Do You Need an Architect for a Home Remodel? A San Diego Builder’s Answer

Not always. California lets anyone draw plans for a conventionally framed wood house up to two stories (B&P Code §5537). You need a licensed architect or engineer when framing is non-conventional, or when the building official requires one.

We’ve remodeled San Diego homes for more than 35 years, and this is one of the first questions homeowners ask us. Our design-build team includes a licensed architect on staff, and we bring in structural and other engineers where the scope requires them. The answer depends on three things: what you’re changing, what’s behind the walls, and what your address triggers at the City. The comparison below shows how the three common ways to hire stack up. After it, we walk through the calls we make on real projects.

Design-Build vs. Architect-Then-Bid vs. General Contractor

How the three hiring routes work in practice. These are patterns from our own jobs, not guarantees of savings or schedule.

Does California Law Require an Architect for a Home Remodel?

Let’s start with the law. Under California Business and Professions Code §5537, anyone may prepare plans for a conventionally framed wood single-family house of up to two stories plus a basement, and for wood-frame multi-unit buildings of up to four units and their garages. The exemption stops at any portion that departs from conventional wood framing, where a building official can require licensed plans. A kitchen, primary bathroom or laundry room remodel in a conventionally framed house doesn’t need an architect by law.

When our in-house team is enough: layout, tile and finishes

Our designers take a lot of remodels from first sketch to permit set: a kitchen remodel, a bathroom remodel, a laundry room, a mudroom or home office carved from existing space, and interior-heavy whole home updates. Opening a closed-off kitchen to the family room, or reconfiguring a floor plan inside the existing structure, is design work we do every week. On one three-bathroom remodel, the scope was all finishes, tile, countertops, cabinetry, ventilation and fixtures, with no structural or architectural change. We staffed it with interior design depth and didn’t add an outside architect.

When a licensed architect or engineer may be required

The trigger is structure. A home addition, a second story, or a remodel that removes or moves a load-bearing wall, beam, post or roof framing usually needs engineering. A building official can also require a licensed architect or engineer when plans go beyond conventional framing. Moving a non-bearing partition usually doesn’t. Four examples from our own files, with names and addresses withheld:

• A roof framing change. A client moved from conventional framing to trusses. That meant a full structural redesign and a revised engineering package before we could resubmit.
• A beam the engineer missed. During plan prep on another remodel, our design team found the engineering drawings left out a required beam. We flagged the missing beam to the engineer and still made the submittal date. Someone has to read the engineer’s work against the actual house.
• A deck that became a hot tub platform. A client extended a raised deck to hold a spa. Water is a weight load, so the deck went back to the structural engineer.
• Four posts, one answer. On a larger remodel, four posts looked load-bearing. We read the framing through an existing ceiling opening, our framer confirmed the trusses ran off that beam, and we scheduled a joint site visit instead of guessing.

Required licensed involvement doesn’t mean you hire an architect on your own. We have a licensed architect on staff, and we bring in structural and other engineers as the scope calls for, all under one contract. Verify an architect’s license on the California Architects Board site, an engineer’s on the Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists site, and a contractor’s on the CSLB site.

What Is Residential Architecture?

Residential architecture is the design of homes, both new construction and renovations. It covers how a house sits on its lot, how rooms connect, how natural light and structure work together, and how the result is documented so it can be permitted and built. For a remodel, that means the floor plan, the exterior, and the technical details that make both buildable. A landscape architect, who holds a separate license, handles the yard and drainage. Our guide to what residential architecture actually means goes deeper.

What Is Residential Design?

Residential design plans the livable parts of a home: layout, circulation, lighting, storage, cabinetry, fixtures and finishes, from a master suite to a laundry room. It overlaps with architecture but doesn’t have to change the structure. An interior designer or a residential designer can lead it. At Lars, interior design runs alongside estimating, so a finish choice is priced before it’s ordered and checked against the framing and plumbing behind it.

What Is a Residential Architect?

A residential architect is a state-licensed architect who focuses on homes. California reserves the title “architect” for licensed professionals, so “residential” names a specialty, not a separate license. A skilled residential designer isn’t an architect unless licensed as one. Ask each firm which one it is.

What Does a Residential Architect Do?

The AIA describes five phases: schematic design, design development, construction documents, bidding, and construction administration. On a remodel, that means measuring the existing house, studying zoning, drawing the floor plan and elevations, coordinating the structural engineer, producing detailed plans for the permit set, and sometimes answering the builder’s questions on site. What a homeowner receives depends on the agreement, so ask what’s included at the design stage and what’s billed later. In design-build, the architect and builder work under one contract, and engineers are brought in where the scope requires them.

Who Designs Houses?

In California, four groups design houses: licensed architects, residential designers and drafters working within the §5537 exemption, in-house teams at design-build firms, and structural engineers for the parts that carry load. A general contractor can prepare plans only within the exemption. Work outside it must be prepared by a licensed architect or engineer under California’s Architects Practice Act and Professional Engineers Act.

