The buildings were engineered to meet the following criteria:
70 Lbs/SF Ground Snow Load + 10Lbs/SF Roof Dead load
40 Lbs/SF Loft Live Load (Typical of Residential 2nd Floor Attic Storage) + 10 Lbs/SF Loft Dead Load
90 mph+ Wind Load (10psf+ wind force)
1,500psf Soil Bearing Strength

The buildings on the plans were originally designed to meet or exceed most national standards and code requirements. However, they are not updated to meet changing code requirements. Like all stock blueprints, these drawings must be reviewed by a building professional in your community to see if they comply with local ordinances and to see if they are suitable for your site and your planned use. In locations where environmental conditions exceed the criteria listed above, and in seismic zones, the drawings should be reviewed and modified by a state-licensed construction engineer. Check with your building department. We've tried to make these plans easy to modify for use in high-wind, heavy snow and earthquake-prone regions.

Many building departments require that plans be printed on 11"x17" or 18"x24" paper. These plans will print on 8 1/2" x 11" computer printer paper. However, we've tried to layout the pages so that you can easily tile and tape them together, to make one larger sheet from two or four originals. Your local copy shop can then print them on large format paper.

Use the free material lists to get prices from building suppliers in your area. Use the plans and material lists to get accurate quotes from builders.

The drawings are intended for experienced builders and use standard methods, abbreviations and symbols. They do not include step-by-step building directions. These are fairly large buildings and are not recommended for first-time builders.

Accurate construction drawings will save you construction time and cost. Use them to get competitive bids from a number of different contractors. Take a set to your favorite building supply center or lumber yard with prints of the on-line material lists. Then, substitute other materials to compare your savings. Your contractor will save time and expense in construction because details are worked-out in advance. You'll have documents to present to your building department, zoning board or community's building reviewers to get their approval before you start construction.

You can customize your building by choosing the exterior materials and expansion sheds that you want. The designs shown on the drawings and website illustrations are just a few samples of the many layouts and looks you can build from the standard drawings. In addition, other changes are fairly simple and can be done during construction by an experienced contractor. Adding or eliminating doors and windows and substituting overhead doors for sliding barn doors are changes that can be done by your contractor. You're very welcome to pass the drawings to an architect or construction engineer in your area for those modifications.