DIY drawings or a drawing office?
You want to renovate and you are wondering whether you can produce the drawings yourself. Perhaps you have already seen an online tool, or you are considering hiring an architect. The honest answer: it depends. For small, permit-free jobs you can sometimes manage with your own sketches. For a renovation that requires a permit, it is a different matter. This article compares the three routes so you can make the choice that suits your situation.
Drawing yourself only works for permit-free structures or as a sketch for your own use. For a permit-required renovation the municipality demands an accurately scaled 1:100 drawing with dimensions, elevations, cross-sections and material descriptions; self-made drawings are regularly rejected and every correction round pauses the 8-week decision period. A drafting agency is the practical choice when your design is already fixed (from €595 at Tekenpunt); an architect pays off for new-builds, high aesthetic ambitions or listed buildings.
The three routes: drawing yourself, a drawing firm or an architect
Anyone planning a renovation has roughly three options.
**Drawing it yourself** can be done with an online tool, a free template or simply on paper. You have no costs for the drawing work itself. But a drawing you make yourself is rarely a permit-ready construction drawing. A municipality wants a scale-accurate drawing at 1:100 with dimensions, elevation views, cross-sections, material descriptions and the relationship to plot boundaries. That is something different from a rough sketch of how you want to extend the kitchen.
**A construction drawing firm** produces permit-ready construction drawings and often handles the submission procedure as well. You pay for the drawing work, but you receive drawings that meet what the municipality requires. A drawing firm knows the local aesthetic review requirements and the requirements of the Omgevingsloket. Tekenpunt is a construction drawing firm: not an architecture firm, but a firm that specialises in translating your building plan into correct permit documentation.
**An architect** both designs and draws. An architect is worthwhile when you want someone to build up the design of your renovation from scratch: devising the spatial layout, providing aesthetic input on the facade, advising on materials and making sustainability choices. Architects are generally more expensive than drawing firms and often charge a percentage of the construction cost or an hourly rate. But they also deliver more: creative input is included. If you already know what you want to build and only need permit-ready drawings, an architect is usually more than you need.
In short: drawing it yourself only works for permit-free situations. A drawing firm is the practical choice if you need permit-ready drawings but the design is already decided. An architect is valuable if you also want to outsource the design or if your building ambition calls for a distinct architectural vision.
When is a construction drawing firm the right choice?
Most standard renovations to a home fall into a category where a drawing firm offers the best value for money. Think of:
- An extension at the rear of the dwelling - A dormer at the front or rear - A roof addition or raising the ridge - Merging rooms by removing a wall - An outbuilding or garage that falls outside the permit-free limits - Converting a building to a different use (for example residential above a shop)
In all these cases the design is usually already established: you know what you want and may have already consulted a contractor. What you need are correct permit documents: a site plan, before and after floor plans, facade elevations, a section drawing and, if required, a structural calculation. That is exactly what a drawing firm provides.
A drawing firm can also be brought in more quickly than an architect. Architects often plan months in advance; drawing firms are generally available at shorter notice. If you have already booked a contractor for a particular period, that speed is a factor.
When is an architect actually the better choice?
There are situations where an architect adds more value than a drawing firm, and where it is wise to be honest about that distinction.
**You are building an entirely new structure.** In new construction, design plays a larger role than in a standard renovation. An architect contributes ideas about the orientation on the plot, daylight access, the layout of floors, sustainable materials, and the relationship with the surroundings. For a three-metre-deep extension this is less relevant; for a new detached house it is.
**You have high aesthetic ambitions.** If the appearance of your renovation needs to be truly distinctive, if you want something that feels genuinely designed rather than merely permitted, then an architect is preferable. Architects are trained to make spatial and aesthetic choices that a drawing firm does not make.
**Your building is a listed national monument or is located in a protected urban or village conservation area.** For listed buildings, additional requirements apply under heritage legislation. The aesthetic review is stricter and the likelihood of rejection for a non-professionally submitted application is greater. An architect with experience in listed building conservation knows the expectations of the monuments committee.
**You want full project management.** Architects can also manage the tendering process, draw up contracts and supervise the construction work. If you have a large renovation and do not want to spend time on coordination, an architect as project manager is an option.
In all other cases a drawing firm is the faster and more affordable choice, without any sacrifice in the quality of the permit documents.
What you can do yourself and where the risk lies
If your plan is permit-free, you can generally get started yourself. A storage shed in the rear garden area that falls within the size limits, a small dormer window on the rear roof slope that meets the conditions of the Building Decree (Bbl): for these you need neither a permit nor, in principle, a professional drawing. Note: even without a permit, your structure must meet technical requirements. A structural calculation is legally required for permit-free construction in certain cases.
