Permit drawings
Permit drawings your reviewer can approve the first time.
You have the contractor. You have the scope. What the permit office wants is a complete set, formatted the way it asks for it. That is a job we do on its own.
What is actually in a residential permit set
Requirements vary by jurisdiction, and the reviewing office's current submittal checklist always wins. That said, most North Carolina residential packages ask for the same core, and a set that is missing one of these is the usual reason a submittal comes back.
- A completed application signed by the owner or an authorized agent
- A plot plan with property lines, setbacks, the structure footprint, easements and impervious surface calculations
- A foundation plan with footing sizes, reinforcement and anchor bolt layout
- Floor plans for every level, with room labels and overall dimensions
- Elevations for all four sides, with finished floor elevations shown relative to grade
- A wall section with insulation values, air sealing details and the weather resistive barrier
- A framing plan with member sizes, spans and connector callouts
- A roof plan with slope, sheathing and underlayment specified
- A window and door schedule with U-factors and egress opening sizes
- Mechanical, electrical and plumbing plans or riser diagrams
- Manual J, S and D load calculations with the equipment selection
- Energy code compliance documentation
List drawn from the permit submittal package topic in our code guide.
What triggers a stamped sheet
A stamped structural package from a licensed professional engineer is required when the design goes past the prescriptive framing tables in the adopted code. A cantilever longer than the table allows, a beam span past what the tables cover, or a wall over 10 feet tall are the usual triggers.
Site conditions do it too. Expansive soil, a steep slope, high wind exposure or a retaining wall over four feet typically brings a stamped foundation design with it. Civil and energy stamps come in the same way when the scope calls for them.
We say which sheets need a stamp at the start, and the partner engineer works against our set rather than a different version of it. The guide to architects and designers in North Carolina spells out where that line sits.
Format is half the battle
Most North Carolina counties now accept or require digital submissions, and each portal has its own rules: PDF only, one file per sheet or one combined file, a maximum file size, and a naming convention. A submission rejected on format costs a full review cycle even though the drawings were fine.
The gaps that most often send a package back are boring and repeatable: energy compliance documentation missing, Manual J, S and D not included, a wall section without the air sealing or weather resistive barrier detail, a plot plan with no impervious surface calculation where local stormwater rules require one, a window schedule missing U-factors or egress sizes, and an application without the owner's signature.
We work the checklist before you file, which is the entire value of hiring this out.
What we need from you
Three things start the work: a survey or plat, a written scope of what is being built, and photographs of the existing conditions. If the house has no usable drawings, the first step is measuring it.
That measured set is its own package. As-built documentation starts at $1,200 and covers an on site measure visit, floor plans of every level, exterior elevations, one section through the primary stair or chimney, delivered as PDF and DWG. Builders and other design firms buy it from us on its own.
From there, the permit set is a fixed fee against your written scope, because a set for a deck and a set for a second story addition are not the same work. The starting points are published below, and you get your number in writing before anything starts. If the project turns out to need design rather than documentation, we say so and quote the design instead.
What a permit set costs
A Permit Drawing Set starts at $1,600 and takes 3 to 6 weeks, counted from the day the scope, the survey and the photographs are in hand.
| What is being permitted | The set starts at |
|---|---|
| Deck, porch, carport or detached shed | $1,600 |
| Interior remodel with structural changes (a kitchen, a bath, a wall coming out) | $2,200 |
| Addition, garage apartment or ADU | $3,200 |
| New house from plans you already own | $4,800 |
| Measured drawings of the existing house, when the set needs them | $1,200 |
What the fee does not cover
The fee covers the drawings and the coordination behind them. It does not cover:
- Permit office fees
- The signed permit application, which the owner or the licensed contractor files
- A boundary survey, which comes from a surveyor
- Stamped engineering, which the partner engineer quotes against your set when a sheet needs a stamp
- Mechanical, electrical and plumbing drawings, which the trades provide
- A separate energy compliance report or the heating and cooling load calculations, when the office asks for them, which come from the rater or the mechanical contractor
We name the ones your project needs before you commit, so the number you sign is the number you pay us.
If the calendar will not move, the expedited tier runs 2 to 3 weeks at 30 percent over the standard fee. Every package we publish, with its full scope, sits on the packages and fees page.
Who this is for
Homeowners who already have a builder and just need drawings. Homeowners whose contractor asked for a permit set and does not produce them. Owners of a house with no surviving plans who need a base before anything else can happen. Builders and remodelers are served by the builder side of the studio, which carries the same drawing work plus rendering and stamped engineering coordination.
If you are earlier than that, and the question is still what to build rather than how to document it, start with custom home design, home additions or a renovation scope instead.
Questions we get asked
- Can you just draw what my contractor described?
- Yes, as long as the scope is specific enough to draw. Where it is not, we ask the questions a drafter needs answered before the set is started rather than guessing and having it caught at review.
- Do you submit the permit for me?
- Offices generally require the owner or a licensed contractor to submit, and we confirm the rule for your address before we hand the package over. We prepare the package to the checklist and hand it over ready to file, and we answer the reviewer's comments if any come back.
- How long does review take?
- That is set by the office, not by us, and it varies by county and by season. What we can promise is that the package leaving here is complete, because an incomplete one adds a full cycle to whatever the base review time is.
- My house has no plans at all. Where do we start?
- With a measure visit. As-built documentation starts at $1,200 and produces the base drawings everything else is built on.
- Do you do this outside the Triangle?
- Yes. Permit drawings travel well, and virtual design consulting starting at $2,000 covers owners and builders outside the local service area. See the packages page.
Keep reading
Send us the scope.
A written scope, a plat and a few photos are enough for a fixed fee. We reply within two business days.
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