Naming Residential Drawings

[jrcirello]

I’m working at a residential design build company now and have been trying to figure out the best way to name our plans/drawings.  My boss who was the main designer for most of his time in business, likes to use the term Master Plan.  Having spent years working on Master Planned communities, this name seems pretty funny to me.  We work on really high end properties but not 20 acre estates which might need, what I would consider to be, a master plan.

First, I create a Conceptual Landscape Plan (I’d be willing to swap ‘Preliminary’ for ‘Conceptual’ if it made everyone feel better.  They’re the same thing in my mind), which gets presented to the client.  Feedback is received and revisions are made to that same plan.  Once a design is agreed upon, a new contract is written to start the next (CD) phase of the project.

The final base that gets drafted off of the CLP is the base that gets used during DD and into CDs.

So, if CDs are being created right away, I don’t really see how a Master Plan even fits in here.  Before I joined this company, they were building off of drawings that made me cringe.  Nothing CD about them.  Way too many holes and room for interpretation and questions, etc.  Maybe they just called that thing a Master Plan. 

 

Just curious what terms you guys are using and if anyone is creating ‘Master Plans’.

 

 

[Brett T. Long]

In my little world, Master Plan indicates a larger project with multiple disciplines, and possibly phases that may be constructed at different times and possibly with different funding. The master plan then ties together several separate parts from multiplel design disciplines. It does seem a bit much to use the term Master Plan in residential design. Preliminary Site Plan is pretty descriptive. When we are not the lead and working with Civil Engineers, all of my plans use the term Landscape Plan instead of Site Plan.

[Andrew Garulay, RLA]

The beauty of design/build is that you are not producing bid sets, but rather a sales contract and layout plan for your crews to construct. The liability is not the same as a straight design plan. It is understood (legally) that you design for the best interest of the company that you represent rather than as a client advocate (they used to do a better job at teaching this in pro-practice in the past). Efficiency and flexibility is best served without over detailing the plan. It also helps limit their usefulness to others should you not get the build portion. It is a whole different way of operating for a whole different set of goals. There is reason to the madness that might not be apparent right away if you are out of a design office.

 

“Master Plan”is a commonly used term for a complete layout plan of a residential property that may be implemented all at once or over a period of time.

 

“Preliminary Plan” is a planning board term for a conceptual subdivision plan that clears some hurdles before a “Definitive Plan” is filed. I would stay away from using “Preliminary Plan” for that reason.

[Brett T. Long]

There seems to be different terminology between design build and public bid projects.  Very interesting.

This is from the California Department of General Services and what I typically follow for my private and public projects:

What are preliminary plans? Preliminary plans are the initial design phase in preparing the construction bidding documents. The discussion in this section applies to the design-bid-build process used for most state projects (Section 6841).

These documents are developed from the information contained in the budget package. Typically the preliminary plans are developed in two distinct steps referred to as schematics and design development. The two-step process allows the department and architect/engineer to interact before the design is developed, helping to ensure a mutual understanding of the design objectives, limitations and budget.

[jrcirello]

Thanks for the input guys.  First, let me clarify that we are a landscape contractor company and do grading, drainage, irrigation, and landscape installations.  We sub out masonry, wood, pools, etc.  So our need for thorough construction documents is hugely important here. 

I like what Brett said last.  The preliminary plan is really a ‘schematic’ plan that is revised through DD to end up with a construction bid package.  I just call it a conceptual landscape plan.

I find that the other disciplines rely heavily on the term Site Plan, so as a general rule, I do not use that term unless there is a requirement by a governing agency or HOA that specifically requires a drawing with that name.

[Jason T. Radice]

Remember the end user…you have to dumb it down for the clientele. Master plan would be fine for the overall drawing of the property, with detail plans to follow. Even overall site plan would be appropriate. It is more appropriate the end user understand the plan set and what it is showing than to use professional naming conventions.
HGTV strikes again?

[Brett T. Long]

I agree.

[mark foster]

I’m with Jason and Brett–use the most commonly known terms.   I use “site”, and “concept” because most laypeople don’t know the meaning of “master” and “schematic”.

[Andrew Garulay, RLA]

In my contracts I refer to a layout plan as a “Schematic Landscape Plan” and describe what that is in the contract. I simply title the same plan as “Landscape Plan” in the title block.

 

Good point about being detailed for subs!

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