“House Plans, Building Plans, Construction Drawings and Architectural Plans” All these phrase can be used interchangeable. Let us explore what are House plans, how House plans are used and who needs a set of House plans.
What are House plans? A set of House Plans can be described as an orderly step by step conception of a proposed building with graphically illustrated details showing building components, dimensions, materials, installation techniques.
How House plans are used? Have you ever used a recipe to cook a particular meal? Recipe provides step by step guidelines to get the task done correctly. A set of House plans are similar the plans provide graphical guides, notes and specifications to get your building built correctly.
Imagine building without a set of House plans; building any building is a complex task mainly due to the many players, materials and components involved. It is side track and forget small details if you do not have detail guides illustrating how to get the house built; where to put what, how far the door should be from the staircase.. etc, all those details are graphically represented on a set of House plans giving the builder less room for error on your house.
Who needs a set of House plans? You may need a set of plans if you are planning to build a new home or do an addition to your existing home. Proceed to start build without a set of plans may cost you thousands and it may cost you your life due to building an unsafe building. Another application of House plans is building change of use eg. Residential space to commercial space, this is done mainly to illustrate your building to your local building authority so they can evaluate whether it will fit and safe for the proposed change of use.
House Plans are mainly enforced as a safety measure for you and your local building authority. House plans are designed, developed and drawn based on best practices. Building codes offers comprehensive guidelines which are studied and various sections of the code are used to regulate all House plans which are developed.
If you need more information and guidance for your project, feel free to get in our insider portal and download our Caribbean Construction planning Manual.