Professional members of the American Institute of Building Design are residential design specialists, and can help you to understand the entire home building process, and can translate your dreams into reality.

As you sit back and consider the scope of the project, you’re besieged with a whirl of questions. “A Guide to Residential Design Specialists” is a 12 page booklet that can help your dreams become reality in ways you never thought possible.

In this FREE Guide, you’ll learn:
- How to Find the Right Building Designer
- The Interview and Compensation
- Your Role on the Design Team
- Prioritizing Your “Wish List”
- Establishing a Program and Budget
- The Design Process

Don’t wait another day! Download your FREE Copy of this informative guide by clicking here…

Terms like plan packages, building permits, architectural styles, floorplan layouts, bonus rooms, and more, may be confusing at first, however if you follow the simple tips below, you’ll have all the information that you need to know when choosing a Certified Professional Building Designer to design your new home.

Top 10 Tips for Hiring a Design Professional:

EXPERIENCE
You have heard it a million times, and it’s true. There is no substitute for experience. This is especially true for design professionals.

AN OFFICE
Your first meeting should be in a professional’s office. That office may be in the designer’s home, but should be in a designated area. Remember, use caution if you are dealing with a part-time draftsperson conducting business from the kitchen table.

EXAMPLES OF WORK
While in a designer’s office ask to see some of their latest work. This will allow you to compare designer’s work and styles as you interview various design professionals.

REFERENCE MATERIALS
Look around their office. Today’s design professionals must stay on the cutting edge of their profession to compete. This requires a great deal of reference material such as books, manuals, code text, catalogs and samples of materials.

FINISHED PROJECTS
Ask to see photographs and request addresses of actual homes that have been built in a design similar to the one you are considering.

REFERENCES
Try to obtain a current list of former clients who you may contact to discuss the designer’s past performance.

CONTRACT
A professional building designer always has a contract or agreement for your review that covers such items as the fee and terms of payment, as well as the specific services that will be rendered for specified fees.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATION
Membership in a professional organization such as AIBD(American Institute of Building Design) or AIA (American Institute of Architects) makes the statement that this individual maintains high moral and professional standards within the building design profession.

SEALS ON DRAWINGS
This indicates that the design professional is either a state licensed architect or a CPBD (Certified Professional Building Designer) through the National Council of Building Designer Certification.

CONTINUING EDUCATION
This is a requirement for a Certified Professional Building Designer. CEU’s (Continuing Education Units) are vital for building designers to improve their professionalism and to stay informed of the many advances in the building and design industries.

Resources:

• CLICK HERE to Search for Home Designer in your Local Area
• Download the Free eBook: “Your Guide to Residential Design Specialists and Key to Design Excellence”

When a new home or addition is in your future, a specialist in the discipline of residential design is your best choice to guide you through the design/building experience. Accordingly, it makes sense to secure design services from a qualified, experienced source, a professional member of the American Institute of Building Design (AIBD).

Since 1950, AIBD has provided building designers with educational resources, and has developed nationwide design standards and a code of ethics for the building design profession.

Today, AIBD is a nationally recognized association with professional and associate members in 48 states, throughout Canada and in Europe, Asia, Australia and the Bahamas. Its chartered state societies are active in their respective legislative arenas and work to promote public awareness of the building design profession.

AIBD is also meeting the challenge of the future by educating members about new and improved building materials and innovative technologies that will impact how we live in the future.

In response to the ever-changing needs of the design profession and to ensure greater credibility to the public, the AIBD Board of Directors established the National Council of Building Designer Certification (NCBDC), and has charged its leadership with overseeing the Designer Certification Program.

For those who have chosen the profession of building design, there is no greater evidence of competency than achieving the status of Certified Professional Building Designer (CPBD).

Application for this credential is available to building designers, both professional members of the AIBD and non-AIBD members who qualify. Alternately, the credential of Professional Building Designer is the highest classification level, which a professional member of the AIBD can attain.

To qualify, an individual must first possess a minimum of five years of educational and professional design experience. As with the CPBD credential, a Professional Building Designer must subscribe to a scrupulous code of professional ethics. Equally significant, both require a commitment to professional development through a continuing education policy.

Resources:

• CLICK HERE to Search for Home Designer in your Local Area
• Download the Free eBook: “Your Guide to Residential Design Specialists and Key to Design Excellence”

Start by asking friends, relatives and business associates if they’ve worked with building designers in the past, and ask for a referral. Check the yellow pages in your telephone directory under “Building Design”, “Residential Design” or “Home Design” for designers in your area, too.

