Carport Plan

All carport projects start with a carport plan.  Your house needed a plan to get built so why wouldn't your carport?  You may think that this construction is not a complex or large as a house, but do not be fooled, you still need to build it to construction standards that meet the needs of your local building authority.

You can have your carport plan created in many ways, and here are a few to contemplate:

Flat Pack

If you buy a prefab carport, it is highly probable that it will come with a set of plans.  It will depend on your local building authority if these are good enough.  There is no way of telling this in advance other than to contact them and see what they have to say.

Draftsman

If you are designing something custom made to your needs you can engage an architect to create them for you.  This will mean top marks for originality in design, but like anything customized to your tastes it will be the most expensive.

Construction Company

If you choose carefully, your builder may throw in the costs of preparing your carport plans in the total price.  This is a bit of a lucky dip because it may range from him or his wife drawing them up (with or without any formal training), through to a professinal he may employ to do this on his behalf.  If you choose this route always ask the question who and ask for examples of the designs before committing to any agreement.

Home Handyman

If you plan on constructing the carport as an owner builder then you may contemplate drafting up your own carport plan.  I have done this successfully myself, so it can be done, but please make sure you check with you local building authority first to make sure you cover all the issues they require.

As you can see there are quite a number of ways to quickly and easily obtain your carport plan.  Some may cost you a few dollars, and other may be cheaper but cost you some time.  Whichever method you choose make sure that you get the carport you are looking for because once it is built it is too late.  Having built several carports in different ways I recommend starting with the professionals. It costs nothing to get a few quotes.