Isn't a contractor enough?

Q. I didn’t think I’d need advice for my own house, but Sandy changed that. I’m in a nightmare, trying to get insurance money, and I don’t have enough to build. I have to save money anywhere I can. My building department says I only need a sketch, not lots of technical plans, to get started. Also, do I really need an architect? Don’t contractors know the building codes and laws? I’m sure, as an architect, you’ll tell me I need architectural plans, but isn’t there a less expensive way?

A. If you watch home improvement TV shows, you regularly see contractors “designing” projects they build and working with homeowners to “get ’er done,” but what you don’t see, almost ever, are the architects or engineers, behind the scenes, who plan the projects. This misleading information, plus the fact that many states only require an architect or engineer for large homes and commercial buildings, has led to many, very expensive problems nationwide.

I was in Oklahoma this summer, interviewing people who had had their homes and lives ripped apart by tornadoes. I learned that building officials in Oklahoma don’t have the authority to require professionally prepared plans for homes. New York does require the seal of a professional, but also enables unqualified people to produce shoddy work that isn’t structurally correct, is guessed at, doesn’t include calculations for wind resistance, proper foundations in poor soils or waterproofing, by accepting a statement (usually false) that the plans were prepared “under the supervision” of a licensed professional. Most of the time, they aren’t. Otherwise, wouldn’t the title block on each page have the same name as the professional seal?

Then someone uses the catchword “sketch” to refer to plans. This, of course, sounds less expensive or alarming, but misleads a homeowner who’s looking to save money, and eventually means correcting damages later on. You get what you pay for. Contractors aren’t required to know the codes, and although some may know portions, I regularly see work that won’t withstand the weather extremes we’re exposed to. Codes, like most laws, are technical, complicated and not always easily applied.