100 to 500 plus hours.

depends on

clients

complexity of site & design

location of project -

building and planning departments

review boards

professional engineering required ?

Interesting question.  But what is the reason for the question?  Thinking of what to charge for design, looking at means to determine if you like to do this for a living, checking the price of design work?  If of course depends on many factors.

That's really a question that doesn't have an answer. Some people put much more time, effort and knowledge into a set of plans than others. I know of some people who say they can complete a set of building permit drawings in one day. Personally, I take generally between 3 and 5 days from initial sketch to complete permit drawings. However, they don't include interior elevations, selections or site work.

I like to think that my drawings are better and more complete than most that I see, and that the extra time spent can save the customers many dollars on site. I've seen some really good drawings that have had many hours spent on them, and also seen some really poor drawings that haven't.

Generally, you get what you pay for. If your prepared to pay someone to spend a month on one project, then you should get very detailed and complete drawings.

Are you asking from the point of view of a customer, or a designer?

also find out if the clients plan on hiring an interior designer,

landscape designer/architect and any others to work with

you and clients on the project.

these extra designers can add a little or a lot of hours to

your time and be a real pain in the _ss

but if

you work good together, it can mean a lot

of future work with their clients.

so try "NOT" to burn any bridges

It also depends on how fast your Designer is.   I could take twice as long as Keith to produce the same equal project output.   Does that mean I can 

charge twice as much for the project in the marketplace ?  I don't think so.  It probably means I won't make as much as the Designer that is faster

than me.    I'm really not sure how many base their fees on a very specific analysis of hourly input vs an overall gut feel based on previous experience.  

In my case I approach it more from the gut feel camp based on my knowliedge of other jobs I've done in the past.  

Over time you kind of get to know where you need to be.

jim,

I now only do "flat fee" contracts

using my knowledge and gut feeling

from many decades of designing.

when I first started in the design field,

I keep all hours worked on any particular project.

now it's really as you say,  'my GUT FEELING'

Tough question to answer given all the unknowns. Some of our plans have been completed within

3 weeks of first meeting while others 2+ years. We also 'frame' ( on Softplan ) every house we design

to verify all parts work before sending out the finished plans which takes a few extra hours. ROUGH

ESTIMATE 80 to 120 actual work hours per average 2500 square foot custom home.

How long does it take you to create a "... full set of buildable plans..."  now? 

What is included in your " full set of buildable plans' ? Plans for permitted jurisdiction or 

area where building permits not required?

You will get answers all over the ballpark!

My answer is very simple - once you have your standards set up you will be farr faster with Softplan than whatever you are using now.

I routinely create complete (yet basic) plan sets of 2,000 to 2,500 sq ft in 18 to 24 hours.

This is NOT including what I call (and bill) as "design time".

Obviously you can spend far more than that with highly detailed interior elevations and sections, framing plans, etc. etc.

I am also in the 18-24 hour range after I have put the building together (3D model).  Labeling and dimensioning are fairly quick but is does depend on the detailed aspect of what you are looking for and complexity (curved or angled walls, lots of special items that need noted).  I have guys who can finish a drawing in 10 hours while it might take me 24.  Same house. Just the speed of knowing the program.  A good CAD tech is worth a decent price.  Much rather pay someone $30/hr for 10 hrs of drafting than one at $15/hr for 24 hours.  That $60 savings I could get is not worth the money I lose in waiting an additional 14 hours

The hours for a full set of finished plans I mentioned above includes all meeting time with the client,

development of the design from concept through final preliminary plan approval which includes floor plans

exterior elevations ( 3D rendered ), after the preliminary approval final labeling , dimensioning etc goes 

fairly quickly with final number of hours to complete dependent upon building location and local requirements.

Thanks for the input. I am drafting Plans from scribble sketches of modified existing drawings in some cases and others from a scratched idea.

I can generally get the basic  

Elevations, upper, main and lower floor with floor layout and roof with an 3D exterior Render in about 4-5 hours. These are not finals or ready for permit.

Then when approved will finish out the plan in detail with plot site info septic grade drainage for permitting. That also depends but normally takes about 10 to 24 hours.

I don't know anyone else that knows Softplan to gauge my speed. Been using Softplan about 2 years now. I am being pressured to go much faster and I wanted to see what others are doing to compare of how I am doing.

In many cases it will take longer or less time depending on a number of obstacles. My deadlines are always

right now like its on fire. I also wanted to see if anyone had any tips on setting up blocks that I make on my own for details. Most of the time they are on an as needed basis. I have set my system options up with all of my wall details for ease of use. as well as the floor systems. 

Ross

The more you do, the more you'll be expected to do. You can only add so much detail in so much time. The more detail, the slower the drawing. The faster the drawing, the less complete. Only you can judge how much detail that you are going to provide.

I don't think that time taken to draw with Softplan (or any other CAD system), varies greatly between users. What does vary greatly is the level of detail that each user provides.

tips :

what to charge for design drawings

(this includes all hours spent on design & meetings with all concerned

 and up to and including design development)

I charge approximately 2/3rd of the total time for what we'll call

the "DESIGN" time

and

1/3rd the total time for the construction documents.

reason for charging the largest amount for the design is

that's what your clients have hired you for and you

should get the biggest chunk when this is finished.

and if your clients want to get cheap on you and hire

someone to do the drafting, at least you get your fair share.

note: you might even charge a larger amount for

the design phase.

btw,  you can spent a lot more time on the design and meetings.

and if you have your multi drawings or plan sets in order,

you can spend way less time on the con docs.

3 Days average.. When I first started drawing prints it was because all the ones I was trying to build off of were wrong. We would sit on the tailgate of the truck and wash the entire print... 5 inch interior walls, 4 inch interior walls, dimensions being pulled from the brick on the exterior walls. I've seen it all. You give a print to 5 good crews and you get 5 different houses. Keep it simple.  Some of the best prints are drawn by the people who actually do the work. I like to think I could build every house I draw. 

The more you do, the more you'll be expected to do. You can only add so much detail in so much time. The more detail, the slower the drawing. The faster the drawing, the less complete. Only you can judge how much detail that you are going to provide.
 

100% agree Keith.  I can do a "basic builder set" (elevations, floor plan, roof and electrical - no details or sections) in a day.  But I am not happy with it.  Each drawing I want to add more.  That is why I now price myself that way with a la carte add ons.  Customer knows what they are getting.  If they want more they need to pay more

In all honesty half the fluff we put on these prints don't even get looked at. We double and triple label everything. Call it out on the xsection then turn around and call it out on the elevations again. When out in the field most carpenters don't even look at our details...These guys are machines and we cant tell them much. Get the foundation right and get your floorplan numbers right and get out of the way.  Some of these guys I swear have auto pilot. Wrong info is worse than no info.. 

tip:

as putt says,

label the same thing only "ONE TIME" on the plans.

where-ever you think is the best place.

DON'T make things difficult.

remember,  there are "builders sets" and "for bid" sets of drawings.

two very different animals with a large difference in amount of

time to complete each set.

somebody mentioned their boss wanted them to "do it faster"

no matter how fast it was done.

there are some people who you can "NEVER" please.