Tips for Beginner - Design Build

[ProperCharles]

Builder, transitioning into a Design Build Company. 99% Residential New Construction. New to Chief Architect. Practicing and learning as we speak! 

 

Looking for pointers from those who came from a similar position, or a part of a Design Build Firm!

 

What helped you from the beginning when you were new to Chief Architect? 

[Renerabbitt]

Hiring someone like me, haha. 
sorry shameless self plug but its true, I had a mentor. 
Some of the trainers on the market will work on your project with you so you're moving things forward and learning at the same time. 
Right tools for the job is a big part of it as well. 
Then there is the design experience. It just takes time understanding flow of a space while making sure the roof design works, that the structure is efficient and cost effective and that it all comes together to make a beautiful home. You can build a million homes and still not know the complexities of designing one yourself.
Lean on the community, come back here for technical support etc. 
I do a free show every tuesday at 9am on my channel as well as a free show with a group every 1st and 3rd fri
Watch all of the videos
 

[SHCanada2]

7 minutes ago, Renerabbitt said:

Watch all of the videos

do that. There are some very specific things to know to make your life easier.

 

and search this forum for all of the "workarounds" and tips when you have an issue. The best tip i think I ever learned was to keep walls aligned between floor levels using the alignment tool. That and creating rooms with different floor elevations on the same floor level is a PIA (for these types of plans you need to continually watch the floor and ceilings of the other levels as CA will adjust them without you noticing)

 

 

and either create a layout and plan template so you dont have to keep doing things every time, or buy one from rene or others. 

 

 

 

[CarrieS]

Our Residential Introductory class is currently Free On Demand. It goes start to finish through a basic project and will get you understanding the Chief paradigm quickly. 

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/events/#on-demand-training

[CharlesVolz]

2 hours ago, Renerabbitt said:

Hiring someone like me, haha. 
sorry shameless self plug but its true, I had a mentor. 
Some of the trainers on the market will work on your project with you so you're moving things forward and learning at the same time. 
Right tools for the job is a big part of it as well. 
Then there is the design experience. It just takes time understanding flow of a space while making sure the roof design works, that the structure is efficient and cost effective and that it all comes together to make a beautiful home. You can build a million homes and still not know the complexities of designing one yourself.
Lean on the community, come back here for technical support etc. 
I do a free show every tuesday at 9am on my channel as well as a free show with a group every 1st and 3rd fri
Watch all of the videos
 

Ditto!

 

And:

1. The learning curve is longer and harder than people think when the target is a professional/thorough set of construction documents.
2. Nobody knows what they don't know.
3. And until you become proficient and organized in design AND Chief Architect, “A man builder who is his own lawyer designer has a fool for a client.” (Ask me how I know this!)

Edited Friday at 09:49 PM by CharlesVolz

[para-CAD]

As a builder, you already know how the process works in creating a new home from an empty lot. The challenge is going to be how to get the chief architect software to create the model as you know it should be built. Many of the automatic features work great for simple things, but your uphill climb is going to be where do you find the right tool and how do you use it to get the result you’re looking for

[javatom]

Don't dabble in the learning process.  Dedicate yourself to a 2 or 3 week period that you do nothing but learning the software and test your abilities by designing a building.  When you get stuck on something, search this forum.  A search usually has solutions.