Another common misconception regarding the accuracy of design plans is the assumption that a stamped set of approved plans is buildable simply because they passed a city plan check looking for building code and planning department violations.
This misconception is fueled by the natural economic impatience of the builder to break ground, an over-confidence in the accuracy level of a typical set of plans, and a misunderstanding of the extent of a city plan check.
During the preconstruction phase, the builder and the architect often over-emphasize getting the plans through city plan check, as if that is the acid-test of the accuracy and buildability of the design plans.
Although the city plan check is very important, it is not all-inclusive.
The city plan check focuses only on the building codes and standards of construction that involve life and safety considerations, along with issues such as zoning, planning, building heights, view corridors, tree preservation, and artistic restrictions (such as exclusive use of clay barrel tiles on all roofs).
The city plan checker does not verify whether dimensions add up correctly across the page, whether a wood or steel beam is placed directly below a bathroom toilet, whether windows are designed too close to wall corners that built-in cabinet bookshelves will crash with ceiling crown molding, and whether or not stairs are positioned correctly to provide enough legal vertical headroom, and hundreds of other quality related issues that fall outside of the scope of a city plan check.
These potential mistakes are design and construction concerns rather than code problems (except when they surface as code corrections during building inspections), and are assumed to have already been checked by the architect and builder.
They fall outside the parameters of the city plan check.
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