No drawings available for property

[Jeff Cliff]

Hi,

I am in an escrow for a property requiring major fixer-upper work. The property has a lot of unpermitted additions and alterations which would need to be corrected. I checked with the city but doesn't seem the city has any existing building plans/site plans. 

This is my first fixer-upper so not quite sure where else I can check for existing building plans? If not, I may have to get CAD-drawings done by someone. If I have to go this route what all drawings should I get? I may be doing some renovation work but may or maynot use another architect for renovation/remodel work.

Thank you.

[David Edwards]

Jeff, With this project (and with almost all others) the answer is going to be it depends. 

It depends on the extent and scope of the work, the jurisdiction's requirements, and what you are trying to do with the place. 

At a risk of oversimplifying the process, most jurisdictions are checking for 3 things, structural integrity of the building, fire / life safety of the proposed space, and conformance to zoning requirements of the site. 

The first thing I would do in your situation would be to confirm what the city wants / needs to see. There is no reason to jump through hoops getting documents together if the city doesn't need you to have them. If you are already going to be doing major work on the house and there is a need to bring the place down to the studs you could ask to have have whats there inspected at that time and rolled into the proposed permitted work.

I've said this on other posts here but you should go to the city and start establishing a good relationship with them ASAP. The stance to take is someone inheriting a less than ideal situation that's trying to do things right. Let them tell you whats needed and work with them through the process, establishing that you respect their authority on the matter and are trying to work with them can go a long way in making your life easier.

For reference, a simplified lift of drawings required for a typical house permit in my area are:
- a site plan, 
- floor plans for every level calling out life safety elements, dimensions, etc
- building and wall sections describing the construction of all the building components as well as their r values
- building elevations 
- Architectural details 
- Structural drawings and details
- Structural Calculations  

Hope that helps, feel free to reach out with any other specific questions you might have.