What goes into permitting, planning, and design for a project?

Gathering all of the permits, plans, and designs for a project can be a daunting task, but working with an experienced professional can significantly lessen the pain.

Here are some suggestions that may help you to have a smooth and relaxing transition into the construction phase of your project.

Information Gathering

As with anything else in life, a successful construction process starts with a clear vision.  Images of similar projects are invaluable.  We also suggest that you create a list of the spaces that you wish to include, along with a description of each space and its important features, furniture, and décor.  Starting with a list of spaces and pictures makes it much easier to create floor plan sketches, bubble diagrams, and other components of the project. Throughout this process, it is important to accommodate the primary view of your site into the overall layout.

At Quarry View, we prefer face-to-face meetings when possible to gather the information required to plan your project.  These meetings can take place at a location of your choosing such as the proposed building site, your home, or your office.  However, meeting at our office allows us to utilize our setup to review 3D models and construction drawings for current and completed projects.  This allows you to become familiar with our process and meet other members of our team (if they are available).

Once we both have a clear vision for your project and have concluded that we would like to work with each other, we can move forward with drawings and visualization.

Drawings & Visualization

Traditionally, building design relied heavily on hand-drawn sketches and renderings, black and white construction drawings, and lots of imagination.  However, it’s time consuming to create realistic sketches and renderings by hand, and many people who are not familiar with the construction industry struggle to comprehend traditional construction drawings.

Luckily, technology has made some amazing leaps forward in construction design and planning in recent years.  By utilizing computer aided design (CAD) software and virtual reality (VR) technology, you’ll be able to “tour” a virtual 3D model of your building before it’s built. It’s truly something that you have to experience to understand!

While “touring” a virtual building allows you to comprehend the size and atmosphere of your planned space, paper or electronic drawings are still the industry standard for communicating construction plans to the various parties involved in a project.  It is possible to utilize the same 3D model to generate these drawings.  This helps to eliminate missing important details.

Permitting

Although the process varies from state to state and even municipality to municipality, a building permit is typically required if a new structure is being erected.  You’ll most likely need a zoning permit and separate permits for electricity and plumbing, as well.  Depending on how you plan to use your new building, you may need a special waiver or a variance to local zoning ordinances.

It is not uncommon for permit application reviews to take 30 days or more.  Choosing a builder who has knowledge of the process and a track record of success can take a lot of the burden away, but it’ll still take time. If you need assistance with any part of the planning process, give us a call at 717-656-3018 or contact us to start a conversation.