Drafting Service Level E produces a set of house plans that is comparable to those you would receive from a draftsman or home designer in regards to the quality of service, drawing contents, and fee. The benefit of obtaining this service from Warren instead of a draftsman or home designer is simple, it is being provided by a licensed architect who specializes in residential projects at a price competitive with unlicensed and less knowledgeable individuals. This service provides you with house plans at the lowest price possible while being drawn to conform with local codes and home construction practices. This service typically results in 5 to 6 pages of Construction Documents for a single story home.
The Level E Drafting Service will not always be offered; to qualify for this service, the client must be looking to build a home utilizing standard construction on a fairly level lot which has no unusual site conditions (example: home may not be located within a flood zone). The home must also be structurally simple and straight forward while having a simple roof design. For this service, the client must provide an accurate drawing of the desired floor plan locating all walls, doors, cabinets, appliances, equipment, and fixtures. Also required is an overall list of specifications including items such as type of wall construction, exterior finishes, roof slope, ceiling height, etc. The home design provided by the client must also have a floor plan layout that would be desirable to others and must not infringe on any copyrights. If the client is having difficulty finalizing the floor plan design of the house and/or its structure, Warren can provide consultation services at his hourly rate to review and comment on the design being produced, to answer any questions, and to assist in the design process.
The positive aspects of the drafting service is that it has a low fee and fast turnaround time once Warren is provided with a home design that is ready to convert into construction documents. The negative aspect of this service is that, although the house plans will contain enough information to obtain a construction permit, it leaves much to be interpreted by the contractor and subcontractors during construction. Many contractors like this because there is not much for the home owner to hold them too contractually but this is bad for the home owner. Within limits, the more information you have in the construction documents, the better off you are. For this reason and many others, we highly recommend utilizing our Designer Services (Levels C and D) which provide a nice balance between fee, detailing, customization, and service.