Heard a client say blueprints are "just drawings" and I nearly lost it

I was on a site walk in Tacoma last Tuesday and the homeowner looks at my set of plans and goes, "Oh, it's just some drawings, right?" I stood there for a second trying to figure out if he was joking. He wasn't. I told him those "drawings" took me 40 hours across three revisions just to get the load points right so his roof doesn't pancake during a snow event. People have no clue how much detail goes into a good set of prints. The tolerances, the callouts, the coordination between trades. It's not doodling. Has anyone else had to explain to a client that we're not just coloring with straightedges?

2 comments

2 Comments

evan_anderson24d ago

Buddy of mine runs a framing crew up in Bellingham. Told me he had a client ask why he needed to see the structural plans. Said the dude thought walls were just nailed together til it looked square.

rowan_hayes24d ago

Yeah I mean idk, that does sound pretty ridiculous but at the same time maybe not the biggest deal for a small job like a garden shed or something. @evan_anderson I get that your buddy's client was clueless but sometimes people just don't think about the details until they see it happening. Honestly though if you're trying to build something that's gonna stand for more than a few years you probably want someone who at least glances at the plans. But the way your buddy tells it makes it sound like the guy was building a whole house blindfolded which is definitely not great either.