For renovations requiring a permit things become more complex. The risks accumulate.
**Dimensional errors and scale errors.** A drawing at 1:100 with incorrect dimensions leads to an application that the municipality sets aside. That is even before the substantive assessment.
**Aesthetic requirements.** Every municipality has criteria that the appearance of a structure must meet. These are set out in the environment plan (or the still applicable policy rules). If you are not familiar with the aesthetic rules for your address, you risk the environmental quality advisory committee rejecting your plan on appearance, not on technical grounds.
**Structural requirements.** For an extension or the removal of a load-bearing wall the municipality wants to see a structural calculation. A drawing without structural substantiation is incomplete and halts the procedure.
**Submission requirements of the Omgevingsloket.** The Omgevingsloket generates a checklist based on your specific situation when you submit an application. What is on it exactly varies by structure and by municipality. An incomplete submission pauses the decision period until all documents have been supplied.
The risks of drawing it yourself: rejection, a correction round, and delay
Drawing it yourself for a renovation that requires a permit sounds attractive, but in practice it leads to problems more often than expected. There are three concrete risks.
**Rejection on aesthetic grounds.** Many people are unaware that in addition to technical requirements, aesthetic review requirements also apply. The environmental quality advisory committee assesses whether the appearance of your building plan fits its surroundings. The committee looks at material colour, facade layout, ridge direction and proportions. If you draw a dormer that does not comply with the aesthetic review rules for your street, your application will be rejected, even if all the technical dimensions are otherwise correct. A drawing firm that is familiar with the local aesthetic review policy will catch this for you.
**The correction round.** If an application is set aside due to missing documents, or if the municipality requests additional information, the decision period is paused. You must supply the missing documents, after which the period resumes. Each correction round costs you several weeks. If you go back and forth two or three times, you can easily lose two to three months.
**Delays with direct consequences.** If a contractor is already booked, those weeks of delay feed through into your planning. A contractor committed to a specific period cannot always reschedule your work. In the worst case you wait months for a new available slot. These costs are invisible but real.
A drawing firm that is familiar with the local requirements and those of the Omgevingsloket significantly reduces the risk of a rejection or a revision round. Tekenpunt has a first-submission success rate of 90%.
The costs looked at honestly
A drawing office costs money. At Tekenpunt a construction drawing starts from €595. That feels like a barrier to some people, especially when you see that free tools exist.
But the comparison is not 'drawing firm versus free tool'. The comparison is 'drawing firm versus what goes wrong when the application is incorrect'.
An application that is not accepted for processing by the municipality means starting over and paying permit fees again. Municipalities refund permit fees for a rejected application only partially or sometimes not at all. Expect weeks of delay that accumulate while a contractor is already booked or materials have already been ordered.
A rejection by the aesthetic review committee leads to the same: redesign, resubmission, a new waiting period of several weeks.
A mistake in the drawing that only surfaces once the contractor has already started can, in the worst case, result in revision costs that are a multiple of the cost of a drawing firm.
**Architect versus drawing firm: a qualitative cost comparison.** Architects typically work with a percentage of the construction cost (often 8-15% for smaller projects) or an hourly rate. This makes an architect for a standard dormer or extension quickly more expensive than a drawing firm, without any additional design work in return if you already know what you want to build. For a completely new house or an ambitious project, that higher investment can be worthwhile.
Those risks are not hypothetical. They are the reason why many people who first tried to draw things themselves still end up at a drawing firm, sometimes after a rejection that cost them time and money. See also the article [What does a construction drawing and permit cost?](/kosten-bouwtekening-vergunning/) for an overview of all cost items.
When drawing it yourself is fine and when it really is not
**Drawing it yourself is fine if:** - Your structure is permit-free (always do the permit check on the Omgevingsloket first, that check is free) - You are making a simple sketch for your own use, to organise your ideas or to show a contractor - You want to work out a rough design that you then hand over to a drawing office
**Drawing it yourself does not work well if:** - You are planning a renovation that requires a building permit, such as an extension, a dormer at the front, a roof extension, or a conservatory that falls outside the permit-free limits - Your property is a listed national monument or lies within a protected townscape or village conservation area: stricter rules apply and the risk of rejection on a non-professional application is high - Your build involves structural interventions, such as removing a load-bearing wall or installing a new load-bearing structure - Your municipality applies strict aesthetic review criteria and you are not familiar with the local requirements - You are in a hurry: a rejected application costs more time than a correct application submitted through a drawing office
If you are unsure about your own situation: do the permit check via the Omgevingsloket. That gives a free indication. If you cannot work it out, a drawing office can also do that preliminary work for you.
