Ask HN: Why Can't We Make Approved Building Plans Reusable?

7•silexia•3d ago

Why do people have to go through an entire architectural drawing and engineering process for every single building we create? Maybe we would require a soils test to make sure the ground has the same bearing capacity. If a building plan is approved by government officials, that plan should be available on the approved list for anybody to use at any time going forward. It is stupid that people have to spend $20,000 or $30,000 every time they want to build a box that has been approved and built literally hundreds of thousands of times before.

The architectural and engineering special interests have really captured their regulators on this one.

Comments

appreciatorBus•3d ago

Because city planners and Nimby homeowners do not want it to be easy to build new building buildings. Every extra dollar you can force a proponent to spend, increases the odds that the project will no longer be economic to build, and simply not be built. For those most active in city politics, this is a win.

It goes way beyond design.

Early housing reformers in the 1920s, explicitly called for punitive fire regulations for multifamily buildings to make them on economical while admitting that they would not ask for any fire regulations for single-family buildings whatsoever.

[1] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0194436920897553...

silexia•3d ago

How can we fight back against the special interests in every portion of society putting themselves ahead of everyone else?

bigyabai•1d ago

Move to an anarchist commune?

appreciatorBus•1d ago

The fastest way to turn an anarchist into a Central Planner is to propose a building whose aesthetics they dislike.

baubino•3d ago

It’s a liability issue. The approval is granted to the architect or engineer who stamps/signs the building plans. The plan itself demonstrates that the structure meets all legal and safety requirements. If something goes wrong, whoever signed that plan is personally liable.

silexia•3d ago

The liability can simply be on the builder if they choose to use a separately approved plan. The builder has liability anyways.

baubino•3d ago

In most places (in the US at least), all building plans over a certain size require a stamp from an architect or engineer. Builders get their plans stamped by an architect or engineer too. No builder will willingly take on liability that they currently don’t have, especially since it will cost them more money (in insurance premiums).

The exception is smaller buildings (usually less than 2000 sq ft) and in some places, all single family is exempt from needing a stamp.

edit: I should add that I’m not against the idea of reusable plans. But the liability issue would need to be solved somehow. Who is going to be responsible if something goes wrong?

yorwba•2d ago

I don't see why the person who assumes liability for the plans for one building couldn't also assume liability for n exact copies built using the same plans. Of course that goes against OP's wish of not having to pay for the plans, but if you're willing to pay, liability is not an issue.

baubino•1d ago

I imagine that would raise the price of the plans significantly because, again, no one wants to take on more liability than they already have, and definitely won’t do so without additional compensation. At the very least, liability insurance would increase (if it even allows it).

jamesgill•2d ago

TL;DR: liability.

Ask HN: Any Microsoft employees/devs here? What's happening to Microsoft?

Git analytics that works across GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket

Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (January 2026)

Ask HN: How do you use 5–10 minute gaps productively?

RevisionDojo, a YC startup, is running astroturfing campaigns targeting kids?

Ask HN: Who is hiring? (January 2026)

Ask HN: What's a standard way for apps to request text completion as a service?

Amazon Prime AI overviews can't even get the basics right

Tell HN: Internet Bug Bounty (IBB) on HackerOne Appears Dead, CVEs Unpaid

Ask HN: What kind of setup do you run for your children?

Ask HN: Has anyone else been struggling with search lately?

Private Operating System

Ask HN: Launching niche service soon, how should I prepare?

Anyone building software for wearable tech?

Ask HN: How do small teams make sure recurring tasks don't slip?

I made a lofi page for late night work

Ask HN: Reading list for being a better engineer?

Ask HN: Is anyone having success with Reddit ads?

What do people usually do with spare Android phones? Any practical use cases?

Ask HN: What's the future of software testing and QA?

Ask HN: Are you missing daily email alerts from HN?

Ask HN: What did you learn in 2025?

Ask HN: What's the best talk you've watched?

Tell HN: I'm having the worst career winter of my life

Ask HN: How is your work making the world a better place?

Tell HN: EU soliciting feedback on law that could affect Open Access

How to use AI to augment learning without losing critical thinking skills?

Ask HN: Expository/Succinct Books on Modern Physics

Ask HN: Who is using Nebula (mesh VPN)?

Ask HN: When do we expose "Humans as Tools" so LLM agents can call us on demand?