Many residential contractors and design/build firms will have a building designer on staff, or they may regularly use the services of one nearby. A weekend “scouting” drive within a 15-mile radius of your home may yield a few solid leads.

Keep an eye out for homes which are similar in design to what you have in mind. If you see something appealing and construction is not yet complete, look for a job sign posted at the site.

The building designer’s name and phone number may be listed, which you can easily jot down. If the home is occupied, a quick knock on the door at a respectable hour might result in a referral from a flattered homeowner.

The best way to compile a list of potential building designers for your project is by contacting the national offices of AIBD at 800-366-2423.

AIBD can provide you with a list of names and phone numbers of professional members in your general area, or direct you to the AIBD chapter in your state which can provide that information.

Resources:

• CLICK HERE to Search for Home Designer in your Local Area
• Download the Free eBook: “Your Guide to Residential Design Specialists and Key to Design Excellence”

HOME PLANS ARE COPYRIGHTED

Just like books, movies and songs, federal copyright laws protect the intellectual property of architects and home designers.

These legal protections exist to protect all parties. Copyright laws respect and support the intellectual property of the original architect or designer, and prevent anyone from using the design without written permission.

DON’T USE PLANS TO BUILD MORE THAN ONE HOUSE

All home plans include a copyright release and a license to use the documents to construct a single home. When you purchase construction documents, we, as licensor, are granting to you, as licensee, the right to use the documents to construct a single unit.

This is an exclusive license, which may not be resold, duplicated, published or distributed without written permission of the designer,architect or publisher.

REPRODUCING BLUEPRINTS

Construction blueprints may not be reproduced without prior written consent of the designer or publisher. If additional sets are required for estimating or construction, please contact us for additional sets at a nominal cost. Copy shops and blueprinters are prohibited from making copies of these copyrighted documents.

MAKING DESIGN MODIFICATIONS

As a plan licensee, you may customize the design to fit your personal preferences, but you must understand that the modification of the plan is performed at your own risk and should be reviewed by a professional architect, home designer or engineer prior to the start of construction.

Modified plans are considered “derivative works” of the original, and it is critical that you understand that these “derivative works,” as well as the original work, still retain copyright protection.

Any “derivative work” or revised design, even if completely redrawn, may not be sold, duplicated, distributed or used to construct any units without the purchase of a license from the publisher, architect or designer.

DON’T COPY DESIGNS/FLOOR PLANS FROM THIS WEB SITE OR ANY OTHER PUBLICATION, ELECTRONIC MEDIUM OR EXISTING HOME

It is illegal to copy home designs found in any plan book, on a CD-ROM or on the Internet. It is a common misunderstanding that it is permissible to copy, adapt or change a floor plan or a design found in this book. It is not!

It is also illegal to copy any existing home that may have been built, that is protected by copyright, even if you have never seen the plans for the home. If a particular home plan or existing home is desired, a set of plans must be purchased from an authorized source.

USING THE HOME PLANS

As a plan licensee, you may lend the home plans to third parties builders, contractors, sub-contractors, inspectors, governmental agencies, etc.) as necessary to assist in the construction of the dwelling involved. All such lent plans must be retrieved and destroyed, except for the owner’s reference sets, and those sets required by governmental agencies, after such assistance has been completed.

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT?

All parties, including the purchasers, designers, drafters, home owners, builders, contractors, sub-contractors, copy shops and blueprinters may be responsible if a copyright is violated. It does not matter whether an individual knows that a violation is being committed.

You’ve heard it before: ignorance of the law is not a valid defense! To avoid legal complications and damages, it is critical that you be certain of the original
plan source, and refuse to be a party to any illicit copying or borrowing of designs, derivative works, prints and design features.

PLEASE RESPECT HOME DESIGN COPYRIGHTS

In the event of any suspected violation of a copyright, or if there is any uncertainty about the plans purchased, the publisher, architect or designer should be contacted before proceeding.

If a violation of a home designer’s copyright is suspected, the designer or architect, and the Council of Publishing Home Designers should be contacted. Awards are sometimes offered for information about home design copyright infringement.

PENALTIES FOR INFRINGEMENT

Penalties for violating a copyright may be very severe. The responsible parties are required to pay the designer or architect’s actual damages (which may be substantial), plus any profits made. The copyright law also allows the designer or architect to recover statutory damages, which may be as high as $100,000.

Finally, the infringer may be required to pay the architect or designer’s reasonable legal fees, which often exceed the damages.

For more information:

US Copyright Office Official Site
U.S. Copyright Office
A part of the Library of Congress
101 Independence Ave. S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20559-6000
Telephone (202) 707-3000