Can DA plans be constructed by any builder?

[Red Star]

Hi, I am looking at a plot of land which comes with DA and plans for a house but when I called a builder to ask if they would quote me to build the house, they told me the plans were subject to copyright so they couldnt do it. IS THAT RIGHT????? I thought if a client has plans drawn up then any builder can construct using them.

I tried calling the designers who had drawn up the plan and their number no longer exists so I felt a bit stuck. I dont want to go back to the REA and ask these questions just yet so I thought I would ask here.

Any ideas..?

Thanks in advance for all the help I am receiving.

Shona

 

[agent007]

Hi, I am looking at a plot of land which comes with DA and plans for a house but when I called a builder to ask if they would quote me to build the house, they told me the plans were subject to copyright so they couldnt do it. IS THAT RIGHT????? I thought if a client has plans drawn up then any builder can construct using them.

I tried calling the designers who had drawn up the plan and their number no longer exists so I felt a bit stuck. I dont want to go back to the REA and ask these questions just yet so I thought I would ask here.

Any ideas..?

Thanks in advance for all the help I am receiving.

Shona

Hi Shona, what is subject to copy rights are the architect drawings but, it can be built by any builder.

rgds,
James

 

[fernfurn]

I am thinking of buying a block of land with Architects plans and council approval for a house. It is very wasteful of space and I have redesigned the interior and the exterior. I believe if I keep the footprint the council wont mind how I reorganise the interior. I wanted to get my draftsman to redraw these plans as I feel they are now mine, would you believe I can, and would the council worry if the plans are actually drawn by someone else when the come to do inspections??

 

[John J]

Hi Shona,

The Builder can not build from DA plan (I think DA plans are like Planning Drawing here in Vic) he will need construction drawings. I think what he is saying is he can’t have these drawings prepared by his draftsperson as this draftsperson would be infringing on the copyright of the plans. What you do need is permission for the original designer. This is easy to obtain, just make it a condition of the contract that the vender provides you with a letter from the design releasing copyright to you.

Hi Celica,

The answers to your questions depend on what plans you are talking about.

-If they are Planning Drawings you will probably need to amend the planning permit if you start making changes like moving rooms around inside. In your post you only say house not houses so maybe it is just a single house without planning?
-If they are Construction drawings you should be able to make the changes easily but this will again depend on whether there has been a Building Permit issued and by who!

Hope this helps

Cheers

John

 

[Ausprop]

this copyright thing is very confusing. An architect once told me that a design can't be owned over a specific site, meaning if a plan is drawn up you can't go and willy nilly build that plan all over town but if it is specific for your block then you can build it on your block, after all you have no choice, the DA is for that design. Others have argued this advice so I don't know.

 

[JFisher]

this copyright thing is very confusing. An architect once told me that a design can't be owned over a specific site, meaning if a plan is drawn up you can't go and willy nilly build that plan all over town but if it is specific for your block then you can build it on your block, after all you have no choice, the DA is for that design. Others have argued this advice so I don't know.

I understand your interpretation to be correct also Ausprop. We build many custom homes and people will often bring 'a friends' plans for us to use for their house. While we can use it to provide an estimate (except base) we can't use it for permit purposes unless they go back to the original architect/draftsperson and have it drawn to suit their site. These days there is ResCode, 5 Star and a heap of other design elements that could be different on a different site, even though the house is the same. If you are using a plan that has already been built and you have simply borrowed the floor plan then you need to change it by about 30% in order not to infringe copyright (according to our architect) or return to the original draftperson and pay for it again.
But, we were offered a block of land recently that came with a full set of plans that had been drawn specifically for the block. In this situation it was entirely legal for us to build this plan; it hadn't been built after it was paid for.

So, I should add to Shona, that I think- as long as the DA and the plans were drawn for the site she purchased she is entitled to use them without legal ramifications.

 

[Red Star]

Hi JFisher,

Thanks for your post - it is really helpful. I understood what you said to be true - ie if you pay for the block and the plans drawn up for that block then you can use them but I cant find any builder willing to use the plan - they want to use their own. (Which I can understand).

I went to one of the council business centres this morning and they said we only have to follow the building footprint, the inside can be whatever we want so I am going to look around to see if I can find any builders who do houses like on the plan but I am not hopeful!

 

[fernfurn]

It is a single dwelling on a block and has council approval but I believe there are no working drawings as yet, just enough to get council approval. Like you said, I Believe the council dont care whats inside, as long as you stick to the approved footprint which I would. Same with outside design style, which was boring double front suburban, which I would change to modern.

 

[grossreal]

hi all
one minor problem and this may not be the case here is if the architect has not been paid for the plans
in that case you can't get the cc plans until he or she is paid.
nor can you get another architect to draw plans for that site if the site is owned by the same entity
as the guild won't allow it to happen.
once you have a fully paid up da and nothing is out standing then any builder can build on the site and most will organise the cc plans and will organise thru the old architect
if he or she is no longer around the guild should be able to get you a release to go to the cc architect.

 

[JFisher]

In our council you can change your Planning Permit plans (DA in some states is the same) by lodging an amendment. As long as the new working drawings comply with the planning guidelines then it will be accepted. I would lodge the working drawings for this as well as for the building permit to follow. If you find a good building inspector they can lodge both for you and advise you as well.

If you are handing working drawings around to non-custom builders then they probably can't build your home; purely because most large project builders aren't set up to make significant changes to plans that aren't their own; most don't even have an estimator in the locale; just sales staff selling the pre-fab stuff that is already constructed and waiting in a warehouse to be ordered. Everything is done in bulk, finely tuned to minimize material and time wastage which is why most builders aiming at the investor, FH owner and budget conscious all aim to ultimately provide their own plans; it minimizes time spent on quoting up individual jobs, making different wall/roof trusses etc. They make the same few frames up over and over and change a few cosmetic features to give it an individual look.

If you are handing DA or Draft plans around for quotes then you are wasting your time. It is impossible to provide accurate quotes off preliminary drawings. We don't even like doing estimates off them as the final drawings always reveal something new..arghh.

 

[Qlds007]

Julie and Darryl build a quality home and for the right price I am sure you can fly them up from Melbourne, put them up in a local hotel and get Darryl to build it whilst Julie spends time at Harbour Town spending it.