CA for future home builder/owner

[Jay M]

I also plan on him stamping for a small fee of $1

Sorry, still illegal and unethical in most states

if stamps are not needed then most states allow the homeowner to sumbit the permit and act as GC

if stamps are required then the work MUST be done by the stamper
OR, under their DIRECT supervision (like David stated about red-lining)

Lew

I imagine it would be illegal to stamp it without reviewing it but do you really think he would stamp it without checking everything? In which case he would just be doing his job (albiet much cheaper)...

[lbuttery]

I imagine it would be illegal to stamp it without reviewing it but do you really think he would stamp it without checking everything? In which case he would just be doing his job (albiet much cheaper)...

Jay:

check the licensing laws

for most states it is illegal to review someone else's work product and then stamp it

it MUST be done by the stamper or under their direct supervision

Lew

[lbuttery]

I checked and a stamp is not required in my area...if i feel that i want a section reviewed i can use a licensed engineer for that.

OK, then you are "golden"....

Lew

[lbuttery]

It will probably take you 5 years to really get to know this program


Joe:

I think CA would beg to differ with this statement

Know it well - yes - basically it is a never ending learning curve

know it enough to produce a reasonable model and a reasonable permit set

"not hardly"....

Lew

[Dave Pitman]

for most states it is illegal to review someone else's work product and then stamp it

it MUST be done by the stamper or under their direct supervision

I think the intent of the law is to make "rubber stamping" illegal. Rubber stamping defined here as stamping for a fee, irregardless of the content.

I find it difficult to think that a legitimate engineer would be taken to court for actually reviewing a drawing drafted by someone not in their office, marking up the drawing with needed revisions and corrections, sending it back to the drafter to draw, then stamping the resultant, reviewed drawing.

If this were to happen, then it would basically be illegal for an engineer to hire drafting help at all. We all know that collaboration technology is not the same as it was 10 years ago.

[alan11]

Hi,

I'm actually doing exactly what you're planning to do, and I started with Home Designer Pro about 2 years ago and then graduated to the professionals version, CA X3, after 6 months and am now using version X5. I did a lot of research before choosing to buy Chief Architect and I have to say it's lived-up to it's calims; it's probably the best package out there. It's rich in features which means it can take some time to learn everything it's got to offer, but there is a raft of help as well including videos on how to do just about everything and the help you can get from this forum, by just asking, is tremendous. I've managed to develop numerous designs for our next home and it's easy to archive base designs and then look at variations. You can produce full plans and drawing sets, but I do agree with one comment in here, that once you've got the design you're happy with, give it to a professional architect and structural engineer to make sure it can by built and stay up. But at least you've done most of the hard work and had the satidafction of knowing you've created the design yourself.

Alan