You should be aware that there are no education, training, experience, or licensing requirements for a person to provide residential design services. Commercial projects on the other hand do required a license. Regarding residential projects though, if you take a person who has no background in or knowledge of construction whatsoever and put a pencil or computer in their hand, they can present themselves as a draftsman or designer. Some draftsmen and designers do of course have more education and experience than others though and most do have the ability to operate computerized drafting programs. Knowing how to draw in the computer is only the very beginning of the knowledge one needs in order to properly design and document a construction project.
A licensed Architect on the other hand is a professional who possesses a great deal of education, training, and experience relating to the design and construction of buildings. To obtain an Architect's license, one must go through a lengthy process which takes a minimum of 9 years to complete. The process commonly takes longer though for a variety of reasons. The process of obtaining an architecture license begins with acquiring a 5 year Professional or 6 year Masters Degree from an accredited college or university. Whether the Architect has a 5 or 6 year degree will often be determined by which college or university they attended. After college, a regulated internship is required under the supervision of a licensed Architect. The internship, in most states takes a minimum of 3 years to complete, approximately 2.5 years in Florida if the candidate has a 6 year Masters Degree in Architecture. During the internship, the candidate must acquire a regulated amount of experience in a variety of areas within the profession. In addition to the education and internship requirements, like most professionals, there is a licensing exam (exams in this case) that must be passed. Architects, at the time Architect Warren E. Barry obtained his license, had to pass 9 licensing exams. Once the education, internship, and exams have been completed, a submittal to the state of documentation verifying completion of these items is made for review in order to finalize the process and obtain a license. Once licensed, Architects must continually participate in continuing education courses that keep their knowledge up to date in order to maintain their license for renewal every two years. Draftsmen and designers are not required to have any of this, they have, to their credit, often times gone through some sort of short term high school or vocational drafting classes though.
In summary, if you want someone who has the proper training, experience, and knowledge to design your residential or commercial project, the first thing you should be looking for is a valid architecture license. Some will argue that Architects cost more than unlicensed individuals. In some cases this is true (as well as justified) but at W.E.B. Designs, we offer a range of services that span from drafting services to architectural services, all priced competitively and appropriately in relation to the service provided with each. Therefore, we can meet your needs no matter what your expectations or budget may be.
The design and detailing of a home or commercial building is important and should not be negated in order to save money on the plans. Although cutting corners on the design and documentation process will save money on the plans, this savings is minimal in relation to the total investment in a project and can cost you much more in the long run than what you save.
Obtaining a quality service is money very well spent for the following reasons. First, obtaining a poor quality design service and construction documents that lack proper detailing can result in a project that has an increased cost of upkeep (utility bills and maintenance). Second, a poor quality service can result in projects with a lower resale value compared with the project having been designed to be aesthetically pleasing, functional, and resistant to damage from its occupants and the elements (rain, wind, water vapor, heat, insects, etc.). Third, a poor quality service is also likely to result in a completed project which you may be unhappy with for any number of reasons. When spending so much money on land and construction, trying to save what is a relatively small amount of money on the design service which has a major impact on the actual and perceived value of the project is not a very wise decision to make.
There are a number of reasons why a quality set of construction documents are important. First, a quality set of plans, produced by a qualified, caring, and thorough individual, can be constructed as designed if the plans are followed. Poor quality plans often result in problems and conflicts during construction which require adjustments to the design for resolution. These “on site” or “field” adjustments often result in conditions which are functionally and/or visually undesirable.
Second, a quality set of construction documents also contains enough detail within them for you to see and verify that the finished product is what you want. What good is it to go through the process of having a home or building built just for you if what you end up with is not what you expected, or worse, something you dislike? Minor adjustments can be made during construction but these can result in prolonged construction time and change orders, both of which have the capability of translating into a significant increase in the cost of construction.
Third, the construction documents are a major part of the contract between the home owner and the contractor. Plans with little detail require the contractor and their workers to interpret the lack of detail as they see fit into the final construction. The contractor’s goal is to earn a profit, if something is not detailed they are likely to build it the most profitable (cheapest) way they can while abiding by what detail does exist in the plans. The solution they choose may or may not meet your expectations; and if it does not, there is not much you can do about it but spend more money to revise it.
