent Architect’s detailed documents illustrating this requirement, it won’t happen. So don’t think “Oh, I like my Builder. He’s a nice guy, his houses look fine,” is going to protect you. It takes a few years for bugs to eat a house down to the ground. And if you think your homeowner’s insurance will protect you: probably not, if you authorized your house to be built in non-compliance with Code. And no, your lack of knowledge about this in no defense. You just lost your entire house. Boom. All because you wanted to save a few tens of thousands of dollars on not having a properly detailed set of CDs. Gee that worked out great, didn’t it? You just lost a $2.8M house. Yum-yum: the bugs loved it.
And if anyone ever says: “Hey, it’s just a house,” we’d like to hit them with the same paddle our elementary school principal used on bad kid’s fannies. A HOUSE IS ONE OF THE MOST COMPLEX FACILITIES BUILT ON EARTH. Not simple. Not easy. Many, many parts. That should be arranged just so.
How can this architectural firm know this? Because they are used to doing full and complete sets of CDs for their designs and there are always many more sheets of documents necessary to to a proper job of providing complete details for any project. Unless perhaps the project is only a single piece of furniture. But an entire house. No way. So what is involved in a complete set of documents? Let’s take a look at what that might entail:
Okay, so what are ALL of the final documents often required to properly describe a custom house, if not only the Floor Plan?
Here is just one example of a LIST OF DOCUMENTS:
GENERAL G SERIES
G.1 TITLE & PROJECT CODE DATA
G.2 DRAWING INDEX/DRAWING DATES
G.3 ABBREVIATIONS, NOTES, GENERAL INFORMATION , SITE LOCATION MAP
G.4b 3D IMAGES
G.4c 3D IMAGES
G.4d 3D IMAGES
G.4e 3D IMAGES
SITEWORK A2 SERIES
SURVEYS (by a licensed Surveyor)
A2.1 OVERALL SURVEY
A2.2 INTERMEDIATE SURVEY
A2.3 DETAIL SURVEY
A2.6 SITE PLAN
FLOOR PLANS A3 SERIES
A3.1 1ST FLOOR PLAN
(there could be blow-up detail plans of this also, adding another 3 sheets)
A3.2 2ND FLOOR PLAN
(there could be blow-up detail plans of this also, adding another 3 sheets)
A3.B BASEMENT FLOOR PLAN
(there could be blow-up detail plans of this also, adding another 3 sheets)
REFLECTED CEILING PLANS A4 SERIES
A4.1 1ST FLOOR REFLECTED CEILING PLAN
A4.2 2ND FLOOR REFLECTED CEILING PLAN
A4.B BASEMENT FLOOR REFLECTED CEILING PLAN
ROOF PLANS A5 SERIES
A5.1 ROOF PLAN
(there could be blow-up detail plans of this also, adding another 3 sheets)
ELEVATIONS A6 SERIES
A6.1 FRONT ELEVATION
A6.2 REAR ELEVATION
A6.3 RIGHT SIDE ELEVATION
A6.4 LEFT SIDE ELEVATION
A6.5 GARAGE LEFT SIDE ELEVATION
BUILDING SECTIONS A7 SERIES
A7.1 HOUSE MAIN BUILDING SECTION FRONT TO REAR
A7.2 GARAGE BUILDING SECTION FRONT TO REAR
A7.3 OUTDOOR LIVING AREA BUILDING SECTION FRONT TO REAR
WALL SECTIONS A8 SERIES
A8.1 MAIN WINDOW WALL SECTION AND RELATED ELEMENTS
A8.1b WINDOW WALL SECTIONS
A8.1c WINDOW WALL BLOWUP SECTION DETAILS
A8.2 FRONT PORCH ENTRY WALL SECTIONS
A8.3 GARAGE WALL SECTIONS
A8.4 ELEVATOR SECTION (if applicable)
SCHEDULES A9 SERIES
A9.1 DOOR SCHEDULE
A9.2 FINISH SCHEDULE
INTERIOR ELEVATION/CABINETRY A11 SERIES (with blow-up detail plans)
A11.1 KITCHEN MAIN WALL ELEVATION
A11.2 KITCHEN ISLAND ELEVATION
A11.3 LAUNDRY ELEVATIONS & BANQUETTE
A11.4 MASTER BATH 1&2 VANITY CABINETS, SHOWER ELEVATIONS
A11.5 BATH 3&4 CABINETS, FIREPLACE ELEVATIONS/PLANS
A11.6 GROOM 5, TOILET5, SHOWER5
A11.7 ELEVATOR LOBBY BASEMENT
A11.10 FIREPLACE ELEVATIONS/PLANS
A11.11 STAIR1, STAIR 2 SECTIONS/PLAN DETAILS
DETAILS A12 SERIES
DIVISION 3 CONCRETE
A12.3d GARAGE ENTRY SILL
DIVISION 6 WOOD
A12.6post POST, WALL BASES, WIND POSTS, POST BASES, SHEAR WALL, BRACING DETAILS
A12.6brace DECK BRACING
A12.6cab CABINETRY TYPICAL DETAILS
DIVISION 7 THERMAL & MOISTURE PROTECTION
A12.7c FLASHING EDGE, SOFFIT & SUPR-WALL DETAILS
A12.7x REAR DOOR FLASHING-WALL DETAILS
DIVISION 8 DOORS & WINDOWS
A12.8a3 WINDOW SECTION & SUPR-WALL DETAILS-HYDROGAP
A12.8b2 WINDOW DETAILS – FLASHING TAPE & FLASHING SEQUENCE
A12.8d4 DOOR DETAIL THRESHOLDS
SPECIFICATIONS A15 SERIES
(you will be amazed to learn that residential designers and many Architects do not include specifications for house projects. That is not good. It typically requires the number of sheets below, in 10 point Arial type on 24″x36″ sheets).
A15.1 SPECIFICATIONS
A15.2 SPECIFICATIONS
A15.3 SPECIFICATIONS
A15.4 SPECIFICATIONS
ELECTRICAL E SERIES
EG.1 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM LEGEND
E3.1 ELECTRICAL 1ST FLOOR PLAN
E3.2 ELECTRICAL 2ND FLOOR PLAN
E3.B ELECTRICAL BASEMENT FLOOR PLAN
STRUCTURAL S SERIES (BY STRUCTURAL ENGINEER)
S3.F FOUNDATION PLAN
S3.1 1ST FLOOR FRAMING PLAN
S3.2 2ND FLOOR FRAMING PLAN
S3.5L ROOF FRAMING PLAN GARAGE (LOWER ROOF)
S3.5U ROOF FRAMING PLAN HOUSE (UPPER ROOF)
S12.2-1 BOULDER WALL SECTION
S12.3 FOUNDATION TYPES
S12.6det STRUCTURAL DETAILS & NOTES
S12.7det TSGD ISOMETRIC
———————–
64-75 SHEETS +/-.
So: designing a new custom house is very much MORE THAN JUST A PLAN.
Not to mention all the emails, phone calls, material selections, in-person meetings or ZOOM sessions, and coordination and experienced counsel of the Architect between all parties.
So: WHAT AN ARCHITECT DOES IS MUCH MORE THAN A FLOOR PLAN.
and: Why a Cheap Set of Plans is Not Wise