What is the difference between “stock” plans and homes that an architect designed?

Occasionally we are the “local architects” that the client comes to for help with modifications after purchasing a stock house plan from one of the many House Plan websites. These experiences have given us an opportunity to pass on some information we hope will clear up misunderstandings about the differences between stock plans and a home designed by an architect.

We have found that the majority of stock house plan drawings are not Construction Documents (CDs) but instead, they are what we call Design Drawings. This is the stage of drawing development before the actual Construction Documents are prepared. The important thing to understand is that a building cannot be built from Design Drawings. There is no structural information on these drawings other than the location of framing members.

We do not want to discourage anyone from buying a design they like from stock house plans but they need to be aware that they will spend considerable money to have the drawings completed by a local architect to the level of constructability.