Process
How a set gets drawn.
Four steps from the first phone call to a permit set in your hands. Below is every one of them — what happens, what you end up holding, and what Molly needs from you before it can start — so you can give your client a date instead of a hope.
Four steps, one round of redlines
Code-checked before the counter sees it
A promised date, given up front
How it goes
Four steps, no mystery.
01
Walk the job
A site visit with a tape and a camera, or your survey and photos if the drive doesn’t pay for itself. Existing conditions get measured before anything gets drawn — if nobody has measured the house, that is an as-built and it is quoted on its own line.
You get a written scope and a fixed number before step 02 starts. No work begins on a maybe.
You end up with
- A measured base drawing of what is actually standing
- A written scope naming every sheet you will receive
- A fixed price and a promised delivery date
02
Rough the plan
Preliminary floor plans and exterior elevations, sent as a PDF at the point it is worth arguing over rather than after it is finished. Move a wall here and it costs an afternoon; move it in framing and it costs a change order.
One round of redlines is in every quote. Mark up the PDF however you like — on a tablet, or printed and photographed.
You end up with
- Preliminary floor plans, dimensioned
- Exterior elevations, all four sides
- A layout your client has actually signed off on
03
Draw the set
Sections, framing plans, details and schedules, cross-referenced so the framer and the inspector read the same thing. Checked against the Michigan Residential Code before it leaves the office, not after the counter sends it back.
What is in a set depends on what you asked for. The sheet lists are on the services pages.
You end up with
- The full permit set, sheet-indexed and dimensioned
- Framing, sections, details and schedules
- A code check already done, in writing
04
Hand it over
Files in your hands in all three formats, and Molly answers plan review directly if you want her to — review comments, code citations, the resubmittal. You stay on the site instead of on hold at the counter.
Questions during framing are part of the job, not a new one. Builders who work this way repeatedly should read the trade terms.
You end up with
- A PDF set, an AutoCAD drawing and plot-ready 24×36 sheets
- Plan-review comments answered on any set she drew
- Plans that stay yours — reuse them on the next lot
Before step 01
What Molly needs from you.
Three columns, and only the first one is required. You can start a job today with what is already on your phone.
Required
Enough to quote it
- The property address
- What you want built, in a sentence
- A rough size, or the rooms you need
- When you need the set in hand
Helpful
Saves you a site visit
- A survey or plot plan, however old
- Phone photos of every exterior wall
- The last permit set for the house
- Sketches, saved photos, a wish list
Not needed
Don’t wait on these
- CAD files — paper and photos are fine
- Measurements, if nobody has taken them
- Final finishes, fixtures or colours
- A builder already under contract
Files too big to attach go to molly@dennisondrafting.design — surveys, old sets, a folder of photos. Nothing in the second or third column holds up a quote.
Typical timelines
How long it actually takes.
Measured from the day measurements are in hand to the day the set is in yours. Your job gets its own date in writing before you commit to a client.
As-built only
1–2 weeks
Measure, draft, hand over. The clock starts at the site visit, and on an occupied house that visit is scheduled around the owner.
Garage or accessory building
2–3 weeks
A detached structure on a site nobody has to work around. The fastest permit set she draws.
Addition or remodel
4–6 weeks
Includes the as-built, because you cannot draw an addition onto a house nobody has measured. Add a week if the existing framing has to be opened up to be understood.
New single-family home
6–8 weeks
Under 3,000 sq ft on a straightforward lot. Anything larger, phased, or on a slope gets its own date rather than this one.
3D renderings
+1 week
Added to whichever row above applies, and drawn from the same model — so a rendering and the permit set can never disagree.
Plan review at the counter runs on the municipality’s schedule, not hers — budget two to four weeks on top in most West Michigan jurisdictions. Molly answers the review comments; the wait is the only part nobody controls. Trade accounts get a standing turnaround instead of a per-job estimate — see the trade terms.
Send over what you have
A sketch on graph paper, a Pinterest board, a survey, or last year’s set that needs updating. Send it across and you’ll get a scope and a number back — not a sales call.
Or call the office: (231) 555-0142 · Mon–Fri, 8–5