Adapting a standard house plan in Batumi: plot, foundation, seismic loads, services

Adapting a standard house plan: why it is needed

Adapting a standard house plan fits a ready-made design to a specific plot. A ready-made design saves time on the concept and architecture, but it was drawn for another place: a level plot, different soil, a different climate and different codes. Built as is, its mistakes surface in the excavation, on the roof or when connecting to services. Adaptation keeps what you liked about the house and changes what does not work on your plot.

What changes during adaptation

• the position of the house on the plot, taking setbacks and terrain into account;
• the foundation, based on the plot's soil report;
• a seismic check of the frame to Georgian codes;
• the roof and details for coastal downpours and wind;
• service entries and the plant room location;
• replacing materials with ones available in Batumi.

We decide the siting from a topographic survey; without one it is easy to place the house so a car cannot get in and water from the plot runs to the front door. More on the topographic survey page.

Foundation and seismic loads

The foundation in a standard design is calculated for a notional soil that may not exist on your plot. The structural engineer recalculates it from the soil report and checks the frame for seismic loads: many catalogue designs were made for regions without earthquakes. Sometimes it is enough to strengthen the joints; sometimes column and floor sections have to change. How this is calculated is on the structural design page.

The plot dictates changes

A narrow city plot may not fit the house with its setbacks, and then the plan has to be compressed or rotated; more on the houses on narrow plots page. On a slope, a catalogue house for a level plot sits on a lower ground floor or on split levels, and the entrance, stairs and terrace change. More on the houses on slopes page.

Rights to the design

A ready-made catalogue design is bought with the right to build a house from it, and changes are usually made with the author's consent or within the purchased licence. Before adapting, we check what exactly you bought: just pictures and plans, or working drawings with structure. Catalogues often sell a nice album with no working drawings in it, and those have to be made from scratch. It is better to find this out before buying: send a link to the design and we will tell you what it contains and what will be missing for building in Batumi.

A ready-made design or your own

Adaptation is cheaper than a new design, but not always. If the layout, facade, structure and services of a ready-made design all need changing, it is better value to make your own design from scratch. We say so honestly after the first review. A comparison of building versus buying ready-made is on the build or buy a finished house page.

How much adaptation costs

Adapting a standard design to the plot with siting, a foundation based on the soil report and services costs from 3 300 ₾. A standard house design with a set of working drawings from 4 800 ₾. Foundation calculations and working drawings based on the soil report from 1 680 ₾, a topographic survey of a plot up to 1 000 m² from 1 020 ₾, a geotechnical survey from 3 000 ₾. A design change during construction with a change sheet from 480 ₾. The final cost is set after reviewing the design and the plot and agreeing the scope of changes.