Hi, I'm in Sonoma County. California (at least here in Sonoma County) has some rules about pulling permits that you need to know. There are only two entities that can pull a permit to work on your house without a signed and notarized affidavit. Those two entities are you and a licensed contractor (for a kitchen it must be a general contractor, not a specialty contractor or and engineering contractor). Licensed architects and licensed engineers can apply for a permit with your signed consent, authorizing them as your agents performing on your behalf. No one that is unlicensed (except the homeowner) can apply for a permit. Design work can be completed and you can apply for the permit using a kitchen designer or draftsperson. Then you can let the plans out to bid. An architect can do all of the work that gets you to permit and construction with your consent (Yadda Yadda Yadda). Then you can let the plans out to bid. You can interview recommended design/build construction firms (some are also architects) and have them work with you the entire way through the course of construction. Rates vary. Architects, depending on the scope of their involvement, will charge anywhere from 10-20% of construction costs. Their responsibility is high and they will do pretty much everything design wise. Kitchen designers and draftsmen are usually less, especially if the designer is also selling you product, like cabinetry. Design/build firms can run the gamut...architect led? Expect architect fees. No Architect? Lower costs. I am advocating for none of these options. All are viable and all require some involvement from you. More involvement by the homeowner, less cost. As for freeware for layout and drafting...I use SketchupPro8 (the paid version), available as freeware and useful for 3D renderings, but not simple to use or really all that intuitive. There are some pretty basic kitchen design programs but I cannot say I am familiar with any of them.

^^^^ What he said..........in addition about the permits, not sure about Sonoma County, but in most communities the Home Owner ( or Authorized Rep) can pull the building permit. The other permits, such as HVAC, Electrical, Plumbing, have to be pulled by the appropriate licensed contractor............check with your local building department. They will gladly help you with all the steps and procedures for submitting plans and such for review and the application.

Getting off on the right foot is one of the biggest keys to success on any project..........and getting started in any remodel project is getting a good set of thorough and complete design documents (drawings, specs and appropriate contracts for the trades with a specific scope of work that references the design documents).

Communication is essential between the Home Owner (client) and your project team (designer, contractors, suppliers, and building officials) ...........and the best means of communication is that which is down on paper (design documents and contracts).

STK, one of the few benefits of being a GC in CA is that for most projects, the permit is all inclusive. That is, if we put grading or septic or HVAC on our plans...shazzam! We are good to go!

Well said by Ironwood.

"More involvement by the homeowner, less cost."
Can we amend that to read "... less apparent up front cost." ?

A homeowner can save fee costs if they take on coordination or design work but only if they can do it as well as the pro they replace. A homeowner doing this without adequate experience is likely to end up seeing construction cost increases (in bids or in work change orders) exceeding what they saved in forgoing those services from a qualified pro at the outset.

Thanks for all thoughts so far!

IB - Thanks for your inputs and recommendation for Sketchpro. I am playing with it at the moment. I do agree with thought of better involvement of homeowner = more savings and better results. However, this being my first project and since I am looking to get it started, I am not sure how much I will be able to toy around myself. Hence I was looking for suggestions on who to go with .. But I think you address some of those concerns.

I guess I am hoping I can strike some balance by putting some design together using sketchPro and do another post with pictures to get some creative thoughts lay out/design changes. Ultimately I am thinking of working with Drafts guy who can put things on paper for permit purpose.

If you really are just re-laying out the kitchen and not moving any walls, a kitchen designer may be your best bet. You can go cheap with a Home Depot specialist (some are actually really good) or go with a certified kitchen designer. Kitchen design is to a great degree the science of use and ergonomics. Someone only trained to sell or install cabinets won't necessarily be well-versed in the design aspects.

ReSquare - I am aware of HD option. If it was just getting new cabinets n other things, there are more options than just going with HD. Like I mentioned, I am trying to see how to be cost effective with my requirement and not necessarily CHEAP ..if that make sense.

Hi Umesh Nawani
I was reading your dilemma with interest, as I design kitchens for clients over here in UK - thankfully the whole system isn't quite as complex over here, as it is over there !!
Here, I design remotely - ie via emails back and forth so homeowner is involved all the way, and the client shops around with the one set of plans, perspectives and an item listing , to get the best deals - seems to work very well for people !
The UK design charges , from what I'm told by other Houzzers , are cheaper than US kitchen designer rates ?!
I'd be happy to email you and info PDF.
If you let me know the rough overall dimensions I can give you a quote to design it with you and draw it all up like the images on my pro page ?!
Just email one.plan@virgin.net and I can attach the info PDF by return !
Kind regards, Karen at OnePlan
http://www.houzz.com/pro/oneplan/oneplan

Sorry for using the slightly soft word "involvement". If you substitute "hard as hell work" it may be more accurate. Just like any endeavor, the pros make it look easy or even graceful, like Beckham bending it in from the corner....for the rest of us...yeah, not so much. I'm a pro at my job. Many folks call after they have started and found out just how freakishly hard and sometimes totally unrewarding it can be.