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What is the best way to get house plans for my new home building project?
Certainly, there are many ways that you can get your house plans. Architects, residential designers, drafters and structural engineers can all prepare house plans and floor plans for you. Many times you can find a “Design Build” contractor who can design your home and prepare blueprints for you.
The quickest, easiest, and least costly way would usually be to purchase pre-drawn and engineered house plans from a stock house plan book or website. These will not be truly custom house plans as they would need to be drawn by an architect (or other designer) exclusively for you.
You can purchase these house plans, both online and off, for a few hundred dollars. You can also ask them if they offer the flexibility of customizing the plans. I advise you to ask them also if they will provide a detailed list of all the materials called for in the construction of the home. This will be a big help when pricing out the materials package before building.
Now, there’s a big word of caution before you purchase! Always check with your local building authorities as well as any Home Owners Association to see if there are restrictions about who you can use to design your plans or where you can purchase plans. It could actually be illegal to have plans prepared out of state/province or jurisdiction.
Or you may have to use an architect from an approved list of architects.
