BenSherman

Hi Graham, Thanks for your advice. The popularity within the industry and overall training support are both important. I still feel like I'm leaning towards CA. At the the end of the day, it's a one-off purchase for something that I'm going to be using everyday (hopefully!) For years to come. Would that initial saving be worth it in the years to come...

Hi All, I am a builder who is looking to move into a new venture offering architectural design services for homeowners looking to extend or remodel their home. I want to offer conceptual 3D renders and fly-throughs, proposed and existing 2D elevations for planning applications and construction blueprints for building regs approval and building contractors to work to. After much research, I had decided to go for Chief Architect Premier, which looks very slick and professional - and has a plethora of online videos and training support. However, I have read on a number of forums that the program is designed primarily for the US market, and can be awkward for UK use (particularly for UK planning and building laws). So I came across Visual Building Premium whilst searching for UK specific software. It certainly looks like it offers everything I'm looking for. However, there are obviously compromises compared to Chief Architect, as Visual Buildings is over 10 times cheaper! Has anyone used both know what the main differences are between CA and VB? It could well be the case that CA has features that I won't need, and therefore VB may be a far better value choice for me. Thank you for your time and expertise! Ben