I work in construction management and I think you’re underestimating the complexity of generating a set of construction plans that meets code, passes inspection, and has coherent aesthetics.
There isn’t just one set of building codes for every jurisdiction, different jurisdictions adopt various sets of code.
Different geographic regions require various things that other areas don’t require. My state doesn’t have earthquakes or hurricanes, but we do have to have stronger roofs for handling snow load. Buildings in Florida need specific methods to handle hurricane force winds. Buildings in California need specific methods to handle earthquakes. And so on. How a building is designed is highly dependent on where it is located geographically.
You’re also underestimating just how many different materials/fixtures/fittings get installed in a house. Plumbing fixtures and light fixtures, electrical wiring devices, floor/wall/ceiling finishes, doors and door hardware, siding (type, color, trim color), windows, woodwork, cabinet, cabinet hardware, countertops, bathroom vanities, appliances, rain gutters, garage door, driveway/sidewalk material and color, deck material and color, etc.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that designing and building a building is far more complex than it seems.
> underestimating just how many different materials/fixtures/fittings get installed in a house
This is one of the reasons why I would believe Lowes or Home Depot or another construction supply place would 52 such a piece of software. They have those zillions of "something" that get installed, and the lumber. They already know what all those people buy.
At least for a construction company: pick a general house, gives you adaptations for common landscapes, choose interior finishing(s) / style(s), gives you plans (with adaptations), already has them approved for your area (with variants), gives you parts list, gives you plumbing/wiring, gives you button to put it all in your "cart," drive to store, pick up house worth of stuff, Lowes/Home Depot make a quick $50k-100k or so.
If you build a development, you say, give me 10 of that. Build it again, say I'd like my old order.
Visually, its supposed to be a heart shape. Such as "I (heart/want/like/upvote) this" What I would describe as mild 1337 speak, using limited ascii art when it shorthand's an idea. "I 52 this idea."
Depending on how much you like symbology, since it's 52, it also carries playing card connotations, with "makes a good hand", "hearts the card game", "want this to shoot the moon."
> my state doesn’t have earthquakes or hurricanes, but we do have to have stronger roofs for handling snow load. Buildings in Florida need specific methods to handle hurricane force winds. Buildings in California need specific methods to handle earthquakes.
If you tried to accomodate all of these methods now, your looking at much higher costs. But if your open source plans include all these methods, and people can produce kits that are shipped to you (either raw, or partially assembled) because they are identical, the costs would quickly start dropping..
There also seems to be shortage of cad tools avable to inspect a building plan.,like as a consumer you would home you would get a plan of the house when you buy the house
CAD is used to create construction drawings, but once they’re created, everyone works off of a PDF set of plans. You only need the CAD files and software if you want to change the plan yourself.
> I work in construction management and I think you’re underestimating the complexity of generating a set of construction plans that meets code, passes inspection, and has coherent aesthetics.
There isn’t just one set of building codes for every jurisdiction, different jurisdictions adopt various sets of code.
Different geographic regions require various things that other areas don’t require. My state doesn’t have earthquakes or hurricanes, but we do have to have stronger roofs for handling snow load. Buildings in Florida need specific methods to handle hurricane force winds. Buildings in California need specific methods to handle earthquakes. And so on. How a building is designed is highly dependent on where it is located geographically.
You’re also underestimating just how many different materials/fixtures/fittings get installed in a house. Plumbing fixtures and light fixtures, electrical wiring devices, floor/wall/ceiling finishes, doors and door hardware, siding (type, color, trim color), windows, woodwork, cabinet, cabinet hardware, countertops, bathroom vanities, appliances, rain gutters, garage door, driveway/sidewalk material and color, deck material and color, etc.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that designing and building a building is far more complex than it seems.