How and who to ask for donations of complete sets of building plans

[Michael_Derek]

I am finishing a short vocational program in Canada and anxious about creating a portfolio of cad drawing and rendering samples. I need to know how to go about acquiring complete sets of residential building plans I can duplicate and create renderings of. Do I just have to keep asking architects for donations on their drafting and design websites? Is there anything else I could do that would help me acquire drawing sets?

[Mike.FORM]

Why do you need to copy plans, why not just make your own design.

If you are planning to just copy plans and submit in your portfolio, that is plagiarism if you do not give the full credit.

It seems weird this is a portfolio requirement.

All my portfolio requirements for schooling in Canada accepted only original work.

[barthbradley]

I would just visit with your local architectural firms and ask them if they would be willing to provide you with old plan sets that you could work from to create your BIM Models.  It's a good way to start building your network as well!  

[hmunsell]

If you just finished a vocational program, you have some skills. In the time it is going to take you to solicit for donation files, you could just draw some original work.

[Michael_Derek]

Hi Howard can you tell me what the expectations are around creating my own designs? How much detail in the wall construction and layering am I supposed to be able to draw given that I just want a drafting job and I am not an engineer?

Also, do you have any tips on selecting firms that are more likely to donate drawing files and pdfs?

[mhiserZFHXS]

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@Michael_Derek wrote:

Hi Howard can you tell me what the expectations are around creating my own designs? How much detail in the wall construction and layering am I supposed to be able to draw given that I just want a drafting job and I am not an engineer?

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What exactly are you trying to get into? And what was the short vocational program? Are you trying to work for an architecture firm? A construction company? Are you drafting or rendering? Or both? If you are actually looking for a job that requires drafting, then I think its pretty disingenuous to use someone else's plans. It seems odd that you wouldn't have any work to show after your time in the vocational program.

[Michael_Derek]

I do have work from the program but I need to occupy my time practicing and adding to the portfolio. The program is not rigorous so there is not much to show based on that. Drafting or rendering or both is what I am after. I would not draw someone's plans without giving credit, I just need something to practice, that's why I want an example from professional plans to learn from. I don't know what to do with all the wall options from Revit, just looking at them intimidates me.

[RobDraw]

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@Michael_Derek wrote:

I don't know what to do with all the wall options from Revit, just looking at them intimidates me.

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There are tons of tutorials for such basics. You're going to have to learn about them in order to use them.

[hmunsell]

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@Michael_Derek wrote:

 ... I just need something to practice, that's why I want an example from professional plans to learn from. I don't know what to do with all the wall options from Revit, just looking at them intimidates me.

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ok... now were getting to the meat of the issue 😊...  Even if you give credit to the person you copied, your still copying someone else work. employers want to see what you can do, not what you can copy.  look for a building you find interesting and draw it from scratch and add your own style to it. Your not "copying" someone  else work, your redesigning/reimagining it in your style.   may not be as impressive, but one of the tasks i often give my beginner students is to accurately draw there own house. with accurate measurements and content.    

as @RobDraw mentioned there are tons of tutorials out there you can watch and learn from. Take a look around the link below.... There are over 7k classes you can watch and download  on all sorts of Autodesk products and subjects.  

https://www.autodesk.com/autodesk-university/search

[HVAC-Novice]

If someone shows me their portfolio, I assume it is something they created themselves and didn't copy it. But I'm naive. 

You can copy details by re-creating and altering existing ones. For a building, do your own from scratch. I think looking at some other file is fine to learn and get inspired. Don't just flat-out copy, that won't teach you much.

Get this book and do that project from scratch (or make your alterations).

[mhiserZFHXS]

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@Michael_Derek wrote:

I do have work from the program but I need to occupy my time practicing and adding to the portfolio. The program is not rigorous so there is not much to show based on that. Drafting or rendering or both is what I am after. I would not draw someone's plans without giving credit, I just need something to practice, that's why I want an example from professional plans to learn from. I don't know what to do with all the wall options from Revit, just looking at them intimidates me.

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Was this program meant to be the only thing needed to get into the AEC industry? You've said it was short and not rigorous. I'm kinda wondering if you're meant to get into a professional degree program or something after it.

The way I see it, I think you have a few options. This is obviously not an exclusive list.

A) Take what you have and start looking. I think the market for employees has been cooling a bit but you may be able to find someone to take you on with the understanding that you have a lot to learn.

B) Do a bit of self-teaching. Go through some Revit and drafting tutorials. YouTube has a lot of stuff. That's mainly what I used to learn Revit. But there are other options like LinkedIn, or Autodesk has their own stuff. Model an existing building from scratch, as was suggested above. Things like this.

C) Look into advancing your education more formally with a more rigorous program like a bachelors.

