FAQ

We supply the residential drawings, or plans, for your development. This will typically include floorplans, elevations, sections and site plans.

Good quality plans are essential. You might be investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in your property and it’s very important that the very basis of the design and measurements are correct on your set of drawings.

Also, your plans need to be drawn to specific council guidelines in order to be approved. Drafting Help have planning experience in the local Sydney area and can inform you as to exactly what you can and cannot do, development-wise, to get the best of your proposed development project.

We are based in Manly and service the Northern Beaches, North Shore and Sydney Metropolitan areas.

Drafting Help supply high quality plans to people who would like to save the costs of architectural services, which are significantly higher.

For example, to engage an architect for a $500,000 addition to your home, an architect’s fees would be in the region of $20,000 to $30,000. If you have a good idea of your requirements, Drafting Help’s fees will be approximately $5,000 to $8,000. It’s a huge saving.

Over the years, we have seen many quotes for jobs, and the drawings, for a wide range of prices. It’s like buying a car – if you go with the very cheapest, you will likely have problems further down the track.

Beware. The purpose of your plans is to achieve DA approval and they will likely also be used to obtain a construction certificate. If they are not up to standard, or contain errors, there will be repercussions later on.

The council also have strict quality guidelines that drawings must follow or they will not be accepted.

You should budget between $5,000 to $7,000 for a quality set of plans for a ground floor or second storey addition. There will be additional fees for consultants such as structural engineers, private certifiers etc., as necessary.

To help you budget for a second storey addition, for example, you should budget approximately $7,000 to $8,000 for drawings and approvals before you can start construction.

Take a look at our drafting Packages page. You will see we start with a concept package which aims to give you an idea of how much your extension or renovation might cost.

Many builders use the calculation of 2-3k per Sqm, depending on the level of finish you require. The higher level of finish, the higher the cost per Sqm. So to get an idea of how much your building work might cost, you can start by pacing out and counting the number of square metres for your extension or renovation, and multiplying that number by $2,000 to $3,000. This will give you an approximate cost to help you budget.

There are many consultants you might need depending upon the geographical location of your dwelling. Some of the more common ones are bushfire reports (if you are in a bushfire zone), geotechnical reports and acid sulphate soils investigations.

No. Our fees include all changes to plans.

Yes. We work with our preferred builder. They can provide you with a competitive quote for your development.

You can, but council request plans to be professionally drawn to a high standard. Hand drawn non CAD drawings are unlikely to be accepted.

In most cases, yes. A site survey provides detailed information that is used on the plans and informs council of building heights, envelopes, building footprint etc. needed to make planning decisions.

We are not registered surveyors, however, we work with them and can help you organise one in your area.

The plans area drawn, then sent to either a private certifier (preferred) or lodged with council as a DA. If you have a complying development (CDC) then you can usually use a private certifier. If not, your plans will have to be lodged with your local council.

Drafting Help has been in business for more than 12 yrs in the Manly and North Shore areas.

Very briefly, it all starts with a survey as this is the basis for your drawings and contains information regarding roof heights, boundary measurements and landscape areas. The plans are then drawn. These plans are lodged to council as a DA or to a private certifier for approval.

Once planning approval has been granted, a construction certificate is needed to allow the building work to go ahead. It is at this stage that other consultants may be needed such as structural engineers etc. and details drawings. Once the construction certificate has been granted, construction can commence.