Are you dreaming of finally building that cabin in the hills or opening up that small shop you’ve always wanted? Here are a few tips from our office to get you started on your new building project!
Did you know that you should allow a minimum of 3 months for the design & planning phase? So it’s a good idea to start plenty ahead of time. Here’s why:
1 Consulting Engineer | We recommend starting with a consulting engineer who can take a look at your lot and recommend the best area to build, if you are in a flood plane, things like that.
2 Architect | Next choose an architect/designer and get on their schedule – this may take a few weeks depending on how busy they are. The architect will do the basic building plans – floor plans, etc. This step typically takes about a month.
3 Structural Engineer | Next comes us – the structural design of the building. This will also take a few weeks to a month and it usually takes a week to get on our schedule.
4 Submit for Approval | This is another step some people aren’t aware of. If you’re within city limits, you need to submit all plans to the city for approval before you can start building.
5 Timing | We highly recommend starting the design/planning process in the Fall or Winter. Most people don’t think about building until March or April, so those are the busiest months for architects and engineers. But if you start the process in November, you will get on the schedule faster and have plenty of wiggle room to be ready to build come Spring.
Happy Building!
fetzer engineering 