How to price for copies of archived build set blueprints of condo projects that no on else has?

[Engineerataltitude]

I' d like some advice as to what you folks think I should charge HOA's for copies (digital scans) of stored original blueprint build sets of plans for condominiums complexes that no one else has. I used to charge the per page cost of the scans plus my time plus a $250 archive fee. It occurred to me recently that this seems pretty inexpensive. I'm in a fairly rural area of the Sierra Nevada with jurisdictions that did not start scanning permitted plans into digital archives until the mid 2000's. Many very large condo complexes in my area developed before that time and many have no plan sets at all. My old boss used to make copies of any plans he came across and paid for a storage unit to store them for 40+ years. I have 10 lateral files full of old blueprint plan sets that I inherited them from him when he retired about 6 years ago. I have the only real archive of as-built plans for dozens of major condo complexes.

Any thought on appropriate pricing for copies?

 

[JoelTXCive]

Who are the potential customers? And what is their ability to pay?

 

[NorthCivil]

I would think maybe the better approach, would be for you to approach the local AHJ's and let them know of your big collection. you would be keen to pass it on to them, if they would help you cover some of the cost you have carried over the years of holding this.

offload that burden. unless you want to be in the business of selling old records, dealing with the phone calls around that, be known around town as the old drawing peddler, etc.

or maybe it would make a good retirement hobby for your old boss?

 

[Engineerataltitude]

Varies. Sometimes it is an individual who wants to remodel their condo and sometimes it is the HOA who wants to do repairs or remodel common areas.

 

[Aesur]

Your pricing you mention seems reasonable to me, you are making $250 profit + your hourly built in profit for time. Maybe consider a variable archive fee based on number of sheets or something along those lines.

If these are for condos and homes, I might would be willing to give the plans away in exchange for them going elsewhere for the renovation engineering; I have no interest in competing in the race to the bottom for those tiny fee type projects. (only half joking)

 

[LittleInch]

Do you want an ongoing business or just want to monetise your errr inheritance?

Once you scan them and deliver them then they are lost to you.

Why not just offer them all to the owners or HOA for say $10,000 for a complete set??

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[dhengr]

It has always amazed me how short-sighted bldg. owners are. Likely, they just don’t know any better, and none of us professionals tells them to do it. They will spend millions of dollars on a bldg. and then not insist on getting, or go to the effort to get and preserve, a couple copies of plans, specs., calcs., as built drawings and notes, etc., whatever they can on the construction of their project. This would cost much less than the time wasted by the consultants, the first time they want to make some bldg. modifications or changes. The very first question is, how was it built in the first place, of what materials, what strengths, what design assumptions, etc. And, while the old plans are not always the final word, they sure are a wonderful place to start from. They would be paid for during that first preliminary planning meeting when you are asked, can we make these modifications. When you would have some idea what you were starting out with. And, of course, today that compilation and storage effort is considerably less cumbersome than it once was in terms of boxes of stored stuff being passed on. Assuming that you can still find equipment which will read and print from your older storage media. Maybe this should be the AHJ’s duty, given what we already spend with them in terms of fees and time for approvals and permitting, etc.

 

[Engineerataltitude]

I've spoken to the local jurisdictions (city & county) and they would be happy to take any plans I have off my hands. But not pay for them. Why would they? They provide any digital plans they have on file to any property owner for free (once the licensed professionals still in business OK it)

As we all know, having original plans saves a ton of $$. Developing as-built plans is very costly and fraught with errors, because anything unseen is guessed at (i.e. foundations, lateral force resisting schemes etc.)

I think I will bump up my archive fee for condo plans. If an individual unit owner is looking to remodel, particularly something structural, I will suggest they persuade their HOA to pay the fee for scanned plans. The HOA will be able to recoup the cost by providing copies to other remodelers for a fee.

 

[skeletron]

In my neck of the woods the City will charge $14 per frame (drawing). That is for 1 house lot.

 

[jike]

You might want to contact your insurance underwriter to find out their advice. Are these the original design drawings or as built drawings? A stamp on each drawing stating what they are and what they are based upon at a minimum is very important. For instance, as built drawings are often based upon unverified information provided by the GC (or others). Are all the change orders reflected on the drawings? Did your company do inspection on these projects? Was this inspection part time or full time? There are NO guarantees implied that the structures were built according to the design drawings unless you had full time inspection.

If you do not have any stamps with proper wording on them then develop one with your insurance carrier and include the cost in your fee.

 

[Ron247]

Once you sell 1 copy, you lose the benefit. Anyone can reproduce the copy you sold. Better make a lot that first sale. You have info that would be difficult for anyone to field determine. A36, A992? 4,000 psi concrete or 3,000 psi concrete. The cost of gathering that info is in the thousands.

You saved the info when people who had more of a reason than you did not. You need to profit from that.

 

[Brad805]

Most I have contacted for copies of old drawings are reluctant to provide to anyone but the original client. Others have an exorbitant fee to search thru the archives. If the Home owner was the client, ok, but otherwise, I would not bend over backwards. Using 360cameras one can re-create a space in short order, and at least then you have a good start point.

 

[Engineerataltitude]

I think Ron247 gets the drift of my dilemma. Frankly I'm not too worried about liability issues, even though we're talking about condos, for the most part. The plans are what they are. They may or may not include all the change orders etc. The biggest benefit is often just having dimensioned plans so that an architect or engineer doesn't have to go into the field and measure as-builts and draft their own plans from scratch. I have found the biggest benefit to having original plans at my disposal is having the foundation plans. New modern plans will always be required for a building modification, but having original plans (with or without all the change orders) still helps minimize the client cost to develop those plans. ​

I just have to figure out what the market will bear on my archive fee.

Thanks for the feedback everyone