Estimate the field measure-up and as-built drafting scope for documenting an existing structure, whether you are legalizing unpermitted work, planning an addition, or simply have no usable plans.
Every result is a planning estimate, not a quote or an engineering determination. Real numbers depend on site conditions, existing structure, engineering requirements, and your jurisdiction’s current fee schedule. For structural and engineering work we coordinate with a licensed engineer — we do not perform or stamp engineering ourselves. Get a project-specific estimate before committing to a budget.
The common assumption is that as-builts are priced by drawing effort. In practice the drafting is the cheaper half. The expensive half is establishing what is actually there: measuring every room and opening, locating structure, checking ceiling heights that vary between rooms, finding out where the walls really are versus where a forty-year-old plan says they are, and reconciling all of it into a set that closes dimensionally.
That is why existing documentation matters so much. Accurate original permitted plans give a starting geometry that only needs verifying, which is meaningfully faster than measuring a house cold. Partial or outdated plans are the awkward middle: helpful, but every dimension still has to be checked because you cannot tell which parts were built as drawn. With no plans at all, every measurement is taken from scratch.
Access is the other multiplier people underestimate. An empty house can be measured in one continuous pass. An occupied house means working around furniture, closets and the owner’s schedule, often across multiple visits. Crawlspaces, low attics and locked or finished areas add time and sometimes require a second trip once the framing question that nobody could answer on day one finally gets opened up.
When the reason for as-builts is legalizing unpermitted work, the drawings are the foundation of a larger submittal rather than the deliverable itself. Most legalization scopes also require a Title 24 CF1R covering the conditioned space involved, and where framing, bearing walls, beams or foundations were altered, an independently licensed engineer has to evaluate and stamp that portion. We prepare the drawings and coordinate that engineer — we do not perform or stamp engineering ourselves.
Expect the department to ask questions the as-builts alone cannot answer. Framing that was covered without inspection frequently has to be exposed again so an inspector can verify it, and that exploratory demolition is normal on legalization work rather than a sign that something went wrong. Building it into the plan early keeps it from derailing the schedule later.
For an addition or remodel the calculation is different but the logic holds: accurate as-builts are what let new design work start from reality instead of assumption. A dimension that is wrong in the base file propagates through the whole permit set and usually surfaces during construction, at the worst possible moment to fix it.
A field measure-up visit for a typical single-family house is usually a half day to a full day. Turning that into a coordinated drawing set generally runs one to two weeks depending on size, number of stories and how much has to be verified. Difficult access or a second site visit extends both ends of that.
Usually yes, though the scope is smaller. Original plans show what was approved, not necessarily what was built, and decades of remodels rarely make it onto the record set. Verifying an existing plan is faster and cheaper than measuring from scratch, which is why having them lowers the estimate rather than eliminating the work.
No. As-builts document existing conditions, which is the foundation of the submittal, but a legalization package normally also needs a full permit set, a Title 24 CF1R for any conditioned space, and stamped structural documents where the work altered framing or foundations. We prepare the drawings and documentation and coordinate a licensed engineer where a stamp is required.
Yes. The field measure-up visit is shown as its own line item because it is a distinct piece of work with its own cost, separate from the drafting. Multi-story buildings, difficult access and occupied properties push that visit toward the upper end of the range, and occasionally require a second trip.
Tell us what you're building and we'll get back to you with next steps — usually within one business day.
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Yuna Drafting