These aren't all exclusive. You could overlap them. You could start looking for jobs and also do some self-teaching. I just don't think taking someone else's plans and copying them, whether you give them credit or not, is a good way to market yourself.

[Michael_Derek]

The Autodesk University lets me filter 2026 Instructional Videos, apparently, and they are all perfectly unorganized, I don't know what to do with it. I wish Autodesk had an actual university and organized a curriculum.

If I copy for example, the Robie House by Frank Lloyed Wright, I would not need to get in the construction detailing, like how the walls are layered right? Can it be purely presentation style, and I could qualify for a drafting job and learn on the job.

I just need to get my foot in the door, I cannot afford to work on a bachelors.

I know copying is not the most impressive but it does show I know how to navigate the software doesn't it??

[mhiserZFHXS]

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@Michael_Derek wrote:

The Autodesk University lets me filter 2026 Instructional Videos, apparently, and they are all perfectly unorganized, I don't know what to do with it. I wish Autodesk had an actual university and organized a curriculum.

If I copy for example, the Robie House by Frank Lloyed Wright, I would not need to get in the construction detailing, like how the walls are layered right? Can it be purely presentation style, and I could qualify for a drafting job and learn on the job.

I just need to get my foot in the door, I cannot afford to work on a bachelors.

I know copying is not the most impressive but it does show I know how to navigate the software doesn't it??

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If you want to draft, yes, you do need to know how to do things like wall layers. Putting together presentation and conceptual materials is frankly the easy part. Knowing how to draft and detail is the part that takes work and experience.

Again, maybe you can find a place that just needs a drafter and they're willing to teach you on the job. But if there is any sort of competition for jobs in your area, you're probably in trouble without improving your skills and resume first.

I'm not saying this to be a downer. I'm just trying set your expectations reasonably.

[robert2JCCH]

Tackle the AU presentations by year. It's a pretty daunting list for sure, but most of the presentations are based on current trends in the industry for that year (generational design, digital twins, embodied carbon, etc.). The fundamentals can usually be found in anything before 2016.

My two cents on using pre-existing plans and developing them into renders for your portfolio is that this only demonstrates one thing to an employer - that you can keep a CAD or hand-drawn purist in their company relevant for a few more years. That quite limiting for your future development.
If you're approaching this from a drafter/modeler perspective and not from a designer's perspective, then I'd follow the advice of the other folks in this thread and just create buildings from scratch. Even if they're wrong from a design perspective (I'd certainly forget beams and columns), they'll do enough to demonstrate familiarity with the industry tools.

[hmunsell]

If your looking for an entry level position there is no expectation of having a portfolio.  The only portfolio I had was a single line diagram of a Central Cooling System. When I was starting out, all I had was a certificate from a local CADD certification class, a whole 5 day class 😊 (and in MicroStation on top of that, didn't learn AutoCAD until later 🤣). I got the address of every A/E firm in my nearest large city and sent out 150+ resumes, whether they were advertising or not, for an entry level CAD drafter.  Just show an eagerness to learn and a good work ethic. 

Back to copying a donated drawing set.... I talked to my Architectural Department head at my office and he told me any architect that let someone copy there work, could loose there license. 

[HVAC-Novice]

I assume at a job you are expected to do work yourself, and not just provide a copied work. If you have nothing designed, you can't have a portfolio that you have as YOURS. 

A portfolio would be something YOU created. Not something you copied and just made look nice. 

If I could just copy someone else's work for my portfolio, then I guess here is my application for art school inc. the "Mona Lisa" I just happened to put into MY portfolio. 

[mhiserZFHXS]

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@hmunsell wrote:

If your looking for an entry level position there is no expectation of having a portfolio.  The only portfolio I had was a single line diagram of a Central Cooling System. When I was starting out, all I had was a certificate from a local CADD certification class, a whole 5 day class 😊 (and in MicroStation on top of that, didn't learn AutoCAD until later 🤣). I got the address of every A/E firm in my nearest large city and sent out 150+ resumes, whether they were advertising or not, for an entry level CAD drafter.  Just show an eagerness to learn and a good work ethic. 

Back to copying a donated drawing set.... I talked to my Architectural Department head at my office and he told me any architect that let someone copy there work, could loose there license. 

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Yea, and how long ago was this? Because this does not look remotely close to what its like trying to get a job today. Not to mention, it seems OP wants to get into the architectural side of things, not MEP. The process for drafting in those two fields is very different.

[ToanDN]

What do you want your portfolio to demonstrate?  Revit skills or design/construction knowledges?

[Michael_Derek]

Revit skills as this is more accessible given my educational background. But if you can tell me how to gain and present design/construction knowledge too then please share that too.