So, I use sketchup and layout to produce permit ready document for customers. I have not really had any issues, but I do have a growth area that I am wondering maybe some of you might have a good solution. Every city is a little different and some cities provide you with the notes that they want in the set of plans but other don’t. Here is my questions: Do you produce your own set of standard notes that go on each page (i.e. plumbing notes, mechanical notes site notes, electrical notes, roofing notes, etc…). Is there a program or a library that I can use for that?
In my experience totally dependent on where it’s going and what the requirements are. I usually have my PE copy / paste what they need into the plans as required (for structural work, which is most of what I do).
I work all over the country (USA) My annotation page is a collection of paragraphs that are saved in scrapbooks. I can drag and drop the ones that apply as like you mentioned certain building departments have different requirements. Each note entity is in its own text box (paragraph) they can be resized in the scrapbook so they are easy to find,
Then you can drop them on the page and resize.
I have Layout templates for different areas. Some have local ordnances they have to see on the drawing.I have one building department that in the corrections made us take off almost all references accept the IRC call out and now they want everything. I think some of these plan checkers couldnt hack it at the DMV so they wound up a plan checker but kept the bad attitude! Ive also found that a table is better than a text box for some notes. I can have a column for the number and a wide column for the text. It helps keeps things lined up. The text box is lacking tab stops ect.
This is all very helpful. How did you all develop you own notes? Do you develop them depending on the city on the go or do you have a general set of notes that you use for every set? If you develop the notes based on the city, what type of guidance do you use to create them or do you just wait for them to send the corrections back. A city like Long Beach has the general notes that they want included on their website, so that city provides it, but what if they don’t?
Architectural standards guide most general notes. Ive “borrowed” some from plans I liked, a lot are very common. I have specific ones that work for most building departments. Some are specific. I worked on a house on Lake Tahoe that had requirements for reflection on windows facing the lake. Obviously thats a special case and I have a note that applies but doesnt go on most plans. Like other scrap books you build a library. A set of notes for snow country wouldnt apply in Long Beach. So its like that. If the project is in an HOA there is yet another layer of bureaucracy. I think some building departments will always pick on something regardless of how good the plans are. Most building departments have guidelines available in the permit package. Read those to try to satisfy what they are asking for. I dont use AI much but have wondered how it would deliver if the right question was asked.
Much appreciated!!! Did you do yours from scratch or were most borraowed?
I wrote most of them. If I borrowed I rewrote them. I dont like a lot of drawing notes I read. Kinda take the idea and make it sound like it should. Some drawings have a lot of fluff to look important. I like a cleaner drawing set.
Last question: How did you decide what to put in your notes when you wrote them. Is there a class/video/or tutorial on youtube that I can use to help guide me as to what to include? Thanks again!
Ive been building 40 years. Ive looked at and drawn hundreds of plans. I bought the Sonder book a very long time ago it came with samples. I used some of those and had a lot of plans lying around. The specialty ones were the ones I had to work on. Im still making new notes for new projects. Plan checkers love when you quote the code book!
Thank you so much for your help!!!