[quote=Rustico] . . . Bg, I have drawn and ran my plans on three houses and have interfaced with planning, building and code compliance on many permits and other items. I have had private professionals interject and tell me that I needed expensive elements that I did not. I have fought off fees that I did not have to pay.I have fought off attempts at forced compliance of scams. I have delt with a tremendous amount of incompetence, carelessness and outright shakedowns on the part of the planning,building and code compliance departments. That you would insinuate that problems mostly arise from being a diyfer is just so wrong on so many fronts. I am sure many are not as prepared to do this as I am, but clearly the failures are on the other side of the counter and with the real professional third parties to a huge extent.[/quote]
I believe you, Rustico, but perhaps you have more time, patience and skill than many DIYers and also know how to “bump yourself to the head of the line,” periodically.
The “system” is not set up for weekend warrior DIY wanna bes and/or persons who have to be somewhere else 8+ hours a day, come rain or shine. Also, persons who make an excess of $200K annually might be better served to collect their $100 hr at work and use their vacation time for . . . well . . . vacations! Even staycations (to supervise construction …lol)!!
I myself have tried to use a couple of different “plan and spec” software pkgs that belonged to friends and they are not for the faint of heart or persons that don’t understand construction basics and terms. They are not all that “user-friendly” either. In addition, no matter how good you are using these pkgs, the plan you created will have to be “tweaked” for your lot by an engineer, who will put his “seal” on them after tweaking, as will all commercial plans you buy for $800 – $2,000. I don’t know how many “hand-drawn” house plans by an individual landowner are accepted outright by cities and counties but would assume that figure is low (less than 1%, except in VERY rural counties such as Inyo, where it might be up to 8%).
Here in Chula, many homeowners go to the planning counter to get the rules on fence height and setbacks for the front of their lots and perhaps are able to install a vinyl fence between themselves and a neighbor. Or other similar small jobs. A great many projects around here (of what were originally permitted as rear “room additions”) go unfinished for years when started by the homeowner themselves.
You are the exception, not the rule, Rustico. You may have a large lot in your rural/semi-rural Jamul. A homeowner in your situation can learn a LOT over the years from planning bureaucrats (out of necessity and survival). I am assuming when you purchased your most recent property, it had a dwelling unit on it (or former “dwelling unit” which could be made habitable) on it and the scope of your “building” on it was limited to a room addition, outbuilding, patios and driveways, fences, moving septic/leachfield, etc. Correct me if I’m wrong here.
Here, the OP has stated he may be interested in building a mid-century modern dwelling. Unless he himself is an architect, he will not be successful in getting any of his “plans” thru the powers-that-be, IMO.
I agree that if permabear should choose one of the plans that an architect has already made a model for and already built (such as the “wedge” example), then he would only need this plan “tweaked” for the vagaries of the lot he chose and additions/deletions. This would only cost $17K to $27K, instead of the $75K+ I allotted here for “design fees.”
Everyone’s skill-sets are different. I’m sure a lot of Piggs which they had your savvy know-how and talents, Rustico.
