Is it worth me trying to do myself

Hi,

I want to apply for planning permission for a small extension to our house. In order to do this I need to have site plans. I have used auto cad in the past for very small projects while at work where everything was already set up and I just had to make small adjustments.

Would it be worth my while trying to create my own plans on cad or more hassel than its worth - to be honest i'm not quite sure where to even start, but the thought of having to pay out hundreds of pounds just for the pre-planning advice puts me off getting done professionally.

Any advice that can be given would be greatly appreciated.

Here in the U.S. a site plan is a drawing that shows the house in relationship to the piece of property it sits upon.

Plans for a small addition typically consist of, at a minimum, a floor plan, possibly a section (or two) and at least two elevations. I think this is what you might be referring to, right?

Check your local building codes. You can probably draw the plans yourself if you have the knowledge and skill, but local codes or ordinances may require having these plans signed off on by a licensed architect or engineer before they will approve your construction permit.

By all means, do it yourself. Not only will it be fun, but the city usually accepts some type of legible hand drawings anyways. I've done a few things for my best friend who remodeled his own house, added a garage in his back yard with concrete driveway that extended and wrapped around the side of his house, and built an awesome attached awning. All three I whipped up a plan view sketch for the city, in which they loved, but he's so inclined mechanically he did all the work himself and turned out great.

I've done several of these types of drawings for friends and they ranged from one to three sheets depending on the amount of work being done and local requirements regarding what drawings will be needed and what has to appear on them.

Do you have any experience with drawing wall sections, elevations and floor plans?

Yes that's right it's floor plans I meant, I already have the site plans.

The only knowledge I really have is working on already set floor plans and removing walls and fitting in furniture. I am usually very good with new software and learn quick but my worry is and this may sound like a really stupid question do I have to go round measuring every room and first doing floor plans of my existing house or would I just be able to get the measurements of entire floor area of the house and then just draw the extension on to that?

This is just for pre planning advice to see if they would even consider allowing the extension.

I really am a complete beginner at all of this, so all your help advice is a heat help thanks.

I think it would be enough to draw the footprint of the existing house with the addition of the new extension. I see no need (your local officials may disagree) to draw everything as though it was an entire new build.

Great, I will give it a go, nothing to lose.

Thanks for all your advice

I do hope you are going to draw everything full size in model space and make use of a layout and viewports. That's what you planned on doing right?

I think it would be enough to draw the footprint of the existing house with the addition of the new extension. I see no need (your local officials may disagree) to draw everything as though it was an entire new build.

I have a customer that does renos and add ons in California of all places and I do a lot of his plans. Usually, they want to see a very general floor plan and elevations that show existing stuff like doors and windows. You'll need details of new construction, but they most likely have the plans on record of the existing building already if it was built after they started keeping records.

Even if your locality won't accept your plans - turning them over to a licensed architect or engineer as needed should cost you less than if they had to start from scratch.

but the thought of having to pay out hundreds of pounds just for the pre-planning advice puts me off getting done professionally.

More like thousands of pounds.

If you can, do it yourself.

More like thousands of pounds.

There's inflation for you...... but totally unrealistic

I had an architect tell me once after protesting what I thought was a ridiculous fee that I wasn't paying for what he did, I was paying for what he knew. I told him that while that was all well and good, what he didn't know was that if he didn't reduce that fee to a reasonable level, he would never get another dime out of me for another project!

We finally came to an understanding, I paid a fee that was still too high but considerably less than the first figure, and went out and found myself another artichoke to deal with.

Many architects will charge a fee that is based on a percentage of the estimated cost to build. So if that new house in Park City, Utah is going to run you $450,000 you can expect to pay anywhere from $31,000 to $45,000 for a full set of plans, details and specifications. Some architects base their fees on so many dollars per square foot. Want a 10,000 sq. ft. house instead of a 6,000 sq. ft. house? You're gonna need a bigger bank balance!

I want to apply for planning permission for a small extension to our house.

Based on the information in the original post, I would have thought that hundreds is nearer the mark.