Producing own architectural drawings

[Tant]

All

I live in rural south west Scotland and the property has a number of stone/slate barns associated with it. Previous owners had permission to convert some of these into dwellings but we've never wanted to do this...it's nice having them for storage. They are in good order

I want to convert one of them into a garage/workshop. Part of this would be making a "garage door" size opening in the aspect that faces the road. The barn is big enough to have a well equipped workshop with ramp at the end, and get about 4 cars in it as well. It will be only for non commercial use.

I plan to use concrete lintels to support the roof above the door opening, opening about 3m wide 2.7m high, building is single story.

I've had sound advice (ex local planner) that I don't need planning permission for it, but I will need a building warrant from building control. For this, they need a drawing of what I plan to do, so I was going to get a simple front elevation drawing of now VS proposed done. Given where we are, architects are not that easy to get hold of for such a small job, so I was going to do the drawings myself.

Has anyone done this please or know of any suitable software. It's probably going to be a one off, so I dont really want a subscription.

Cheers
Tant

[Tant]

[Gareth79]

Apparently for simple things drawings don't need to be too fancy, but they do need to have a scale, and possibly need to be printable to a specific scale.

I've used Fusion 360 for various things, including drafting ideas for building work. I've not tried to create plan documents but I'm sure it would be able to do that. It's free for up to 10 active documents. You could easily model the entire building without too much effort.

[Jeremy-75qq8]

Building control are there to ensure compliance with building regs.

The drawing per se are there to show what the property is so they can gauge that. Multiple stories, internal rooms , means of escape etc.

They are also there to ensure it is structurally sound. Ie will it fall down.

If habitable there is also the issues of sap calcs.

I don't see drawings as the issue. By all means's diy but they will require loadings etc to proove the building will be sound and for that you will need a structural engineer.

I would think they will be move worried about the accuracy of the drawings than building control will be.

Many engineers never visit. They are sent drawings and they review and send back calcs

[Magooagain]

Im struggling to see how you will achieve 2.7 high opening. I’m only going by that doorway but if that 2.0 then you need another 0.7 plus lintel thickness to sit under what? A timber plate?

Lovely building by the way.

[Little Lofty]

Jeremy-75qq8 said:

Building control are there to ensure compliance with building regs.

The drawing per se are there to show what the property is so they can gauge that. Multiple stories, internal rooms , means of escape etc.

They are also there to ensure it is structurally sound. Ie will it fall down.

If habitable there is also the issues of sap calcs.

I don't see drawings as the issue. By all means's diy but they will require loadings etc to proove the building will be sound and for that you will need a structural engineer.

I would think they will be move worried about the accuracy of the drawings than building control will be.

Many engineers never visit. They are sent drawings and they review and send back calcs

I’m not familiar with building regs in Scotland but in England it is now the responsibility of the principle designer and principle contractor to make sure it complies with building regs, building control will flag issues but can no longer advise on a solution.

Edited by Little Lofty on Friday 28th November 20:26

[Jeremy-75qq8]

It is their responsibility yes but building regs ask for calcs etc to demonstrate compliance - they don't just sign off as the pc says it is all ok.

The are not there to give solutions - some can be really helpful - but are there to confirm the rules are followed and the building is to all intents compliant. They only visit half a dozen time for a house build and look as the critical steps and the finished article. There is hence some level of trust that the bits they don't see are done as planned.

[The Three D Mucketeer]

I've done my own drawings for 3 different garages for planning applications without problems getting approval . Used private Building Controls firm not the local government ones .
I used QCAD on Windows laptop

[Rough101]

You can draw it up yourself using the tech guidance appended to the regs in Scotland, but you’ll need an SER for the structural bit from a structural engineer.

[Tant]

Thanks for the replies all, much appreciated