drawing house plans

[ITE]

could someone tell me if there are any requirements to draw house plans in Indiana? do you have to be a licensed architect or can anyone draw plans for individuals? I have a lot of cad and board drafting experience and was thinking of doing this on the side. Ive been looking and can't seem to find any information on this elsware.
thanks for your help

[Rich]

http://www.in.gov/pla/bandc/architects/

[Dragon]

I think that you should have to frame for a minimum of 10 years before being allowed to draw house plans.

[Rich]

Along with that Dragon is having to estimate jobs for 10 years :) So many architects I've worked with don't understand the value of things.

[Cole]

Damn I keep missing posts. I agree with Rich and Dragon.

[Cole]

Just remember a Architect is not a general contractor.

More and more people are choosing home designers over architects for residential now.

[Dave13]

I'm not sure I follow. Are you saying that the only people that should be allowed to draw house plans are people who have framed and estimated houses for 10 years and everyone else is not qualified? I'm not really following the reasoning here. I've worked in the surveying field for over 15 years and I am confident I could describe every detail of a house and why it is there. I was actually going to approach my boss about doing house plans here as well (one stop shopping) but I would need some info on designing them (as in minimum room sizes etc.,). If anyone has any info pertinaing to this I would appreciate sending me in the general direction.

[Cole]

Welcome to the forum.


Check: www.teamcontractor.com

[Dave13]

Thanks Cole 21, I will check it out.

[Cole]

Do you know any Cad?

[Dave13]

Yes, I've used Acad for 15 years (now using 2000/2005) and have dabbled with Architectural Desktop 2004. But with ADT the info that comes with it isnt very informative. It doesnt really tell you how to generate Elevations from the Fdn/Main floor plan. If anyone knows of any books to help in learning to use ADT 2004 please post them.

[Dave13]

Cole_21, I'm trying to access your website but its not letting me. Is it from your end or mine?

[Cole]

Weird.

Check back later and I will see what is going on.

[bkrahmer]

I agree with Dragon's initial post, in principle. I designed the house that I have been building myself for the last 9 months or so. Having never framed a house or anything else, I made several mistakes that I won't be making again.

If you have never framed a house, you don't realize the dumb crap that imperfect plans impose on you. For instance, I have an open floorplan in my basement, with one room being about 32'x14'. Because of that, I have a structural beam in the first subfloor. Because of that beam, I have to jump through hoops to get some electrical into the wall partitions above. Plumbing was also a nightmare because of my layout and having my chase in the wrong area/not having enough chases.

There are always workarounds for issues like this, but if you want to make really good plans, IMO, you will consider the work of every sub when designing the house, including framers, roofers, plumbers, electricians, HVAC, finish carpenters, insulators, drywallers, etc. Without any housebuilding experience, you won't have this knowledge...

[Dave13]

I agree with the idea of trying to keep the sub's in mind when drafting house plans That way you keep everyone happy. :D

[Sweep]

The state building code will tell you what is required for a permit but it is better to just ask the local inspector what he wants. He will probably hand you a sheet he has prepared since he is asked that question often. Most states require an architect to design and supervise buildings over a certain size which is intended to exclude one & two family homes. You can design the house and probably act as the general contractor. A man's home is his castle.

Knowing CAD can be helpful but if you don't know how to build a house you won't be able to draw anything that is any more useful to a builder than a free-hand drawing, however, it might suffice for the building department with a lot of help from someone who does know how to build.

The drawings submitted to the building department must show that you have met all the zoning and building code requirements. Saying you intend to meet code requirements is not enough, you have to spell it out. The drawings must include location on the property (surveyor usually required, get that started first!) plans of foundation, floors and roof, framing (with engineers stamp if anything is not from the code tables), sheathing, insulation, etc. Electrical, plumbing and HVAC drawings are usually not required but you will have to show smoke detector locations. (Good luck there, the local smoke detector inspector failed the inspection at his house in an adjacent town)

How to draw elevations on CAD - the no-brainer method.

