Architect Reluctant to Give Electronic Copy of Plans

F

fmmc

Registered User
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Hi,
I noticed on the "timberframe central" website an option to submit a copy of house plans electronically for quoting purposes. My architect however is reluctant to give me an electronic copy of the plans. Is she within her rights to withhold these or am I entitled to them? I paid fully for the plans several weeks ago. Any advice appreciated.
 
Why is there a reluctance...given that you have paid for these. I would have understood that you paid for a service & are therfore your drawings...albeit in hard copy format or soft copy.
 
I had no problems getting them in PDF format, he wouldn't provide any other though as it could infringe copyright.
you should be able to get them in PDF
 
The architect has the copyright to the drawings. I imagine that provided the architect gives you sufficient copies to fulfill his/her contract then s/he is allowed to determine the format of the copy.
 
You don't "own" the design, you have a "licence" to use the design while the architect retains copyright.
 
I expect he doesn't want to give you source files as this means someone else could use and tweak them for use by other parties.

I would have thought he would have no objections to giving to you in PDF, but check with the timberframe company to confirm they can use them for what you need.
 
My plans were drawn by hand. I wanted to email to some companies for quotes so I scanned them in at work and was able to import the images to jpeg files. Took about 5 mins. Also handy if you need to print additional copies as you can split into different files and print on a3/a4 etc. Maybe this might be an option, although would have to consider copyright issues as discussed above I guess.
 
This is common practice and is understandable really. If an architect gives you the plans in an 'alterable' electronic format then you could make any change you liked to them and they would still appear to be the original, signed by the architect. The potential legal/safety/aesthetic ramifications are endless. Pre-pdf and cad they would have given you a blueprint, never the original.
 
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