Architects

 I have nothing bad to say about architects. The good news is this. They do a very thorough job. The plans are detailed & complete down to every small detail & you won't go wrong using them.... but you really don't need one. You will spend a considerable sum of money for plans that could have been done much less expensively by the contractor.

Instead of paying the architect for 30 or 40 sheets of detail you can get all the necessary building codes detailed on 3 or 4 sheets.

The contractor will charge you of course but you will save maybe 75% of the architects fee.

The contractor will either do them himself or by his employee or he will have them done by a third party. The plans will conform to all the building codes & will be approved by the local building department before construction begins.

In some jurisdictions the building department requires an architects stamp of approval. If so, the contractor will have an architect approve the plan. The architect then stamps the plans for a small fee.

These plans will not be as detailed, but will be more than adequate for getting the job built according to building codes.

What really happens when you use an architect is that you pay him do much of the planning & designing that you could easily have done yourself. (I show you how in my books)
If it was a matter of a few hundred dollars that wouldn't be so bad but very often it is a few thousand dollars & that's another story.

What many of you consider a big complicated addition for your house is routine to most people in the business. They can handle it very well without architects plans. My carpenters picked up the plans only a few times & had all the information they needed.

You can redirect the money that you saved for furniture & decoration.