Draw the plans, each on a different layer, (put notes, etc. on other layers). then turn on all floors layers on (without notes layers, etc.) and copy them three times horizontally leaving a bit of space between them. Turn each plan 90 degrees as you place it. Open another layer for elevations over the one of the plan layer. Only make the elevation layer active. Draw each of the elevations just below each of the plans moving from first to second floor as needed. They can be close because when you finally print, the other layer won't be on. Some CAD programs will project lines in the plan down to the elevation. I usually just drop reference lines using different colors so I can tell what is what when I zoom in on the elevations. Of course all of the horizontal lines align from one elevation to the other so just extend them or copy them over. Don't forget that the grade may vary on each elevation. If something is back far enough beyond the front plane of the building it may deserve an elevation of its own. Note this well. Use the elevation to show window types (symbols that key to a schedule) Doors are usually keyed on the plan unless they are glass sliders or other doors supplied by a window manufacturer. Show projected sub-floor level (not finish-floor) with dot-dash line at side of each elevation drawing. Provide important heights above the sub-floor line (all horizontal dimensions are shown on the plans so don't show them twice). Show exterior materials, changes in foundation depth with dotted line, exterior lighting, and locations of section drawings (vertical line with arrow symbol at top showing which way the drawing faces).

Most horizontal line locations on the elevations are determined by FIRST drawing a rough section through the house. Be sure to get good help with that drawing so you don't have to revise the elevations later. If you are starting to get confused about where to put something, print the elevation and sketch over it on yellow tracing paper until you feel good about it. CAD is too precise and complicated to be a good designers tool. Be selective about who you ask to give their opinion of the design; good design is rarely based on consensus. Stop when you are tired or stumped and take a walk looking for nice houses or look at a house magazine to get back to reality.

The only CAD program that allows you to design easily in 3D is SketchUp. You can download it and use it for a limited number of hours for free. I guess you could print elevation views and add hand lettered notes for a permit. I believe AutoCAD floor plan files can be imported and used as the basis of a 3D drawing.

http://www.sketchup.com/markets/gis.php

[Thumper]

Naaa any fool can draw up house plans and the local permit folks will stamp pretty much anything if they aren't in such a bad mood to really look at em' besides the GC can always fix and adjust for anything unusual on the fly - they live for entertaining concepts & change orders don't they? :wink:

[Sweep]

Here is a list of requirements for a town near me.

www.town.needham.ma.us/Building/BuildingDepartmentInformationDetailedOnPlan.htm

[bkrahmer]

Every locale has different requirements. Where I'm building, there is no building department. You get a building locate permit, and that's it. They don't want to see what the house looks like, there are no inspections. All they want is a drawing showing where on your lot you are putting said building...

[Cole]

Damn, I wish we had those regulations.^^^

[Sweep]

I built a house in Vermont when there was no building code but that was in 1973. I am curious to know what state doesn't have a building code today?

[bkrahmer]

No way Cole. We couldn't trust the Texans that much... :P

[Sweep]

The Indiana Residential Code 2001 Edition is available for download at

http://www.IN.gov/dhs/osbc/techserv/osbc_prom_codes.html

[Sweep]

bkrahmer, you said there was no building department and no inspections where you are building, but you also said you passed your electrical and plumbing inspections recently... Did you move? or did I miss something?

[bkrahmer]

In Idaho, there are three counties that don't have a building department. That doesn't mean things aren't supposed to be done to code (UBC), but that there is noone to enforce them. They are talking about bringing them back due to excessive leins. I heard there was over 100 last year, due to customers refusing to pay for shoddy work and noone to inspect it. However, a lot of the people up here dislike any additional forms of government, so it will be interesting to see what happens.

The department of public safety (or something) has plumbing and electric bureaus, and they have their own permitting and inspections. As of Jan 1, they also have mechanicals inspected, but I was grandfathered. That would have included my gas lines, water heater and radiant system.