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Getting current plans for house

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  • 07-08-2020 8:37am
    #1
    dazzday
    Registered Users Posts: 696 ✭✭✭


    Hi Folks,

    We are looking to renovate and possibly extend a house we are currently living in that belongs to my wifes family. It was built approx 13 years ago.

    How do i go about finding the current architetural blueprints of the house?

    I have contacted the architect but yet to recieve anything back, is there any otherplace i should be looking?


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    #2
    august12
    Registered Users Posts: 1,275 ✭✭✭august12


    dazzday wrote: »
    Hi Folks,

    We are looking to renovate and possibly extend a house we are currently living in that belongs to my wifes family. It was built approx 13 years ago.

    How do i go about finding the current architetural blueprints of the house?

    I have contacted the architect but yet to recieve anything back, is there any otherplace i should be looking?
    Have you checked the local council planning list online??


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    #3
    dazzday
    Registered Users Posts: 696 ✭✭✭dazzday


    Ah good stuff - found it.

    For anyone looking - this is the galway version:

    http://www.galway.ie/en/services/planning/onlineplanningsystems/

    Use the map to find your house, and then it will give you the planning permission number. Then search this number in the planning document database


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    #4
    Gumbo
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 38,513 Mod ✭✭✭✭Gumbo


    dazzday wrote: »
    Ah good stuff - found it.

    For anyone looking - this is the galway version:

    http://www.galway.ie/en/services/planning/onlineplanningsystems/

    Use the map to find your house, and then it will give you the planning permission number. Then search this number in the planning document database

    Worth noting that planning drawings are not blueprints (American term) and not construction drawings.

    So don’t go removing walls or anything based on them just because the planning drawings don’t mark them as structural etc


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    #5
    Ray Palmer
    Registered Users Posts: 8,360 ✭✭✭Ray Palmer


    Gumbo wrote: »
    Worth noting that planning drawings are not blueprints (American term) and not construction drawings.

    So don’t go removing walls or anything based on them just because the planning drawings don’t mark them as structural etc
    That is not actually true. Blueprints are just a copy of plans coming from the printing technique used before electronic plans and when hand drawn plans were used. They are literally blue from the technique of printing and smell of ammonia.

    They are not different plans to structural plans. Otherwise people would have to draw different plans by hand which would be a waste of time.

    When applying for planning permission you only have to file part of the plans showing the elevations. As they did away with building bye law approval stages of applying for planning. So in truth a blueprint is the superior illustration as it contains all details. The term is continued to be used even though the printing method has changed and no longer actually blue


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    #6
    Doop
    Registered Users Posts: 1,466 ✭✭✭Doop


    What you really need is a measured survey of the existing house. A building surveyor, arch / arch tech etc will measure and draw CAD plans of the house.

    Printing scanned drawings from the council website will not be to scale. Also these are planning drawings not construction drawings.


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    #7
    Doop
    Registered Users Posts: 1,466 ✭✭✭Doop


    As Gumbo mentioned 'blueprints' is not a term used in Ireland


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    #8
    Ray Palmer
    Registered Users Posts: 8,360 ✭✭✭Ray Palmer


    Doop wrote: »
    As Gumbo mentioned 'blueprints' is not a term used in Ireland

    As I explained it certainly is. I have literally been on a building site in Ireland holding blueprints telling a foreman they didn't follow it. Colloquial use in common language maybe different but they are blueprints when not the original drawings.


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    #9
    Gumbo
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 38,513 Mod ✭✭✭✭Gumbo


    Ray Palmer wrote: »
    That is not actually true. Blueprints are just a copy of plans coming from the printing technique used before electronic plans and when hand drawn plans were used. They are literally blue from the technique of printing and smell of ammonia.

    They are not different plans to structural plans. Otherwise people would have to draw different plans by hand which would be a waste of time.

    When applying for planning permission you only have to file part of the plans showing the elevations. As they did away with building bye law approval stages of applying for planning. So in truth a blueprint is the superior illustration as it contains all details. The term is continued to be used even though the printing method has changed and no longer actually blue

    “This is not actually true” then you go on to type what I said exactly.
    Blueprints is not a term used in Ireland. I haven’t heard the term being used in my 20 years working in the construction industry, engineering profession and local authority settings. And I spent most of my working life and still to this day prepare planning drawings and construction drawings.

    And I can 100% assure you, Planning drawings are not just a stripped down version of construction drawings.


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    #10
    Gumbo
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 38,513 Mod ✭✭✭✭Gumbo


    Ray Palmer wrote: »
    As I explained it certainly is. I have literally been on a building site in Ireland holding blueprints telling a foreman they didn't follow it. Colloquial use in common language maybe different but they are blueprints when not the original drawings.

    Nobody is arguing the terms here.
    I have never heard of a person, PM, CM or any site foreman in Ireland call them blueprints.


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    #11
    Ray Palmer
    Registered Users Posts: 8,360 ✭✭✭Ray Palmer


    Gumbo wrote: »
    Nobody is arguing the terms here.
    I have never heard of a person, PM, CM or any site foreman in Ireland call them blueprints.

    I am older than you and when I worked as a civil engineer I can assure you they were blueprints as they were literally blue. I did not describe the same as you. Older people still call them blueprints and commonly used in conversations.

    Up until at least 1995 prints of plans were blue. There was no other affordable way to print them. Back when I drew in ink and used a razer blade to fix mistakes. Amazing somebody with 20 years experience has never seen a blueprint. Ever seen handdrawn plans?


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    #12
    Vita nova
    Registered Users Posts: 732 ✭✭✭Vita nova


    Do not trust plans or compliance certs for one-off houses and especially for extensions if you're planning major structural changes, get a measured survey done as mentioned above.

    I'm sure it's a minority of cases but builders and clients sometimes take short cuts to save money and when the building is complete it's very hard to spot where a short cut has been taken. For example, if you plan to build an extra floor on an extension, especially on a garage conversion, then get the foundations checked to make sure they are compliant.


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    #13
    Gumbo
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 38,513 Mod ✭✭✭✭Gumbo


    Ray Palmer wrote: »
    I am older than you and when I worked as a civil engineer I can assure you they were blueprints as they were literally blue. I did not describe the same as you. Older people still call them blueprints and commonly used in conversations.

    Up until at least 1995 prints of plans were blue. There was no other affordable way to print them. Back when I drew in ink and used a razer blade to fix mistakes. Amazing somebody with 20 years experience has never seen a blueprint. Ever seen handdrawn plans?

    I started my studies with HB pencils and rulers.
    Autocad R13 I think wa so my breaking into the market.

    My point being, that the term blueprints is not used in Ireland by any modern worker.

    And the point of the posts was to the OP that they shouldn’t blindly take Planning drawings from the LA site and assume construction elements are gospel. That I can assure you is not the done thing.


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