If you are planning to build a new home, you will need to choose a building plan. This is a two-dimensional rendering of your new home that explains how your home should be built.

Building plans are complex documents. Floor plans, elevation drawings and schematics for plumbing and electrical elements are all part of the overall plan. While a house plan may be complicated, understanding the basic elements involved will help you choose the right building design and communicate with contractors.

What Is A Building Plan?

A building plan is essentially a map of your new home. It includes a number of distinct elements, including:

• Electrical and plumbing schematics. These show the location of all electrical and plumbing elements (such as wall outlets or faucets) in your new home.
• Elevation drawings. These are drawings of the exterior walls of your home, and include details such as roof pitch and eave height.
• Floor plan. This is a birds-eye view of your home’s layout.
• Foundation plan. This is a layout of your home’s foundation.
• Framing plan. This illustrates the basic frame structure of your house.

Your house building plans will also likely include a roof plan, cross sections, door and window schedules, and detail drawings. Together, all these documents give construction workers and other contractors the information they need to build your home.

Why You Need a Building Plan

A building plan is the master set of instructions that your builder needs to construct your new home. Without a good building plan, contractors won’t know how you want your home to look. Even small missing details or mistakes in a plan, from too-small windows to oddly placed wall outlets, can end up causing a lot of frustration.

In addition, you need building plans so that you can obtain the necessary permits to build your home. In most areas, you will need to submit a complete set of building plans to local authorities for approval before construction starts. Your city or county building department reviews the plans to ensure that your new home conforms to all local codes and ordinances.

How Much Building Plans Cost

You can expect a lot of variation in the cost of building plans. While it is possible to spend thousands of dollars on a plan, you may be able to find something suitable for a few hundred dollars.

In general, custom plans will be more expensive than plans that are already drawn. However, if you purchase an existing plan and need to make changes, the cost can increase substantially. In some cases, it may be more cost-effective to create a new, custom plan rather than to try and modify an existing one.