What San Diego Rules Push a House Remodel Toward an Architect?

Your parcel can matter as much as your square footage, and building codes apply the moment you pull a permit. The City of San Diego requires historical review for buildings 45 years or older when exterior work is proposed, unless an exemption applies. It’s a screening step that doesn’t designate the home historic or require an architect (Information Bulletin 140). In the Coastal Overlay Zone, removing 50% or more of the exterior walls is one of the triggers for a Coastal Development Permit (Information Bulletin 402). The bulletin also warns that walls meant to stay and removed by mistake can trigger the permit. Unincorporated areas answer to the County, not the City.

Here’s how this has played out on our jobs:

• Historic district windows. The city historian denied a window replacement. We documented every replacement window in the surrounding neighborhood and filed a written response. When that was rejected, we took the historian’s two alternatives back to design and permitting.
• A zoning variance. The package took forms, engineering, a public notice mailing with envelopes and labels, and neighbor information. We pulled a variance number early so it could go on the plans.
• Plan check across departments. On one remodel, our permitting lead returned an engineer’s structural response for revision instead of forwarding it to the City. She also tracked each department’s sign-off separately, because one cleared department tells you little about the other five.

None of this makes an outside architect mandatory, but it does call for a team that has navigated it before.

How Much Does an Architect Cost for a Remodel?

The AIA says typical percentage fees run 8-15% of construction cost for new construction and 15-20% for remodels, depending on experience, complexity and location. On a $250,000 remodel, that arithmetic implies roughly $37,500 to $50,000 for full services. It’s an illustration, not a San Diego quote, and fees for small remodels, hourly work and limited scopes vary widely. In design-build, design is priced under a Design Agreement and construction under a separate agreement. Our guide to what design-build remodeling is explains how that works.

How Do Change Orders Compare Under Design-Build and Architect-Then-Bid?

Every remodel produces some change orders. What matters is why. We sort them into three causes: owner decisions, concealed conditions, and gaps in design or engineering. Only the third depends on how you hired. Across our completed projects, change orders average about 6% of original contract value. We can’t give you a like-for-like number for architect-then-bid jobs because we don’t run them that way, so ask any firm you’re considering for its figure and how it defines it.

Concealed conditions are no one’s fault, and no drawing set can see behind a wall. On one job, every record said a ceiling was 8 feet. It was 7, and we rescaled the downstairs powder room. Before routing a new bathroom on another, we ran a camera through the existing drain line, found 2-inch drainage, and specified a 3-inch line. Design gaps are avoidable because a second look at the drawings usually catches them. When a second wall on a job looked load-bearing and the signed scope didn’t capture it, we caught it by rereading the signed scope against the framing, flagged a site visit and a likely change order, and had the engineer confirm before work started.

Under architect-then-bid, a gap between the drawings and the field becomes a conversation among you, the architect and the builder. Under design-build, our estimator and designer sit at the same table before the drawings are final. We write every change down with the reason, the price and the schedule effect. Under California’s home improvement contract law (Business and Professions Code §7159), a change order must be in writing and signed by both parties before the changed work begins.

Is It Worth Hiring an Architect for a Whole Home Renovation?

It’s worth it when the design problem is expensive or risky. For a whole home renovation or a primary suite addition, the design process is where many of the costly risks get decided. Use these five questions:

• Does any part of the work fall outside conventional wood framing, or add a third story?
• Are you moving structure, the roof form, the footprint or the number of stories?
• Is the home 45 or more years old, coastal, on a hillside, in a historic district or in a fire zone?
• Do you want a separate design advocate and competing builder bids?
• Is the design fee proportionate to the risk? Full services on a same-footprint bathroom update rarely are. On a structural whole-home remodel, they often are.

A yes to the first two usually means expect licensed involvement. A yes to the third means expect extra City review, and it may change who is on the team. A yes to the fourth means hire the architect first. Otherwise, a design-build team usually gets you to the same place with one contract. Read our comparison of design-build and design-bid-build, or our guide to choosing a design-build contractor.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a structural engineer for a remodel?

Yes, when you remove or alter a load-bearing wall, beam, post or roof framing, or add weight such as a spa on a deck. A cosmetic update usually doesn’t need one. We confirm what carries load before we price the work.

Can a general contractor design my remodel in California?

Within limits. A contractor may prepare plans for conventionally framed wood houses of up to two stories plus a basement under California Business and Professions Code §5537. Anything outside that exemption needs a licensed architect or engineer.

Can I use an architect’s plans with another builder?

Often, but it depends on your agreement. Ask who owns the drawings and what happens if you don’t proceed with the firm that drew them.

Conclusion: Your Next Step With Lars

So, do you need an architect? Often not as a separate hire. You do need the right licensed people involved when structure, site rules or the design itself get complicated, and we’ve spent more than 35 years sorting that out house by house. Bring us your address and what you want to change. We’ll tell you honestly whether our in-house team is enough or which engineers and other specialists your scope needs. See how our San Diego architect service works, or contact our team for a project-fit conversation.