Well now Greg ole boy. Being that I am one of those “unlicensed” designers, I feel qualified to reply to your allegations about us “cheap” plan makers. Your are absolutely correct!

Without two things an architectural designer cannot hope to be an accomplished professional. One of those things is the schooling needed to give one the skills, the other relates to Architects as well… Practical hands on experience in building from a set of construction documents.

Oh! There is a third thing that is necessary for the DRAFTSMAN, which is what we really are, that is to work closely with a qualified engineer – or with an understanding Architect.

I say qualified engineer because I have known, and inadvertently worked with, engineers whose only interest is to stamp the plans and take your check. In my opinion they are worse than the unlicensed draftsmen.

Interestingly, in Florida a draftsman/designer cannot even use the word “Architectural” in his description of work.
Also, I have worked under and for Architects that have no business being called such. A carpenter knows more about building design than some I have been associated with. I am referring to the design element here, but I have also had some bad experiences over the last 50 and more years in the construction end of an Architect or two. That is I have had to correct his drawings. I concede that it was probably drawn by a hired draftsman, but the Architect is ultimately responsible for what leaves his office.

Lastly, there are some of us out here that don’t get a lot of redlines from our engineers or Architects because we have had the hands on training in the field for many years before we are forced by our dysfunctional bodies to move on to another form of work in order to survive. In my case it was a pretty natural thing to slide into drafting and design. We (I) keep up with code changes and other things that affect our industry. It helped also to take the contractors exam in Florida, that allowed a deeper understanding of code requirements.

One last thing…. It is a feather in my cap, I believe, to have my engineer call and ask my opinion on how a certain part of a project of his own should go together. And he is an extremely well qualified engineer. There was a plan hung on the wall of the county building department with a note stating ‘this is how a plan should be drawn’!

By the way… we are cheaper of our own selves, but when you add the engineering in, we are no longer that much “cheaper”. And in Florida if the plans aren’t sealed by a professional, the plans aren’t.

That was fun. Be seeing you. Sooner than you might expect.

Ralph
Ralph Maugeri () - 14 05 08 - 23:53

Ralph: Thanks for the frank and honest comments. I know you are one of the better designers out there. But I was writing from my continual experience with mail order plans that clients bring to me to modify or review and I always find substatial problems with them. I know that your work isn’t mail order and is more custom for builders, developers, or owners. Actually I wish there were more like you in the industry.
Greg Grew - Grew Design () (URL) - 08 07 08 - 05:44

Hi Greg,
If I may, I would like to point you to an organization called The American Institute of Building Design (AIBD). The AIBD is an organization for those of us Residential Designers or “Unlicensed” designers. One of the goals of the AIBD is to educate the general public on how to select an “Unlicensed” designer without getting the dud you speak of in your blog post. A Professional AIBD member must provide plan sets to be reviewed for completeness and also must provide letters of recommendations to become a member. Professional members must also obtain CEU’s throughout the year. By joining the AIBD as a professional member, a Residential Designer shows that they are competent in creating a set of working drawings and that they are serious about their profession, and not just some guy or gal drawing plans off their kitchen table. Another option for a Residential Designer to prove his or her worth is to take a two day test with several sections given by the National Council of Building Designer Certification (NCBDC). By taking the test and passing all sections a designer will earn the title of Certified Professional Building Designer (CPBD). A CPBD must also maintain CEU’s and must provide plans and letters of recommendation before they can take the test.
I guess I just wanted to point out and reinforce that although we are “Unlicensed” there is a group of us that do care, that do strive to be great designers, and that can compete with Licensed Architects. Unfortunately there are individuals in both licensed and unlicensed categories that are not doing there jobs correctly and should not be designing structures.
In regards to the plan book plans not being up to snuff, I agree, there probably many plans in the books or on the web that are not good plans, but there are many that are good and are created by competent Designers and Architects. Many people want a custom built home but don’t have the resources to pay for a custom design. Plan books and web sites offer these people the ability to buy a pre-drawn plan and live in a non-cookie cutter home without shelling out tens of thousands for plans. My only advice to a plan book shopper is “Buyer Beware and don’t think you are going to go to the permit office without having a local, competent design professional look at the plans and bring them up to the local code and building standards. If you go with a $1,000 plan off the web or from a book, look to spend another couple of thousand locally to get it where it needs to be for construction in your area.”
Thanks for your time,
-Andy Melaragno CPBD AIBD
www.melaragno.com
P.S. If interested the AIBD web address is http://www.aibd.org….We even let in Architects! :)
Andrew Melaragno () (URL) - 09 04 09 - 13:29

Andrew:
I appreciate your comments and I agree that AIBD has done a lot to enhance the knowledge and professionalism of residential designers. However, some of the problem designs that have come across my desk were from AIBD members. As I acknowledge in my article architects are not immune from a lack of competence either. Perhaps the increasing complexity of the International Residential Code will help weed out those designers who can’t keep up and prepare code-compliant and technically feasible designs.
Greg Grew - Grew Design () (URL) - 20 05 09 - 19:59

Andrew and Others,
While I hold great respect for Registered Architects and Designers I also understand that being so does not make one a good residential plan maker. From my experiences with others plans it is apparent that 5 years of art classes,model making, and ethic studies does not brush up on heel heights, bent beams etc. I feel that hands on experience trumps all in this arena but also respect that education can bring a lot to the table. I have worked hard during the years to learn to design structures and am glad I am currently not regulated. As with any service there are good ones and bad ones and it is the consumers responsibility to do their homework to find what they need. Perhaps a few years of digging footings and framing houses should be added to the AIA,AIBD curriculum. As for pricing, it will always be market driven and folks will get what they pay for. If they buy some cheap internet plans then they should not be surprised when they have to spend money to fix them and I for one will be glad to help them do so. Engineers will continue to bare the responsibility of engineering plans for structural integrity and county review boards, building inspectors and contractors will continue to assure code requirements are met and unfortunately this will continue to allow incompetent designers to pass crap for plans along to their unsuspecting clients.
Josh Gray () - 09 06 09 - 11:39

Hi all! I have to agree with fragments of all comments made. While I am a designer too, I don’t take offense to negative comments made towards designers because I know by my own experience that there are designers and architects alike that need improvement.

The topic here is about pre-purchased plans by “bad” designers or architects. I think we all comment here in this discussion because we are knowledgeable professionals. I’ve had my share of reproducing mail order plans from the likes of Southern Living. Even those plans come with caveat and CYA notes all over and when the Owner discovers that they have to get produced construction documents, the buyer has to take the next step and sign up for a qualified person to draw to local codes and conditions. When they find out how much Southern Living Designers charges for that service they walk away because they had no idea that this was going to happen and cost so much. Several thousands BTW. I say shame on those who sell the plans without educating the buyer. But if they did, they would not sell as many plans. By the time they come to the designer they feel they’ve spent their budget because they just don’t know what it requires to have the plans not only be able to be permitted but actually be true working drawings with Design Development coordination, (which I find never exists) structural coordination ect. So what ends up happening is you knock off some of the design fee at the front end to lower the price only to find out that this house design they love is really a plan that they want to change to make it better anyway. Hence is the store bought plan really what they want? No. They like the pretty rendering that is paired up with the plan in the book.

I’m not sure there is much we can do about this. I wish there was a way to educate the buyer about the typical experience and just go for the custom design fee.
Paul Setti, Associate AIA () (URL) - 12 06 09 - 02:22