FOR PROPERTY OWNERS
Building it yourself? Get the drawings the city will review.
You can run the job, line up the trades and talk to the inspector. What stops most owner-builders is the plan set: the sheets, the code notes and the details a plan checker expects to see. We draw that part for a fixed price and hand the files to you.
- ✓ A fixed fee before you pay anything
- ✓ Half to start, half on delivery
- ✓ Plan check corrections included
- ✓ Your name on the permit, our drawings behind it
What it costs to have your permit drawings done
Most owner projects land between $1,200 and $3,000. The rule is $1 per square foot of drawn floor area with a $1,200 minimum, and a small new house under 1,200 sq ft is priced at $195 per sheet because it needs nearly as many sheets as a big one.
That fee covers the drawings. If your county wants a sealed structural design or a survey, you pay the engineer or surveyor directly; we tell you which ones you need before you commit, and we coordinate with them so you aren't the go-between.
| Project | Drawn area | Fixed fee | What sets the fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner-built small house12 sheets × $195 | 400 sq ft | $2,340 | 12 sheets × $195 |
| Garage to bedroom suiteProject minimum | 400 sq ft | $1,200 | Project minimum |
| Rental interior renovation$1 per sq ft | 1,560 sq ft | $1,560 | $1 per sq ft |
| Rear addition tied into existing rooms$1 per sq ft | 1,500 sq ft | $1,500 | $1 per sq ft |
Drawn area includes existing rooms the new work ties into, which is why a 272 sq ft addition can carry 1,480 sq ft of drawn area. Your quote explains the number.
What the drawing set includes
Owners usually ask what a complete set even is. Here's what we produce for a typical house project:
A-0Cover and code summary
The code editions your city enforces and a sheet index. Plan checkers notice when this is missing.
A-1Site plan
Lot lines, setbacks and where the work sits, drawn from your survey or parcel record.
A-2Existing and proposed floor plans
Dimensioned, with doors, windows, egress and smoke alarm locations.
A-3Elevations
Every side, with heights and materials.
A-4Sections and details
How the walls, floor and roof are built, with insulation values.
E / PElectrical and plumbing
Outlets, lighting, panel, fixtures and venting.
What the fee doesn't cover
We'd rather you hear about these now than at plan check. None of them are hidden fees of ours; they're paid to other people, and we tell you up front which ones your project needs.
- An engineer's seal
- Some projects need one, especially new structural framing, large openings in bearing walls, or new homes in high-wind zones. You hire the engineer directly and we draft to their design. Budget roughly $1,200 to $1,800 on a typical house job.
- A survey
- If your county wants a boundary or topographic survey, you order it. We'll say exactly which one; a boundary and topo survey on an Englewood, Florida lot in September 2026 quoted $575.
- Permit fees
- Paid to the city when you submit.
Tried drawing it with ChatGPT?
Plenty of our clients did. One New Jersey homeowner spent five or six hours with ChatGPT working through his sunroom sheets before he called us, and got a long way: the sheet list, the general notes, a rough layout. What he couldn't get was the site-specific part, like the beam sizes, the roof slope the code allows for his roofing, the energy numbers for his windows, and the dozen items still marked "verify" or "TBD".
That's the part a plan checker reads closely. Send us whatever the AI produced along with your measurements and photos; it often shortens the job, and the quote stays fixed either way.
Can you submit homeowner-prepared plans?
Sometimes. Some jurisdictions let an owner submit plans they prepared for their own house without a professional seal, within limits on size and structure. The same New Jersey homeowner got that confirmed by his construction official, along with the catch: you can't take someone else's architectural drawings and put your own name on them.
So ask your building department two questions before you order anything: does this project need a licensed professional's seal, and who may sign the plans? Tell us the answers (or let us check) and we'll scope the set to fit. Where a seal is required, we bring the engineer in; where it isn't, you submit our drawings yourself.
Questions people ask before they order
Do I need an architect to get a residential permit?
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Often not. Many single-family remodels, additions and small new homes can be permitted with drawings from a drafter, as long as any structural design that needs an engineer's seal gets one. Rules vary by state and city, so we check yours when we quote.
I'm an owner-builder. Can I hire you directly?
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Yes. Most of our 2026 requests came from owners pulling their own permits. You contract with us for the drawings and with any engineer or surveyor directly; we coordinate between them.
Can you use the plans I started myself?
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Yes. Send sketches, photos, an old plan set, or the drawings you made with ChatGPT or SketchUp. We use them as reference and redraw the set properly.
What if the city sends the plans back?
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We revise free for every round of plan check comments, within the scope you approved. Approval is up to the building official, so we don't promise it, but we keep answering until the comments are cleared.
How do I pay?
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Half when you approve the quote, half when the drawings are delivered. No retainer and no hourly billing.
Related: What is in a permit set · ADU plans · Garage conversions · Additions · Stamp rules by state · Price rules
Tell us what you're building
A sketch and rough dimensions are enough to start. You'll get a fixed fee and a delivery date within 2 working hours.
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