The hidden costs of an incomplete application
The direct costs of drawing yourself are low. The hidden costs are the problem.
An application that is set aside is legally treated as if it was never submitted. You pay permit fees again on the next attempt. Permit fees vary considerably depending on the municipality and the construction cost; municipalities are not obliged to refund fees for an inadmissible application.
Then there is the delay. The standard decision period for a building permit is 8 weeks, which the municipality may extend once by 6 weeks. But that clock only starts running when your application is complete. Every time the municipality asks for missing documents, that period is paused. Your building project comes to a standstill.
Then there are the additional costs if the build has already started: a standstill with a contractor who charges per day, extra additional work if the wrong structure has already been built, adjustment costs if the municipality enforces retrospectively.
Engaging a drawing office is, in this light, more of an insurance against delay and rework than an extra cost. Tekenpunt guides the application from drawing to submission via the [Omgevingsloket](/dienst-omgevingsvergunning/). You can read more about how that works on the [how we work](/werkwijze/) page.
Frequently asked questions
Q01Am I allowed to submit a construction drawing myself to the municipality?
You may. There is no law stating that a construction drawing must be made by a professional. But the municipality sets substantive requirements for the drawing: scale accuracy (generally 1:100), correct dimensions, elevation views, cross-sections and material information. If your drawing does not meet these requirements, the application will be set aside or rejected. The freedom to submit yourself is separate from the question of whether the drawing will be accepted.
Q02Is an architect needed for an extension or dormer?
For most standard renovations such as an extension, rear addition, or dormer window, an architect is neither required nor necessary. A construction drawing firm produces the permit-ready drawings you need. An architect is valuable if you also want design advice: how to divide the space, what the facade should look like, which materials suit the neighbourhood. If you already know what you want to build and simply need the permit drawings and submission process handled, a drawing firm is usually the more appropriate and more affordable choice.
Q03What is the difference between a construction drawing firm and an architecture firm?
A construction drawing firm translates an existing building plan into correct permit documents: drawings, site sketches, and the submission process. You already know what you want to build; the drawing firm ensures it is correctly set out on paper for the municipality. An architecture firm does the same, but adds the design process on top: contributing ideas about layout, aesthetics, and materials. That additional design work makes architects more expensive. Tekenpunt is a construction drawing firm: we draw what you have already decided on and make sure the municipality accepts it.
Q04How do I know whether my renovation is permit-free?
Run the permit check at omgevingsloket.nl. The check is free and can be completed without logging in. You enter the address, the location on your plot (front or rear garden area), and the dimensions. The result indicates whether you may build permit-free, whether you need to submit a notification, or whether you need a full environmental permit. Always run this check before you start, even if you think your plan is permit-free. Note: even for permit-free construction, technical requirements from the Bbl apply.
Q05What does it cost if my application is rejected?
If the municipality sets your application aside (because it is incomplete) or rejects it, you will generally pay fees again for a new submission. How much of the fees you already paid you get back varies by municipality and by reason for rejection. On top of the fees you incur delay which, if a contractor is already booked, also brings indirect costs. This is one of the reasons why a correct application at the outset works out cheaper than a resubmission process.
Q06Can my plan be rejected because of its appearance, even if the dimensions are correct?
Yes. In addition to technical requirements, the municipality also assesses whether the appearance of your building plan fits within the surrounding environment. This is called an aesthetic review. Every municipality has an aesthetic review policy or comparable policy rules describing how facades, roof forms and materials should look. An environmental quality advisory committee evaluates this. If your plan is technically correct but the committee rejects the appearance, you must redesign and resubmit. A drawing firm that is familiar with the local aesthetic review requirements prevents this situation.
Q07Which documents do I need for an environmental permit?
The Omgevingsloket generates a checklist for your application based on your specific situation. Exactly what is on it varies by type of structure and by municipality. Standard documents requested are: a site plan, existing and new floor plans at scale 1:100, facade elevations on all sides, a section, and a materials description. For structural interventions a structural calculation is added. A drawing firm is familiar with these requirements and delivers a complete package.
Q08How long does it take to obtain an environmental permit?
The standard procedure takes a maximum of 8 weeks. The municipality may extend that period once by 6 weeks. But the clock only runs if your application is complete at the time of submission. Every time the municipality requests additional information, the clock pauses. An incomplete or incorrect application can therefore easily double the turnaround time. For urgent cases, Tekenpunt also offers an express service with a shorter delivery time for the drawings themselves.
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