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With so many options to buy a stock House Plan, why would one need to hire an Architect, or Drafter/Designer to create a custom plan? The reasons are many and varied.
There is more to a permittable building plan than just a Floor Plan and Elevations.
A Stock Plan may look good, but may lack some elements on your wishlist, or have elements you will not be happy with over time. A Stock Plan may be acceptable, but not actually be your Dream Home. As a Homeowner looking to build your home, building from a stock plan may be no better than buying an existing house.
A Stock Plan is designed either to a typical lot size in a particular area, or was designed to a specific lot and conditions. A house designed to a typical lot assumes dimensions, setbacks, and the shape being absolutely rectangular with perpendicular lot lines. These elements of a building lot are rarely uniform in reality. Particularly the shape of the lot. A building lot in reality may have skewed lot lines, which can reduce the actual usable building space of the lot. The Municipality governing the building lot may have differing setbacks and maximum lot coverage from the presumptions used to design the stock plan. This will also reduce the actual usable building space of the lot. By hiring an Architect, or Drafter/Designer to create a custom plan, this designer will take into account all these constraining code, ordinance, architectural review, and site conditions, along with your wishlist of desires of your dream home to create plan that is permittable in the location you new home is to be built.
The Structural Elements. The building techniques, materials, and structural requirements differ from geographical region to geographical region. Because of this, a Stock Plan may or may not be offered with the structural pages and details. As an example; In Northern regions the bottom of the foundation is required to be a certain depth below the freeze line and the foundation elements are designed to meet this requirement. This requirement is a main factor in the decision of having a basement. In more southerly regions, there is not a freeze line, allowing the foundation to be shallower, and site conditions may preclude a structural element, such as a basement. Other conditions will guide the structural design of the building, such as; High winds, seismic activity, expansive soils, the existance of hardpan soil, slopes, wetlands, etc. As such, unless your building lot is prepared, pre-terraformed, pre-developed to a specific standard, the structural elements of the plan really need to be customized.
Site Plan. The Site Plan is an element/page of the plan that shows the size, shape and dimensions of the building lot and the placement and size of the structure and amenities of the project and proving thier conformance to the applicable Codes and Ordinances of the governing municipality. The Architect, or Drafter/Designer is, and should be, responsible for the Site Plan. Even so, some elements of the Site Plan; Septic System, Wetland Mitigation, Drainage and Retention, Tree removal and preservation; may need to be sub-contracted out for design with the Architect, or Drafter/Designer as the coordinator.
While, yes, there are Municipalities out there that require minimal documentaion to build, most require a comprhensive, detailed plan for Permit Review. This plan must meet the physical constraints of the site and the constraints of the local Codes and Ordinances. An Architect, or Drafter/Designer is desirable to create such a Custom Plan
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