Coastal Building Info

One of the most asked questions that we receive is "Can I make modifications to a plan?" The answer is a resounding YES! All of the plans on our site are available in formats that are ideally suited for making modifications. To familiarize you with these formats, let’s take a quick look at what’s available.
Blueprints – Blueprints are the traditional printed media used for construction documents. The original reason for printing “blue” was to help the copyright owners protect their designs. They are do not reproduce well, which is an effective deterrent to copying. They are still in widespread use today – but most designer’s and architect utilize contractual methods to better protect their copyrights. Blueprints are best suited for projects where no design changes are desired or required. Builders putting up “spec homes” fall into this category. Generally speaking, homeowners will save money by purchasing reproducible masters or electronic files (AutoCAD). Read on to learn why.
Reproducible Masters – This format is also a printed medium, with one major difference: the plan is printed black and white. This allows the purchaser to make “modification” copies. The purchaser can then make the changes they desire directly to the plan and then make blueprints from the modified drawing. Using this format allows the purchaser to legally make copies for the purpose of making changes to the plan. Alternately, making changes to blueprints would require someone to completely redraw every sheet include in a set of plans. This is not only time consuming and costly, but also illegal.
Electronic FilesElectronic files are the actual working drawing that are produced by the designer or architect. Using sophisticated software, the most popular version is called AutoCAD, the design professional creates the plan electronically on their computer. When purchasing an AutoCAD file, you will usually receive the plan on a CD. To make modifications, the user will need to have access to the software used to create the plan. Electronic files offer the purchaser the most cost effective way for making modifications to a design.
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No matter what format you purchase, you are purchasing a license to build one (1) home from the design. If you would like to build multiple homes from a single design, you’ll want to purchase the plan for “reuse” at a deeply discounted rate. Also, copyright law dictates that modified versions of a plan, called "derivative works", remain the property of the original copyright owner.