I hired an architect to prepare my plans for submittal to the City to apply for a permit. I had hired a designer, before that, but all she gave me were conceptual 3D renderings in "read-only" mode, which were of no use to the City or to the construction teams bidding on the project.

Architectural drawings are useful to a construction teams to help them generate an accurate bid for the work to be done. I have used FloorPlanner for 3D renderings and graph paper (pencil&paper) to draw elevations. My architect suggested that I purchase “Chief Architect” software for drawing plans (if I want to get more into this). He said that it is easier to learn than AutoCAD.

Along with the architectural drawings, I created a "statement of work" and a list of all the products (plumbing fixtures, mirrors, lights) that I plan to have installed.

In my "statement of work," I gave as much specification as possible and avoided "negative requirements."

For example, in my instructions for converting from a tub/shower to a standalone shower, I wrote the following: "Increase the tub drain opening from 1-1/2 to 2 inch diameter for the standalone shower. To avoid having to relocate the tub/shower drain pipe, install a linear drain on the left side of the shower compartment."

Instead of saying only that the bathroom needs to be brought up to code by adding an exhaust fan, I wrote: "Install 4-inch diameter ducting to vent the exhaust fan from the ceiling through the attic and roof to the outside. Install a roof ventilation cover. Secure the opening with flashing."

There are some design decisions that have no or only a minimal impact on the cost of the work. I omitted these items from my statement of work, but plan to add them once work is ready to begin. Examples are: heights for installing showerheads, towel bars, and mirrors; paint colors.

Graph paper and a pencil worked for generations, before we had computer programs, and I still use them today for a lot of things. I sent hand-drawn plans of my deck to the city for a permit; I sent a hand-drawn plan to my cabinet maker - he used it to give me a bid, and used it to generate his own construction plans.

Did your contractor ask for drawings?

I paid a designer friend (who had the right software and was really good with it) to draw up plans for my remodeling projects. She added the exact materials I had picked and laid out the tiles perfectly. I used the plans to get accurate labor bids.

Mystery meat. Are you talking about accurate and colorful elevations of the space? Or construction drawings with to the inch dimensions?

What is the vision, what does the current bath look like, what is your inspo......a pic will do.

What is the layout you plan, with the walls and space allotted to which we have no clue?: )

At the very least, show the sketch up version, and tell us WHAT you would like to change

"As construction is nearing, I’d like more accurate drawings created so they know exactly what to build."

That's a to the inch issue. Vanity , shower, all. Meaning exact layout of all fixtures, plumbing etc.

The building permit folks don't CARE what tile or vanity style.

Great questions and advice.

The original plans were not dimensioned but rather a concept of what I want.

Nor do I need precise dimensions but rather “close” sizes. Let me explain. A tub is being ripped out and a walk in shower with low curb and bench installed. My idea differs from most Reno’s I’ve seen on Houzz or tv in that on with side of the door into the shower, I want a pony wall with glass on top on one side and the other side of door (which is also perpendicular to the door from bedroom to bathroom) I want a full height wall approx. 13” wide. So a towel hook can hang on the outside wall and a grab bar can be on the inside wall vertically to help stepping into the shower.

The original plans are kind of close but originally o didn’t have a bench installed the shower but rather I had a ledge about 4’ up at the end of the shower to store products. Now I’m going for the bench and getting a niche built. Eliminating the shelf.

Here are the original plans and I’ll add my paper sketch. I realize the sketch might be hard to understand so I anyone has questions please ask.

The room side wall of the shower is the biggest issue in my mind since it involves the pony wall, full height wall, shower door. The door needs to clear the bench if it’s to swing both in and out of the shower.

Graph paper and DIY is your friend here.

Your design is ALL Wrong.

All shower doors swing both ways on a double hinge

You put the bench and (USE a ledge or niche) on the same side, whether plumbing side or opposite wall.

You are over complicating the entire thing

You NEED the actual dimensions of your entire bath, on a piece of graph paper, 1/4 inch scale and use 2 squares as one inch. Every wall, window, entry door. AS Is now. Note exactly toilet CENTER and sink drains.......

Return with a legible JPEG below

I need to make a new comment somehow. Everytime I hit “post” it just takes me to the original above to make me add to it. But it’s not letting me add my graph paper drawing

Oh finally!! Here is my hand drawing. Don’t know why it didn’t include it in original post

Now, post something legible. Without all the extraneous remarks and circles and arrows. Use an architect’s scale, or just trace over the room outlines of the illegible graph paper thing. You need a clean diagram to present to any AHJ for permitting sake. Plus, theres a certain amount of issues you’re baked into that design, that need fixing.

