Brewster's Drafting House

You've been saving inspirational pictures for years! You just bought a new house and are looking to transform it into your dream home!

Step #1 begins with you, the homeowner. You have a vision for your home that you're looking to complete, but you have either a Homeowner's Association, City, General Contractor OR all of them telling you that you will need to get permits prior to beginning construction.

This is where we at Brewster's Drafting House come in. You'll want to start with a professional who understands your vision, and has worked through the entire process before to help you get started with the next steps.

Step #1 is choosing a draftsman or architect to get your project started and the vision interpreted into 2D plans and possibly 3D for the following steps.

Step #2 involves working with your draftsman or architect to bring your vision to the planning table, producing 2D Floor Plans, Site Plan, Elevations, Cross Sections, Electrical Plans, and a Roof Plan that will tell all of the future parties involved the goal of your project.

Typical Lead Time: Generally, it takes approximately 3-6 weeks for everything in this stage to be completed, assuming no revisions or changes throughout the process (this is very rare).

Parts of Step #2 There's a lot of communication here between the homeowner's inspiration pictures, notes, and goals and then those being incorporated either into an existing structure or plotted onto a piece of land. Here is a quick breakdown of calendar based items to keep in mind that occur during this step:

1. Site Verification: Even if the homeowner is able to provide the existing blueprints, most professionals will want to verify the site for themselves to ensure accuracy when submitting to the city counter.
2. The ASBUILD: This is the part where your draftsman will take the verified site measurements, pictures of existing conditions, and any provided blueprints and import them into a BIM Software to produce scaled and accurate floor plans for modification
3. The NEW DESIGN: Taking what they've discussed with the homeowner or general contractor, your draftsman will then produces a modified version of the structure incorporating the design elements you desire and producing the Proposed Floor Plans
4. Finessing the Final Design: After you've had time to review the proposed floor plans and any 3D renderings or movies provided, it's time to meet with your draftsman and work out all the details of the design, try different options, discuss solutions to problems, and find the dream design for your home!

Checklist for Step #2:

- 2D & 3D designs for the building construction plans

- DWG files for Engineers

Step #3 begins when you have decided you're ready to get bids for the new design you've worked up with your draftsman.

Typical Lead Time: Lead times for engineering have many factors involved. Most commonly seen is a lead time of 3-4 weeks, possibly longer depending on the complexity of your home design from an engineer's viewpoint.

Parts of Step #3 Once you've finalized your architectural plans and design, you're ready to move onto engineering. This is the first 'fork in the road' that you might encounter during this process, but don't worry, there's no bad decision here!

Option #1: From here, you can take your architectural plans and begin getting ballpark estimates with your general contractor, begin shopping general contractors, and start setting up meetings to see who you will work well with. Contractors will always say that they can't give a detailed bid without engineering, thus leading to the next option.

Option #2: You shop and choose an engineering firm, or go with one your draftsman works with often. Your draftsman will be able to provide the engineer with .dwg (or drawing files) that he will be able to use in AutoCAD (the most widely used engineering program) or other CAD programs to do the structural engineering for your home. This is typically another cost to factor into your budget, as the engineer will provide you with their own estimates and bids for doing the structural engineering pages necessary for city permit submittal.

Whichever route you decide to go, you will eventually end up going to the engineer. The bonus of getting engineering done first, is that when you shop with contractors after engineering is completed, they will be able to bid your project down to the penny.

Checklist for Step #3:

- Deciding on an Engineer & General Contractor

- Structural Engineering Pages

- Title 24 & Structural Calculations

Step #4 begins when you have all of the following documentation completed by your draftsman and structural engineer, and have chosen a contractor who will be overseeing the project:

- Architectural Sheets (A-Sheets) scaled typically to 24" x 36" that present Site Plan, General Building Notes, CalGreen Notes, Existing Floor Plans, Proposed Floor Plans, Proposed Elevations, Proposed Cross Sections, Proposed Electrical and Plumbing Plans, and Proposed Roof Plan

- Structural Engineering Sheets (S-Sheets) scaled typically to 24" x 36" that present Foundation Plan, Framing Plan, Structural Details, StrongWall, HardyFrame, and other Structural Components as necessary

- Title 24: Required by California, the Title 24 sheet shows required energy ratings for all things home construction. This is typically available through your engineering firm, but can also be done online once the Architectural and Structural sheets are completed.

- Structural Calculations, printed to 8 1/2" x 11" packet for submittal as an accessory document

Typical Lead Time: Because this is the step where you will be working mainly with your local city counter, they will typically notify you upon first submission of what their current lead times are. Every city is different, so you'll need to rely on what they tell you when you submit.

Parts of Step #3 All parts of Step #3 are determined by the city in which the project is taking place. City counters will have different requirements depending on location. You can generally find a checklist of all the things they require for permit submittal on their website or by visiting the Planning & Building Department.