Home Architecture Talk

Do I need a degree in Architecture to draw/design houses??

I want to know if i need a degree in architecture to design residential homes and be able to sell the plans online or to contractors. If not, would a business degree help in any way? I have already drawn several home plans in High School, and one that I drew my parents decided to build and all i did was give my plan to the contractor and he went from there. It was just floorplans,section cuts, and door & Window catalog. all of the wiring and HVAC diagrams were done by independent people I guess. Not sure If its possible to make any kind of business out of it, even as a 2nd job

Public Comments

1. As far as I know you don't need any type of license to design and sell a house design.. that being said, obviously the plans need to be approved and stamped by either an engineer or a Architect. I have built Timber frames in both Japan and Canada. Canada was by far the most strict. Plans need to be approved site by site. Even if its the same design. In Japan the plans needed to be reviewed and approved by the citiy's engineer, which is strict but alot less painful. As for selling your designs. If you want to approach it from a purely artistic point of view you can design houses and leave the engineering and structure up to the engineers.. cheers...
2. An architect needs to go through you drawing and stamp it before anything can be built.
3. To draw & design...NO. To get them approved to be built...YES. Plans need to be approved by a registered design professional. Unless you can get one to sign off on your work, (highly unlikely, he would be liable for any error), they would not be approved for construction.