Jan, how is my design wrong? the bench is at the opposite end of the shower to the showerhead (which is where I want it), and i've shown 2 door hinges for the glass shower door? I no longer want a ledge. I asked for a ledge initially to store products, because I didn't want a niche or a bench. Now I don't need the ledge and it just takes up extra space now. I have switched to my PC because Houzz is basically useless on my iphone. Can't edit, delete, or even see my writing more than one line.

I don't need exact measurements because the crew reno'ing the bathroom have done many in this building with excellent reviews. I really just wanted new drawings showing the bench and not ledge in shower and the addition of the 13" wide wall on the left side (looking towards the shower). The guys that came to see my ideas, only have the original drawings, even though when they came I explained about wanting the 13" left side wall and why (for the hooks inside and out AND the grab bar on the inside). So I just wanted new drawings to give them so I don't have to stand behind them after demo, telling them verbally that I want a wall there. In case they don't remember me saying that when they came to look at my bathroom a few months ago.

You aren’t getting permits? Because you need permits. And for permits, you need accurate, properly dimensioned, legible, diagrams.

Start with tracing the graph paper without the froof. Add the center lines of the plumbing in standard architectural form as the distance from each wall corner. Windows. Doors. Readable. Etc.

Everyone here is telling you the same thing.

You add a drawing, a new one in a comment by:::::

Clicking on the photo icon button at the bottom of the comment box under the bold B

As it stands on your drawing? You are using 14' for a shower length Why???

Unless you hire someone to come to your home, anyone doing any distance design has to rely on the homeowner to provide accurate measurements. Those are not even close to accurate, and will not serve for permitting or communicating with trades. The utmost precision is requred down to 1/16” of an inch, for plumbing and electrical. Verbal descriptions are just nonsense words. Measurements and diagrams are what rule in contracts, or contract disputes, in a court of law.

Have you even considered cleaning 13' of tile/or solid surface and glass? Have a cleaning lady who adores you ?

You could have ALL YOU want on a lot less. More than eight feet is absurd. I don't care you see a shower the size of a bedroom on the internet.

I will draw up a new sketch. The reason the renovators don't need measurements to 1/16" is because they've done this before in many exactly the same bathrooms in my condo building. My design is slightly different because that's what I want. Ie" the outside left wall for the hooks and grab bar that I want. They will use existing plumbing and create a shower out of the space the current tub sits. It's a large jetted tub, which is why most people here got their reno's. Nobody uses the tubs and would rather use that space for a large shower. Most residents are seniors. So other than getting a new vanity and storage tower, new flooring and vanity light replaced as well as the exhaust fan replaced with a better one, the tub to shower plumbing will be done by the plumber who's done many of these before. The shower layout will fit the old tub space. HOW that shower will look (bench, no bench, niche or not, grab bars or not) will be individual taste. How that shower will be constructed is beyond my scope. But literally everyone, from other residents, to anyone I've mentioned the shower creator, tiler/expert to, when talking to others in the trade all know him and ALL have said he's excellent and very experienced.

Simon Templeton. I will ask my renovator if we need permits but I doubt i'll need permits to rip out the tub and replace it with a shower, ditto the vanity (current one is old, 18" deep and 30" tall with ugly granite counter, I debated just getting the top replaced but that would have been almost half the cost of just getting a new up to date whole vanity), toilet and exhaust fan. If that was the case I can't see anyone ever getting anything done when doing a minor renovation in their homes.

I realized that some of my views in the graph sketch are out of wack so i'll redo that.

If you want a 200K bath redo, you can do a lot better design than that. Thats a waste of money for an unpleasant and dysfunctional result. In 13’, think tiled heated lounger in the steam shower and full body dryer. Plus his and hers toilet closets. Etc. 13’ of just a boring shower is a waste of 9’.

YOU ARE IN A CONDO? Do yourself a favor. Let No work proceed minus permits, inspection and all. You will be held responsible for any damage elsewhere, even post construction and IF you need a horror story, I can share one.

Someone doesn’t understand the hoops that they need to jump through here. Or the things about plumbing THAT CAN NOT BE CHANGED. You don’t own the plumbing after all. You have to have multiple building and municipal permissions, with real world dimensioned plans. Not concepts of ideas. You really need a good local Kitchen and Bath Designer who has worked in condos before. This is neither a cheap or easy project to get approval to do.

A bench is kind of worthless unless you will have a handheld on a slide/grab bar right next to the bench.

You might also consider using a teak bench for more flexibility. In my previous house I had done built-in benches in all the showers, topped with quartz. Turns out they are hard and cold to sit on.

