Pole barn and post-frame building drawings in Ohio

What do I get?

A drawing set you can hand to the zoning office, the building department, your lender and your builder. For a typical barn, garage, shop or hay barn that means:

• a zoning site plan drawn to scale, with property lines, setbacks, the drive, the well and septic, and any easements;
• a floor plan with post spacing, doors, a loft or mezzanine if there is one, and every dimension;
• exterior elevations and a building section through the frame;
• a foundation and framing plan: posts, embedment, footings, girts, purlins and trusses, sized for the snow, wind and floor loads at your site;
• general notes that tie the set to the code that applies to your building.

Who is this for?

Owners building a barn, garage, workshop or storage building on their own land, and the post-frame suppliers and builders who work with them. Many of the firm's barn clients are buying a kit from a post-frame supplier and need a set the township or county will accept. Others want a building drawn from scratch to fit how they will use it.

How does the supplier's engineer fit in?

Many post-frame suppliers have their own engineer who designs and seals the trusses or the frame. When that is the case, JKA lays out and sizes the whole building so the set is complete and coordinated, and the plans say plainly where the supplier's sealed design governs. You end up with one set that the building department can read from front to back.

Does my barn need a permit at all?

It depends on what the building is for and where it is. A barn used for farming on farmland is outside the Ohio building code, though it may still need a zoning certificate. A garage or shop next to a house is a residential accessory building, and in most counties it needs plans once it is over 200 square feet. A building used for a business is covered by the Ohio Building Code. The guide Do I need a permit for a pole barn in Ohio? walks through each case.

How does a job run?

1. First call. You tell James what you want to build, where, and when. He asks about the parcel, the use and the supplier if you have one.
2. Agreement. You get a short written agreement with the scope. Nothing starts until you sign it.
3. Survey and site. James works from your survey or the county parcel map and photos, and visits when the site or the building needs it.
4. Drawings. JKA draws the set, you review it, and your changes are made.
5. Permit. You or your builder submit it; James answers the zoning or plan reviewer's comments.

What should I have ready?

The parcel address or number, a survey if you have one, the size and use of the building, and the supplier's quote and drawings if you have chosen one. If you do not have a survey, say so in the inquiry form; for many barns the county parcel map is enough to start.

Where do you work?

Anywhere in Ohio. The firm works most often in Central Ohio, Columbus suburbs, Northeast Ohio, Eastern Ohio and the Ohio Valley, Southwest Ohio, Northwest Ohio and Southeast Ohio.