Expert: Richard Taylor, AIA - 2/9/2005

Question
Is there a location to buy stock blueprints on cd or other methods for residential construction without buying an astronomically priced set of documents through a magazine, book or online?  I am starting a residential construction business and I can't afford to buy 1 set at a time at $500-$1,000 a set.  I would like to have a database of ull construction documents on cd for my customers to choose from, then be able to print at a local blue printer and estimate off of a hard copy of the blueprints.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Ryan Lynch
RPL Construction

Answer
Ryan:

Thanks for your question!

You're probably not going to find "full" CDs anywhere for less than $500-$1000.  In fact, the plans you buy from the internet or through plan mills for that price probably aren't even full sets - they're close, but they don't have enough structural information, don't have a site plan, and have to be reviewed for compliance with local codes.  We're asked all the time to bring plan book drawings up to snuff and they always need a lot of work to be ready to submit for permits.

Frankly, $500-$1000 for a good set of drawings of a well-designed house is a steal.  In this business, you get what you pay for.

Additionally, creating a "database" of plans at your office that you'll build from may get you into copyright trouble.  Most plans are sold with the restriction that you may only use them once - after that you have to pay the licensing fee again.  Some of the plan companies are very aggressive about pursuing copyright infringement.  Just something to be aware of!

What I'd suggest you do is buy a bunch of plan books (or CDs) with houses of the size and style you like - good ones are less than $50 and include dozens of plans - and let your clients select from that.  Then order a set of prints for the house and charge it to the client.  Very little cost to you and you get to show your clients a wide variety of house designs (and avoid copyright trouble).  Make them pay for the plans before you estimate the job - otherwise you'll spend endless hours putting bids together just to hear, "thanks, we're going to look around for a while yet".  They're asking you for a big commitment of time - they should be willing to make a commitment of cash.  If not, let them go down the road to the next guy who'll work for them for nothing!

Alternatively, you could consider doing the plans yourself.  I've worked with quite a number of small builders who do their own plans - they can give the customer exactly what they want and control costs.  Many of those builders use SoftPlan (www.softplan.com) to prepare the plans - it's easy to learn and use and produces high-quality documents (and nice 3D stuff to impress your clients).  SoftPlan also sells some plans on CD, might be worth checking out.

Can I give you a little more unsolicited advice from someone who's been in this business over 20 years?  If you start out cheap, you'll attract cheap clients.  If you want quality clients who want to spend an appropriate amount of money to get their project done properly (and pay you properly), then you have to present yourself as the guy who can deliver that level of quality.  Buying cheap plans is a dead end.  You'll get a reputation for doing cheap homes and that's very hard to overcome.  You'll also be competing on price alone and that is a hard life.

Do what other start-up businesses do: put together a good business plan, go out and get a loan, and use the money to buy some good designs, furnish a nice space to meet with your clients, and do some well-placed advertising - maybe a good website.  Promote yourself as the quality guy and you'll attract quality clients (i.e., clients with enough money).  Reputation is everything in homebuilding - most work comes from satisfied clients.

Hope this helps!

Richard Taylor, AIA
Richard Taylor Architects, LLC
www.rtastudio.com