Chapter Twelve

Plans and Specifications

We assume that you have made arrangements for your house lot and are ready to take the next step. This entails the matter of plans and specifications.

No, do not think in terms of an architect, for a single-family house. Most are not geared for that small a project. We will need them when we build multi-family projects.

Many draftsmen moonlight, or even spend full time drawing plans for small projects. Usually they are actually the same individuals who are employed by architects.

However, they operate in their homes and, contrary to architects, they have no overhead. Thus their charges are much less, and it is natural that they should be. They have eliminated all of the architect's costs and his profit charge.

Actually, their fees are usually about the same as the wages they would receive if they drew the same plans in an architectural office. There is nothing illegitimate about such an arrangement. The profession itself tends to be of a boom or bust nature, and everyone must look out for himself.

Remember, you are attempting to build at the lowest possible cost and, at this juncture, you are saving considerable money.

But how do you find such individuals? There are a number of ways. Sometimes they advertise in the yellow pages or the newspapers. Another good source of information is a lumberyard or even the office from which you secure your building permit.

The latter is not allowed to give recommendations either pro or con. But it can mention names.

After you have located one or two or three prospective draftsmen, it is time to begin negotiations. You may ask, over the telephone, if they specialize in single family houses, and if they do, how they charge? You are not likely to receive a definite sum, as an answer, because they are not aware of the amount of work necessary.

There is some psychology involved in your question. You have conveyed the idea that cost is one of your prime considerations. Some people are not aware of the charges until they receive the final billing. But you are not about to operate in such a reckless manner, either here or anywhere else along the line.

It is necessary that both of you visit your building site together. The purpose is to design a house to make the best use of the lot. The living room usually presents the best view. That might occur from any one of the four sides of the lot.

The location of the garage depends on its proximity to the street and whether it is front or rear entry. Each room may depend somewhat on the way the lot faces. As an example, it wouldn't be very wise to locate a sun porch on the north side of the house.

Copyright ©1995 Robert A. MacDonald, All Rights Reserved.
Last revised: May 10, 1998.