The Kinship

No. Sillplate plans are prepared by a person who is not a licensed architect or professional engineer, and every sheet says so. Sillplate is run by Dominic Freed, a residential general contractor based in Troy, Missouri. He's a draftsperson and builder, not an architect or engineer, and that's a big part of why our plans cost less. We draw house plans and construction drawings for one- and two-family homes. Missouri law allows that for those buildings, with that disclosure on the documents (RSMo 327.101.2(5) and 327.191.2(5)). We don't seal drawings. See our design service disclosures.

A complete construction set of 11 to 14 sheets, depending on the plan:

• a cover sheet with the code edition, design criteria, energy table, general notes and a list of what's by others;
• dimensioned floor plans with ceiling heights on every room;
• all four elevations, a roof plan, and sections and details;
• door and window schedules;
• a foundation and basement plan and a floor framing plan;
• roof framing or truss layout, and wall bracing;
• an electrical plan.

Not included: a site plan or survey, truss and engineered-lumber design (from the manufacturer), HVAC sizing, and any licensed professional's seal. Every plan page shows its sheet index.

Build the plan the number of times your license allows, at registered addresses, and share the set with the people building it: the building department, your lender, subs, suppliers and inspectors. You don't own the design; we keep the copyright. Every page is watermarked with your name and license ID. The full plan license terms are short, and you can read them before you pay.

Buy for the number of times you might build the plan:

• Single build: one house. $695 for the 1240 Starter or The Troy, $795 for the 1830 Ranch, $895 for The Lincoln.
• Additional build: $195 each, added to a single-build license.
• Unlimited builds: as many as you build. $1,295 / $1,395 / $1,495 for the same plans.

If you might build a plan five or more times, unlimited costs less than a single build plus additional builds. Current prices are always on each plan page and the pricing page.

One house at one street address. You register each build in your account before you apply for a permit. Model homes count. A mirrored plan at a new address is a new build. Rebuilding at the same address after a fire or storm isn't.

No. The structure is drawn to the prescriptive tables of the residential code your jurisdiction adopted: span, header and foundation tables, and the wall-bracing rules. Roof trusses and engineered lumber are designed by their manufacturer. Anything outside the tables (a long beam carrying a point load, a tall retaining basement wall, problem soils) needs a licensed professional, and the drawings say so.

Many homes don't need sealed plans at all. It's your responsibility to call your local building department and find out whether sealed plans are required. If they are, we coordinate with a licensed structural engineer, who reviews the calculations in our plans, makes any adjustments necessary, and seals them. That typically costs a fraction of having an architect design the whole house.

First, find out. It's your responsibility to call your local building department and ask whether sealed plans are required. If they are, we coordinate with a licensed structural engineer, who reviews the calculations in our plans, makes any adjustments necessary, and seals them. On these terms:

• At cost. The engineer's fee is passed through at cost with no markup. It's commonly $1,000 to $3,000, and ranges from about $500 to $5,000 depending on the home. We charge a $150 coordination fee.
• Only what's required. The engineer's scope is limited to what your building department requires.
• You approve first. You see and approve the engineer's quote before any work starts.
• Their call. The engineer's design decisions are the engineer's professional responsibility.
• One round of changes included. We work the engineer's required changes into our drawings once at no charge. Further rounds, or engineer-driven redesign beyond the original scope, are quoted before we start.

We can't promise that, and nobody honest can. Approval is your building department's call. Some cities and counties require sealed plans for new houses even where state law doesn't. Call your building department before you buy and ask. If they require a sealed set, we coordinate with a licensed structural engineer, who reviews the calculations in our plans, makes any adjustments necessary, and seals them.

It depends on each state's licensing laws. Checkout asks for the build state and enforces the rules:

• Most states: we sell, with the state's required disclosure on the plans.
• Some states: we sell with an engineering-may-be-required notice, and we prepare a version of the plan with calculated elements removed before releasing it. In a few, we sell only after legal review of that state.
• Restricted: Arkansas, Hawaii, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey and New York. We don't sell build licenses there. Contact us about options.

Each plan page shows the status for your state. This is based on our legal research, which isn't legal advice, and it can change.

Yes. Use "Customize this plan" on any plan page. You pay per revision round, confirmed in writing before work starts:

• $400 per revision round: your changes drawn into the full construction set.
• $500 per revision round with updated images: the same, plus the plan's images redone to match.
• A whole new layout is better as a custom plan, quoted before work starts.

Yes, for your own licensed builds. You or your drafter can change the set, but mark every modified sheet as modified by you, since we didn't review those changes. Modifying a plan doesn't add builds or make it a new design. CAD files aren't available yet; they're coming soon.

Not yet. CAD files are coming soon. For now, every plan is delivered as a PDF construction set.

No. Every image starts from a real 3D model built from the plan, then gets an AI realism finish. So what you see has the real proportions, sizes and features of the drawings. It's not an AI guess at a house. Finishes, furniture and landscaping are shown for illustration, and the built home may vary.

Yes. The plan's existing images are licensed for marketing your licensed builds, at no extra charge: listings, signs, flyers, websites and social posts. Don't present them as photos of a finished home, and don't use them for a different plan. Check your MLS's rules on renderings.

Want to pre-sell before you buy the plan? The photo package ($149) gets every image of a plan at full resolution, licensed for marketing that home. New images of your own plan are add-ons; see the pricing page.

• Digital plans: no refunds once a file in the order has been downloaded. We refund a duplicate purchase, an order whose files haven't been downloaded if you ask within a few days, or our own delivery error.
• Changes, custom plans and reports: refundable before work starts. Deposits are non-refundable once work starts.
• Permit outcomes and report conclusions aren't grounds for a refund.

The refund policy has the details.