Northriver

Terry, can you explain how this software is going to significantly improve the home building industry and what value it will bring to my customers (homeowners) and my Trade Partners. Who are the primary beneficiaries of this investment and will it improve my customer satisfaction rating?

Joe, can we now properly label our door and window sizes using superscript numerical characters? Is this something new in version X8?

Rich Text. I am hoping for superscript in the next update.

OP, last time I am going to hijack your thread. Terry, what is it that you actually do for a living. I went back thru some of your old posts and am quite confused. It seems you worked for Boeing designing the 787, then Cessna and automotive design, now building design and just stated you have designed HVAC systems for the last 30 years. I have a 4 year degree in Construction Management but that does not make me superior to any one else who lacks a degree from college. There are many people who are very successful in their field of choice who do not have college degrees. As I mentioned earlier if you really want to commit to a field in the Construction industry you need to find a company who excels at what they do and learn from them. You cannot learn this industry by surfing the internet or learning how to use software programs related to the industry. Its spending many years being out where the rubber meets the road then working your way up to orchestrating the entire construction process. As former VP of Construction it was my job to manage people, assets, the future growth and direction of the company and not being concerned whether I completely understand what it takes to compute numbers to achieve lateral and vertical load paths. That is what I pay the engineer to do. Your excitement and dedication to the design and engineering aspects of planes, automobiles,HVAV systems and now buildings is great and does not go unnoticed and unappreciated, but with the understanding that this is a small part of the entire process of getting an entire project started and completed and that is where your level of expertise is limited. I think it would be a great idea to continue this conversation by starting a new thread.

Richard, I agree. When the actual building permit costs $250.00 and the other $ 20,000.00 is mitigation fees along with sewer and water hook up is another $15,000.00. Lot size or and building size has no effect on these fees. I guarantee if there was away to squeeze construction costs besides lowering the square footage of the home, the top 10 builders in the US are already doing it. The top 10 Home Builders also drive the markets where they build and the rest fall in right behind them. The only thing that will change the market direction and the demand for these 3000 plus sf homes is when the customers stop buying them.

Reducing the size of the building does not do anything unless you can decrease land costs. Land costs are the main driver on what is built on it. In areas of high demand land costs are more than construction costs. The only way to combat this situation is to build multi family developments so you can maximize density into a smaller area or allow the expansion of urban development into the sub-urban areas. You live in San Francisco which is a perfect example of what happens when you run out of land to build on in an area of high demand caused by people making 200k + a year. If you owned a lot in SF would you build a 1500 sf house on it. Land costs in 1960 and 1970 where negligible compared to the cost of construction.

I think you did not read my reply correctly. I specifically said Building Officials and Inspectors. Look at section R104.8. You are confusing what the IRC vrs what the CA code requirements are along with the UBC requirements. Designers are not going to get sued because of materials are causing toxins within the home they design. Architects, designers and PE rarely get sued in residential construction as the liability always falls on the general contractors (Builder) and the sub-contractors. I am quite aware of the difference between a PE and a chemist or microbiologist. I very familiar with Construction Forensics after spending 3 years working for one as a Construction Manager. It would be beneficial for you to gain more onsite experience with General Contractors who are well established leaders in their field. Relying on the internet is no way to gain the experience and knowledge it takes to completely understand residential construction. There is no substitute for hands on experience and quality time invested in one industry, not jumping from one industry to the next thinking that learning a software program and building a building or two will automatically qualify you as an expert. I have been in this business for over 30 years and still learning. I have worked for the two largest home builders in the US to a 50 million dollar single family project east of Seattle. Drawing plans was always a hobby but now that I am retired I just do SF plans as a side gig. I am still involved with the Seattle Master Builders Association as well as Habitat for Humanity.

There is nothing in the IRC that states any requirement of who can design what type of building(​not correct my bad). The IRC does state liability but only as it refers to the Building Official and Building Inspectors. As far as needing engineering, the IRC states you do not need engineering as long as you can meet the prescriptive requirements of the IRC. You can have a combination of both prescriptive and engineered path to drawing development. I submitted 1 plan recently in seismic zone D1 using the prescriptive method with no engineering. It was approved 4 days ago.

I cannot get the standing seam material to change in chief architect. I am looking for copper 16" on center standing seam roofing. I have searched the internet and cannot find a straight on photo. Thanks

I renamed most of my hot keys to make it easier to remember. Scott did a really good video on hot keys. It pushed me in the direction of using hot keys as I have never used hot keys before. I also have some programed to my mouse such as open object and undo.

You can create another page template after page 60 then add re add the macro for page numbering.

I have noticed my computer has significantly slowed down with this last update. I have a 6 core processor over-clocked at 4.6GHZ and 8 GB of video card. Its like every click I make in the plan I get a pause and doing a search of the library it takes 30 seconds or more for it to produce results.

Did you set your garage wall height correctly via the dialogue box. In the D box you can change the foundation wall width as well as the footing dimensions.I just did a plan with different size garage walls due to shear requirements and had a stepped footing with no problems.

Do they add a great deal to the file size? If not I would still like the option listed below. I wish we had the window portal available in the plan file like we have in the layout file so we could narrow in the area of detail we want, make it a cad detail, then pick the scale before sending to layout. I know I can make a detail out of a full plan view and convert to a cad detail and use masking blocks but that is a pain in the butt. The poly line around those window portals should be editable also. Thanks Jeff

The majority of the home building industry up in the PNW are building "Craftsman" style home on lots the are 40 to 45 feet wide and 60 to 70 feet deep. The designs are substantially similar inside and out. There is not much of a footprint left for the home after the setback requirements from the property line. The builders are not suing each other over design. I am sure the same thing is happening in California along with other parts of the country. You cannot get a patent just because your home is a Craftsman, Prairie, Contemporary or what ever type design. The burden is always on the plaintiff not the defendant.

