We hope you find JCADS resourceful in helping you design and build your home. Below are some recommendations to help give you an idea of how our design services can work for you.  

      4Sketch out a rough floorplan. It can be drawn to scale on graph paper or simply a rough idea of where you want each room. You can also choose a floorplan from a plan book that has a plan close to what you would like, Make a few changes so it suits your wishes, and we can finalize the drawings with your changes (If the changes are not too drastic, the plans can be ordered with the intentions of having changes made to their drawing sheets – thus saving repetitive efforts.

      4Make an idea book of magazine pictures that show what you would like your home to look like. Maybe you’ve seen built-in cabinets that would be perfect for you, or a style of window that you want, even an exterior lighting scheme. Also, If you have specific wishes for types of flooring or wall coverings in a particular room, be sure to make a note of it and put it in your idea book!

      4Next, Let us have a look at your plans. We may be able to make suggestions that could make your floorplan flow a little better, or maybe make a small change that could save you lots of money. Whether the idea is used in the final home, however, is up to you.

      4Research for a contractor should begin now. If you do not already have a contractor in mind, JCADS will provide you with a list of contractors we have a working relationship with.

      4Once the preliminary sketches are settled, we ask for a 25% deposit based on a contract document production estimate. This estimate takes into account the complexity of the design, the requirements of your contractor, and the requirements dictated by the building code official. We then proceed to produce a computerized preliminary floorplan and rough elevations for your approval.

      4Before the final touches are put onto your plans we’ll provide a review set for your approval on 11x17 paper.

      4When the final plans are delivered, the project will turn over to your chosen contractor. You may request a digital version of your drawings in “pdf” (Adobe Acrobat) format in addition to he customary 3 sets of 24x36 drawing sheets.

The complexity of your plan requirements dictate our fees. The requirements depend on your personal needs, those of your contractor, and those of the state and local building officials. The cost of A set of construction documents (plans) for a residence can range from $0.75 per sq.ft. upwards to $1.50 per sq.ft. A typical set of plans with one of our preferred contractors is in the neighborhood of $0.90 per sq.ft., and includes Floor Plans, a Roof Plan, 4 Elevations, and a Typical Wall Section.

The time frame for the design process depends on your homework, and availability for meetings. Once a project has made it to the Working Drawing Phase, it will typically take about 2 weeks for the plans to be complete. Over all, the design process and plan generation should take about a month. This time allowance can be reduced if necessary. We like to engineer some “down” time in this process to allow your thoughts to focus on some of the minor things that make a difference in the long run. In most cases this will be the last set of plans you’ll need and we want them to be the right plan for you.