After spending years in the residential design field, clients continue come to me after the same painful experience. They found a plan online, or hired someone inexpensive, paid for what they were told was a complete set of drawings — and then handed those plans to a contractor for bidding. The contractor came back with the same answer: I can't fully price this. There's too much missing.

Not a small detail missing. Entire drawings missing. Information that trades rely on to do their work — and to price it accurately. The result is either a bid full of contingencies that inflates your budget unpredictably, or a project that starts moving forward on incomplete information, where decisions get made in the field instead of on paper. Both cost you.

I created this guide because that conversation — your drawings aren't complete — should never be a surprise. Especially after you've already spent the money. This guide exists to save you the money and the headache.