All Good Carports Start With a Plan

All carport projects start with a carport plan.  Your house needed a plan to get built so why wouldn't your carport?  You may think that this construction is not a complex or large as a house, but do not be fooled, you still need to build it to construction standards that meet the needs of your local building authority.

There are lots of avenues you can choose to create your carport plan:

Prefabricated

If your choice is a prefabricated carport, you may be lucky receive a set of plans in the box.  It will depend on your local building authority if these are good enough.  There is no way of telling this in advance other than to contact them and see what they have to say.

Designer

If you choose a custom design you will probably want to engage an architect to design it for you.  This will mean top marks for originality in design, but like anything customized to your tastes it will be the most expensive.

Building Company

If you choose carefully, your builder may throw in the costs of preparing your carport plans in the total price.  This is a bit of a lucky dip because it may range from him or his wife drawing them up (with or without any formal training), through to a professinal he may employ to do this on his behalf.  If you choose this route always ask the question who and ask for examples of the designs before committing to any agreement.

Home Handyman

If you plan on constructing the carport as an owner builder then you may contemplate drafting up your own carport plan.  I have done this successfully myself, so it can be done, but please make sure you check with you local building authority first to make sure you cover all the issues they require.

There are some simple and effective ways for you to obtain your carport plan.  They range from costly to cheap.  Whichever method you choose make sure that you get the carport you are looking for because once it is built it is too late.  Having built several carports in different ways I recommend starting with the professionals. Obtaining a few quotes is cheap and simple.