Fourth, more information incorporated into the plans, and more up front planning, translates into fewer decisions that need to be made during construction. This reduces the need for you to make quick and/or on the spot decisions and also reduces the amount of time you must spend working with the contractor during construction. The electrical layout is a great example of this. Many draftsmen lay out the electrical plan to simply meet code and the electricians do an on site walk through with you during construction to finalize the design. The on site walk through is good because you will almost certainly change your mind about something between the time the drawings are made and the time the electrical is being installed. This is not the time however to design an elaborate electrical layout for the entire structure. It is likely to be very hot (or cold), humid, noisy, and dusty on site at this stage of construction. You are also likely to be concerned about the amount of someone’s time that you are consuming during this meeting. These are factors that can contribute to you possibly rushing your decisions. Rushed decisions, and those that are not well thought out, are often those which are changed after work has begun. Changes during construction can add considerable cost to the project. Planning the electrical layout as much as possible during the design phase reduces the number of on site decisions to be made and allows you to have the opportunity to go over the layout at your convenience, at your own pace, and in the comfort of your current home or office. You can then have a briefer walk through meeting with the electrician during construction and be much happier with the final layout without making as many changes. This is only one example of the benefits of having detail in the plans, but it holds true for many of the decisions that have to be made.
There are many books and magazines which sell stock house plans (or pre-designed house plans) for low prices. The disadvantage of this is that the plans are commonly designed for northern regions and include basements and other design features not suitable for Florida. The plans are also not typically designed to comply with local building codes or construction standards. This is especially true in Florida due to Florida having its own state building code. Florida requires unique construction when compared to much of the country due to wind forces from hurricanes. Instead of being designed to comply with the Florida Building Code and Florida construction standards, the majority of stock plans from magazines are designed to meet the International Residential Code. If purchased, as a result, these plans often need to be modified at additional costs to comply with local building practices and codes. These changes will commonly be made by either a company outside of Florida which may not be familiar with Florida construction or by a local person of your choice who’s fee will also be on top of the cost of purchasing the original plans. When the plans are complete, the total cost of the plans, along with the required adjustments and any other requested design changes, can cost more than having purchased plans from someone in Florida to begin with.
There are a number of items that must be obtained and submitted to the building department in order to obtain a construction permit for a single family home. These items include the architectural drawings, structural drawings, the truss package, air conditioning design, energy calculations, and Florida product approval numbers. These must be submitted to the building department along with all their applicable paperwork, forms, and fees. In summary, the architectural drawings document what the home will look like, where everything is, and to varying levels of detail what materials are to be used. Although this may sound simple, there is a tremendous amount of knowledge, training, and experience that goes into preparing a quality set of plans that can be constructed as drawn, properly address thermal and moisture considerations, and results in an attractive and functional design. The structural drawings document things like what thickness of plywood/OSB is to be used on the roof, how far apart nails should be, the size of foundations, the type of hurricane straps, etc. The structural drawings are the result of mathematical calculations used to determine what needs to be done to ensure that the construction will stand up under its own weight, weight added by its occupants, and environmental forces such as wind from hurricanes. The truss package is prepared by the company who builds and delivers the pre-fabricated roof and floor trusses, as applicable, to the project site. In a quality architectural service, the truss package should be reviewed by both the architect and the structural engineer for compliance with the architectural design and so that foundations and interior bearing walls can be properly located and sized. The air conditioning design (referred to as Manual J and D), is the selection of the air conditioning equipment and the preliminary layout of the ductwork to be installed. The energy calculations are used to show that the project is energy efficient enough to comply with the energy codes. Finally, as a rule of thumb, products and materials to be installed on the exterior that will keep wind and water out of the home are required to have a Florida product approval number. These numbers must be submitted to the building department as well. This requirement is to confirm to the building department that the products have been properly tested to withstand the elements such as hurricanes which are common to Florida.
If you are considering using the services of Architect Warren E. Barry, the following is who you should expect to obtain each of the above requirements from. If you will be using one of Warren’s Designer Service Levels, Warren not only prepares your architectural drawings but will also coordinate with the truss manufacturer and structural engineer so that when his services are complete, you will have all the architectural and structural content that your contractor will need to provide to the building department. If you will be using the services of a licensed contractor to construct your home (which is highly recommend unless you have a great deal of construction knowledge and a lot of free time on your hands) the contractor should obtain the ac design and energy calculations from their selected subcontractors. Unless a project is highly custom or very large and/or complex, it is typically more beneficial and cost effective for the ac design and energy calculations to be obtained from the subcontractors who will do the work during construction. The architectural plans do however plan ahead for these systems to be incorporated into the design and provide generalized specifications to the subcontractors. The contractor should also submit for the building permit on your behalf which would include them providing the Florida product approval numbers based on the manufacturer and model number specific products that the contractor will utilize. If you will be utilizing one of Warren’s Architectural Service Levels, Warren coordinates all of the above into the plans. The contractor however still applies for the building permit. If you are considering the Drafting Service Level, which is not recommended, Warren will coordinate with the structural engineer only and all other information must be obtained by your contractor.