How to Own an Architect House Plan
Architectural house plans are acquired by contacting and working with an architect. The design process for houses follows five steps: schematic design, or initial scheme; design development, or embellishment of the scheme; contract documentation, drawing and documenting the project for general contractors to build; bidding or contract negotiation between the owner and the general contractor; and contract administration, or ensuring the construction follows the architect and owner's design. The design process can take one to 12 months, depending on the scale of the project. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Hire an architect. Schedule a time you can get together to discuss the project. Come with a list of the rooms and your desires for the house, as well as your estimated budget. Expect to meet with your architect at least once a week as the project develops through schematic design to design development and finally to construction documents.
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Give the architect constructive criticism when he or brings three or four designs for review so he has direction in order to design the perfect home for you. This process will continue through schematic design to design development. After design development, the architect will draw up the final drawings in the construction documents phase. This stage takes the longest amount of time, so be patient as the architect creates the drawings.
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Pay the architect any outstanding fees. The architect will hand over the final drawings. You will then have an architect's plan for your house. Standard legal conditions say you are not able to own the drawings unless there is a stipulation in your agreement with the architect--the architect owns the copyright for the drawings and construction documents unless the architect agrees to release it. You will nevertheless have full rights for use of the drawings when building on your site.
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References
- Photo Credit house plans image by Christopher Hall from Fotolia.com
