"Tony Wood" wrote | Anyone know whether it is feasible to draw up plans in a D-I-Y manner | to save costs? | I know a local charity that is hoping to draw up some plans for a | purpose built building (basically portakabin sized - they haven't | ruled out a portakabin) and they want to keep costs minimal, for | obvious reasons. | Is it a big no-no to even consider doing it onesself?
For most small and non-contentious jobs, plans for Planning are usually fairly straightforward. The local planning office will advise which plans and how many are required, but usually it's just an area plan showing the site within the area (this is usually got from Ordnance Survey data, for which a licence must be paid, often the council can do this for you and you colour in the boundary), site plan before and after, elevations before and after, and details of the colour/type of bricks and tiles to be used. The 'home design' CAD packages will usually produce these. However do bear in mind that if an application fails because of inadequate plans, it might be more expensive to re-apply than to have the plans drawn properly in the first place.
The detail plans for Building Control, and the ones from which builders will quote and work, can be much more complicated and time-consuming to draw. Unless you're already fairly accomplished with CAD (or pen-and-ink), it's probably worthwhile finding an architectural technician or achitectural draughtsperson to do these (cheaper than an architect).
If you are buying a Porta[c/k]abin or similar, the firm may be willing to do the plans for you.
Owain