Home » Property Law » Building » Building a new home, who owns the plans? Building a house from copyrighted plans can be considered to be an act of copying, and potentially a breach of copyright in terms of the Act. Accordingly, each of the three parties has a different issue they must resolve if the new homeowner chooses to build with the second builder.
Enforcing or defending a breach of copyright in these circumstances is not a straightforward process and is potentially expensive and time-consuming so it is essential to understand your position if you are one of the parties. The risk for the new homeowner is, having contracted with the first builder to design the plans whether building their new home with the second builder will be a breach of copyright. This will be a question of who is considered to be the owner of the copyright and will depend heavily on the terms of any agreement between the first builder and the new homeowner in relation to the plans.
Has a fee been paid? Everything situation is unique, so there isn't a 'basic' blueprint for additions. Consider hiring an architect who can maximize the design potential.
If I may, I have a couple of suggestions. Please consider adding under the front balcony the same diagonal support braces used in the front door. That is a simple design element that will provide a richer articulation to the facade. The metal railings by the front door are puny, consider a heftier, wider stone-clad border instead. Consider also moving the door on the restroom in the foyer to the wall around the corner. And there is a window inside the closet in the foyer.
That is very odd. Also as shown right now, the living room furniture is not properly anchored in the room. I will take a closer look at the floor plan and try to figure a different configuration. On the second floor, having only one restroom for four bedrooms is not ideal. I will get back to you. Congratulations on the prospect of your new home! Designing my own house Q. Serra Design Inc 8 years ago.
All right class. Time for a little quiz. No, you cannot use a carpenter pencil. Question: Consider the following scenario: a builder conceptualizes a design for a house. He meets with an architect to describe his general ideas for the design of the house, and the architect puts the design on paper and draws up the blueprints. The builder constructs the house according to the design and sells it to a very enthusiastic homeowner. In fact, the homeowner loves the house so much that the builder figures he will duplicate the design elsewhere, so he quickly starts work on seven more houses in another part of town.
Naturally, since the builder came up with the general idea for the design, he figures he owns the rights to construct as many buildings as he wants using that design. Is the builder correct? As an example, I developed a floor plan for a house I wanted to have built, on my own computer over a period of about four years. I did not hire an architect, but the builder and the company providing construction materials checked all drawings I created, making changes where needed for construction issues laminated beams, joist size and spacing, balloon framing, lally columns in the basement, etc.
If a friend of mine wanted to use the same floor plan to build the same house next door, I probably wouldn't allow them to do so, but if they lived in another community or state, I believe I would certainly be within my rights to allow them use of my design. Am I right in this scenario? Like Save. In this scenario, if the builder I hired to build my house later decided to build a development using my design, I guess I would have the right to sue under copyright infringement, correct?
Fred S 8 years ago. There is a lot more to a blueprint than drawing walls where you want them. At that point it is just a piece of art you stick to your refrigerator with a magnet.
The intellectual property is the posts and beams etc. As well. Every time an architect does a job they are drawing what the customer wants them to draw so by the logic of someone who "designed their own floor plan" the architect would always be a work for hire. Excuse me I take offense to that remark--it speaks of elitism, and denigrates a person who has some intelligence and understanding of the building process. Work-for-Hire or Assignment Agreement.
Unless there is an agreement to the contrary, if an architect produces blueprints for a builder, then the builder will own nothing but a one-time license to build one house according to those specifications.
AIA form contracts and many others specify that the architect is the sole author and copyright owner. However, if a builder, as in Question above, wishes to preserve the option of producing additional houses anywhere using the same or similar design that an architectural firm created for him, he must get a written assignment of the architect's copyright. If the design has not yet begun, the architect would sign a "work-for-hire" agreement, where the architect essentially agrees that he should be treated like an employee of the builder rather than an independent contractor and thus relinquishes any potential rights in the future design.
Otherwise, after the design has commenced and the copyright interest has already vested, the architect must sign an "assignment agreement" with the builder. Like 3 Save. So this answers my question about contract language, even for the home builder who is not in the business of building homes.
No matter how expensive a CAD program you may use, it is NOT a working drawing until a professional puts their expertise into the plan. From footing sizes to beam sizes and ALL the other code compliant measures. Until that happens, it is just a picture. It was an interesting and informative conversation.
To follow up. This can be problematic depending on the contractual relationship between the owner and the original designer. If the original designer retained all copyrights in the original design, an unsuspecting subsequent designer or contractor may infringe the copyrights of the original designer by refining or constructing a project that is substantially similar to the original design. As described in the previous section, multiple unforeseen consequences can occur when parties share construction plans amongst each other.
Therefore, if you receive construction plans from another party and are asked to construct, modify or otherwise use those plans, you should require the party providing those plans to indemnify you for any copyright infringement claims that arise therefrom. The written indemnification provision also should include indemnification for any other forms of intellectual property or unfair competition claims that may arise from your use of those plans and should include a duty to defend any related litigation in addition to the duty to indemnify.
In many construction projects, the owner, construction manager or contractor will contract with an architect or designer to design the project.
Regardless of payment, if the contract does not state otherwise, the original architect or designer retains ownership of the copyrights and the purchaser merely obtains a non-exclusive license to use the plans for that particular construction project. Alternatively, an owner or contractor should obtain written permission from the original architect or designer before reusing previously-purchased plans on other projects.
If the design's uniqueness is important to the owner, it should also insist that its license be exclusive. Otherwise, an architect could resell the design to others. Many construction professionals mistakenly believe that they have insurance coverage for virtually any type of claim that may arise in a construction project.
However, most commercial general liability insurance policies do not cover architectural copyright infringement. As briefly discussed in this article, copyright infringement litigation can be very expensive and potentially devastating to construction companies. Therefore, you should consult with your insurance agent to ensure that your policy covers architectural copyright infringement. Rather, one must look carefully at the actual circumstances and documents surrounding the work.
Construction Drawings: Who Owns Them? Never Miss Another Post. As well as finding the answers to these common questions: Are all improvements lienable? Can you amend your Claim of Lien? How do you lien a landlord for tenant work?
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