This was an actual court case. Analyzing for the first time a copyright suit under the Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act (AWCPA), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed the district court’s summary judgment against the plaintiff, finding tryable issues of fact. T-Peg, Inc., v. Vermont Timber Works, Inc., Case No. 05-2866 (1st Cir., Aug. 18, 2006) (Lynch, J.). The plaintiff filed a copyright infringement suit under the AWCPA against the defendants, including Vermont Timber Works (VTW) and a property owner who hired T-Peg to provide architectural designs and a construction material package for a timber frame house. The property owner terminated its relationship with T-Peg after having seen T-Peg’s architectural plans and then hired VTW for construction of a timber frame house with elements similar to T-Peg’s design. Based on its comparison of the relative architectural designs, the district court granted a summary judgment for the defendants, finding the no reasonable jury could conclude that VTW copied T-Peg’s architectural work or that VTW’s frame was "substantially similar" to T-Peg’s registered plans. T-Peg appealed. The First Circuit noted that under the Copyright Act, in order to establish copyright infringement the copyright owner must establish two elements: ownership of a valid copyright and copying of elements of an original work. Proof of the latter may be in the form of a showing that the defendant actually copied the work, through either direct or indirect evidence, or that the infringing and copyrighted works are substantially similar. The court noted that the AWCPA added "architectural works" as a new category of copyrightable works defined expansively to include the design of a building embodied in any tangible medium of expression, including other buildings, architectural plans or drawings. The court noted further the holder of a copyright in an architectural plan has two copyrights: one under the provision for an architectural work and another under the provision for a "pictorial, graphical or sculptural work." The court concluded that a factual dispute existed regarding direct evidence of copying, and that the necessary elements needed to indirectly establish copying could have been inferred by a reasonable jury. The First Circuit thus concluded there were genuine issues of material fact as to substantial similarity between the accused and copyrighted works. The Court found that the district court erred in failing to consider those similarities that went to "overall form" as well as the "arrangement and composition of spaces and elements," noting that according to the AWCPA legislative history: "[t]he phrase ‘arrangement and composition of spaces and elements’ recognizes that … creativity in architecture frequently takes the form of a selection, coordination, or arrangement of un-protectible elements into an original, protectible whole."

Probably not the right place to ask about other software programs and ask for a list of what other 'programs' offer. If you are after what chief Architect has to offer go to their website. Otherwise do a search on google for other architectural software programs as it sounds like you are promoting brand X. I do not mean this in a condescending way by no means. PS; Chief Architect offers free live webinars where you can see the software in action and ask questions. Chiefs Youtube channel has videos also.

hydrostatic pressure can be of concern with high water tables but what you suggested is of great advice for containing water from entering the from the exterior.

Great Idea. That's how I built my home except used creosote pilings and creosote beams due to tide considerations. Creosote has been outlawed for over 10 years now and no longer available.

I attached a slope diagram out of the IRC (2012) page 80. If you are just scraping the surface to avoid a water table not adjacent to any slope you have nothing to be concerned with. whether there is a slope or not just back fill over the footing to the required cover for frost protection and slope final grade at away from the foundation minimum 6" (5%) out to 10' and a maximum of 3:1 or what ever the max slope is allowed in your neck of the woods. On side yards just slope 5% to the drainage swale. Depending how deep the water table is you may not find suitable bearing for the footings and most likely require an onsite visit from a soils engineer. I built 11 houses that required boring 12" holes at 8' on center to pour concrete piles for the footing to be supported due to water table and soil conditions. If you are designing a crawl space foundation you may want to consider sloping the grade inside the foundation enough to direct any water to a foundation drain or use a sump pump if a drain will not work. Hope this helps .Slope diagram.pdf PS; sorry for the quality of the scan as a could not get the page tight enough to the scanner.

I see what your saying yes the bottom of the footing has to be figured 1 to 1 against the downhill slope next to the bottom of the footing. Like if you place the bottom of footing next to a 3' slope the footing would have to be 3' away or excavate down 3' at the slope. Down hill slope to the building on the other hand is a totally different formula is used.

You described that you are adding fill and did not mention you were excavating and or placing the building near a slope. That is a totally different situation.

I Know in Washington state we cannot have a 1 to 1 slope (45 deg) max is 3 to 1. We would be forced to tier the grade or put in a retaining wall on a 1 to 1 slope. I guess it might depend on jurisdiction on where its built. We have and 18" min coverage.

The diagram shown in the IRC shows it starting right at the exterior of the foundation. I would probably at least start at the exterior width of the footing just in case you get a picky inspector.

Nick66, I get what your saying as it would be nice to not have to deal with annosets and have annotations automatically change with the scale sent to layout. I see a lot of requests on how we would like Chief to perform like other Architectural software with out realizing what we are asking could be proprietary/patent software programing of those companies or a programing nightmare. Don't get me wrong it should not discourage people for asking such requests, I was just giving an example of why Chief Architect does not implement some of our requests. You may want to move this request and further requests to "suggestions". When I first started using Chief, annosets where very confusing but Scott Halls video "Annosets for Dummies" clarified the use of annosets. Wendy did a video series on annosets recently which you will find very helpful. Sorry, I could not get the link to stick for Scott's videos. Do a search on youtube for annosets for dummies. Wendy's video. ​