When I built, I went with teak benches in the shower. As we age, if we need a specialty shower chairs, then we can move the teak bench out and put the specialty shower chair in the shower instead. I have a handheld shower head with slider/grab bar next to the bench and a standard showerhead at the other end of the shower.

I also like to add a volume control lever to the shower plumbing ... nothing worse than a shower that is only on/off. Sometimes you need less water and sometimes you need it full blast, so why not add more flexibility, upfront, into the design.

Teak bench from DecoTeak.

Please.....

Just draw your darn bath AS IS!? You want help, or you do not.

Add pictures of this room you despise.

There is probably 250yrs of combined remodel experience in the comments.

If your renovator doesn't insist on pulling permits? You have a congenial HACK, begging for a lawsuit. If the board allows this? They are insane as the insurance will drop your building and its policy like a hot potato at the first disaster.

A couple comments on your design plan ... A 12-inch deep bench is a footrest. My piano bench is 15 inches deep. An 18-inch deep vanity is too narrow for most sinks, unless you are installing a wall mounted faucet. If the drain hole for the tub is on the left-hand-side of the tub, then you will need to have a linear drain on that side and have a floating bench over it. I do not see the toilet in your layout -- is there enough clearance for all of your plumbing fixtures. Are you changing the footprint -- other than the tub-to-shower conversion.

In my search for a licensed general contractor for my upcoming bathroom remodel, I found lots of people who were willing and encouraging me to forgo the permit application process. Or, they insisted that I would be able to get a same-day, over-the-counter approval. They described my project as like-to-like, not structural, because I am not moving any supporting walls. They tried to scare me with stories about a permit taking months to get approval and costing thousands of dollars.

On the contrary, my City considers a tub-to-shower conversion to be structural because of the significant plumbing and framing that needs to be reworked. It took over six weeks for my City approve the architectural plans (which include an electrical plan) for my tub-to-shower conversion. The City fee to process the application was under $800. There will be an additional fee from the City after the work is completed (final inspection passed).

Permits from a verified licensed and insured contractor are just the absolute basic minimum due diligence requirement for doing a bath reno in a multi family. I don’t care if others in the building recommend him. Homeowners are not good judges of quality or character. They have no gauged quality discernment , and too many do not even check with the state registrar of contractors to see if there is a verified license on board. That leaves YOU as the personal responsible party for damage to your unit, or the building.

No one "needs" CAD to do a small and simple room diagram. You can do it with an architect's scale over graph paper quicker. But what needs to happen for any permit, or condo approval is an "as built" clear and understandable floor and elevation diagrams, and "as proposed" diagrams. Then the separate sheet outlining the written Scope of Work, and highlighting the differences and changes that will need to be made and approved. Any homeowner can do that. So can any contractor worth his salt. The fact that no one involved in this can???

Put a pause on this, until you get the required red tape figured out. That DOES mean the condo board approval and permits, which require the diagrams. That means a different contractor if he isn't licensed and doesn't know how to do a simple diagram to get a permit. This is like a kindergartner level requirement. Anyone can draw a gosh darn box to scale, and measure where the center line for things are in it.

https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/448541/Staedtler-Architects-Printed-Scale/

https://www.wikihow.com/Draw-a-Floor-Plan-to-Scale

The bathroom length looks to be about 8.5', with about a 6' shower.

Your hand drawing is fine, actually pretty good for a layperson. You just need the full room shown and existing copy of the original blueprints with any as-built changes. Put the elevations onto another sheet. The amount of information is perfectly fine, the same drawing used for permit will be used for the contractors. Permitting/Condo board will just ignore information that doesn't pertain to what they are looking for.

There will have to be a lot of back-n-forth with the contractor, and the contractor will take some liberties here, so you will need to check in each and every day they are there and have a method of formal communication set up.

Has the construction team already been hired? Have you signed a contract with them? You said that they were on site months ago and that construction will start soon.

I see no electrical plan. The City will want a count of electrical outlets, light switches, and lighting. If a ceiling light is being added over the shower, it needs to be damp-rated. Will you need any changes to your electrical sub-panel?

The building will want to see a plumbing plan. If you are moving the tub drain to a different location for the shower drain, that needs to be worked out. I see a showerhead (in the drawings) on the right-hand side of the shower -- is there plumbing currently there? Where are the shower controls?

Is the closet (kitty's potty room) next to the shower replacing something that was there previously? Does the original layout have a small standalone shower in that space?

Is the wall between the new shower and closet a new partition? It will likely be thicker than 4 inches. A 2x4 framing creates a wall that is 3-1/2 inches thick. Adding drywall on the closet side and waterproofing/tile on the shower side may stretch the wall to 6 inches thick.