Private houses
Stock plan or custom design: money, time and risk compared
A ready-made plan costs 25 000–55 000 ₽ and is yours the same day. A custom design starts at 600 ₽ per square metre and takes at least a month. The gap looks tenfold right up until you start counting the site adaptation, the foundation redesign for your soil and the missing sections — after which it narrows to one and a half or two times, and sometimes disappears entirely.
That does not make a stock plan a bad choice. On a flat, regularly shaped plot, for a simple house and an experienced builder, it works perfectly well. Below is where the line runs and how to tell which side of it you are on.
What you get for 25 000–55 000 ₽
A stock plan is a finished set of 40–60 A3 sheets, drawn for some average plot and average conditions. In most catalogues it includes:
- the architectural part: floor plans, elevations, sections, roof plan;
- the structural part: foundations, floors, roof structure, details;
- sometimes basic engineering schematics.
What it cannot contain by definition:
- any fit to your plot. The plan knows nothing about your setbacks, your relief or which side the entrance is on;
- your soil. The foundation is designed for notional average ground. If you have peat, clay with a high water table or rock, the solution has to change;
- your climate. Snow and wind loads near Krasnodar and near Kemerovo are different; the roof structure in the plan is one and the same;
- a site plan. The very sheet attached to the construction notice is usually sold separately.
In other words, for 40 000 ₽ you are not buying a house project but a half-finished one: a very good, carefully worked out idea that still has to be placed into reality. What a complete set contains and how the design stages differ is covered in detail in our article on what a project includes, what it costs and how long it takes.
Eight points of comparison
| Criterion | Stock plan | Custom design |
|---|---|---|
| Cost of documentation | 25 000–55 000 ₽ for the set | From 600 ₽/m² per section |
| Time to receive | Immediately after payment | From 5–8 weeks for the architectural set, 10–14 weeks for a complete set |
| Fit to the plot | None. Setbacks, relief, entrance, orientation to the sun all cost extra | Built in from the start: the house is designed for specific boundaries and levels |
| Soil and region | None. Foundation for average conditions, snow and wind loads for a notional region | Calculated for your geotechnical survey and your climate zone |
| Layout for how you live | A compromise. You pick the closest thing in the catalogue | Built around your family and your habits |
| Estimate accuracy | ±20–25 % before adaptation | ±10–15 % after the architectural set, ±5 % after the complete set |
| Changes | Technically possible, but every change drags the structure along with it. Often cheaper to buy a different plan | Revisions are part of the process, capped by the number of rounds |
| Responsibility | The seller is responsible for the files being complete, not for the house fitting your plot | The designer is responsible for the decisions and supports the build |
The real arithmetic: what a stock plan costs in full
Take a 150 m² house. The figures are indicative market ranges; the specifics depend on the plot.
| Cost item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Buying the ready-made plan | 25 000–55 000 ₽ |
| Fitting it to the plot and the site plan | 7 000–20 000 ₽ |
| Adapting the foundation to your soil | 20 000–60 000 ₽ |
| Recalculation for snow, wind or seismic zone | +20–30 % of the plan price |
| Engineering sections, if not included | ≈ 70 000–75 000 ₽ |
| Construction estimate | ≈ 45 000 ₽ |
| Total | ≈ 180 000–250 000 ₽ |
For comparison: a custom architectural and structural set for the same house at our prices starts at 180 000 ₽, and a complete set with all the engineering at 375 000 ₽. You can price your own area on the services page.
The conclusion is honest and does not favour one side. A stock plan brought to the point where you can actually build from it costs roughly what a custom AR and KR set costs. A full custom set is still more expensive — but one and a half to two times, not ten. And that difference does not buy "prettier": it buys a layout built around you and decisions made for your particular plot.
There is a second half of the arithmetic that is rarely counted in advance: decisions on paper cost thousands, the same decisions on site cost hundreds of thousands.
When a stock plan is the right choice
Let us not pretend it never is. A ready-made plan is a sensible decision if most of these are true:
- The plot is flat, regular in shape and has room to spare. Level differences within half a metre, wide enough to keep the setbacks without turning the house.
- The soil is understood. Your neighbours have already built on the same conditions and the ground holds no surprises.
- The house is simple in shape and moderate in size. A rectangle or a simple L-shape up to 150 m², a gable or hip roof without complicated junctions.
- You genuinely like the catalogue layout. Not "it will do" — you actually like it. Reworking a layout is custom design, just started from someone else's point of departure.
- You have an experienced contractor who has built from such plans and can read drawings.
- You are not building on a mortgage. The bank will almost certainly ask for an estimate and documents the basic set does not contain.
If five of those six are true, buy the ready-made plan and do not overpay. We sometimes advise exactly that.
When it will not work
The reverse list. Any single item is a reason to pause; two or more nearly guarantee a rebuild:
- a level difference of more than a metre across the building footprint;
- a narrow plot: less than 20 metres wide with a house wider than 12;
- a high water table, peat, made-up or subsiding ground;
- a plot with restrictions: utility protection zones, a gas main, building lines, historic settlement limits;
- an unusual planning brief: two families under one roof, a ground-floor room for parents, a study with its own entrance, a workshop;
- a house over 200 m² — at that size the cost of a layout mistake stops being tolerable;
- you have already looked through fifty catalogue plans and none of them fits. That in itself is a diagnosis: the task is not a standard one.
If your plot is on that list, write to us before you buy a plan: looking at the boundaries and the relief and telling you whether the house you like will fit costs you nothing.
If you do go for a stock plan, choose it properly
- The plot first, the catalogue second. Order the topographic and geotechnical surveys, find out the development limits for your plot, and only then start choosing. Doing it the other way round is the main cause of rebuilds.
- Check what is in the set before you pay. How many sheets, is the structure included, is the engineering included, is the site plan included. The words "complete project" in a catalogue guarantee nothing.
- Ask which snow and wind zone the plan was calculated for. If there is no answer, the structure will have to be checked again.
- Clarify the terms for making changes and what cannot be changed without recalculation.
- Budget for adaptation from the start, not "if it turns out to be needed". In our experience it is needed almost always; the only question is how much.
Frequently asked questions
Can the layout in a stock plan be changed?
Technically yes, in practice with limits. Moving a non-load-bearing partition usually has no consequences. Moving a load-bearing wall, changing opening sizes, adding a double-height space or increasing a span all require the structure to be recalculated. Once you have more than three or four changes, designing from scratch is cheaper than repairing someone else's solution.
What does fitting a stock plan to a plot cost?
Market rates run from 7 000 ₽ for a stand-alone site plan sheet up to 60 000 ₽ and above if the foundation is recalculated for your soil at the same time. The exact figure depends on how far your plot conditions differ from the ones the plan was drawn for.
Is it true that stock plans are lower quality?
No. Plans from good catalogues are professionally drawn and often proven by hundreds of built houses. The problem is not the quality of the drawings but the fact that they were not made for your plot or the way you live. Those are different things.
What should I choose if the budget is tight?
Take a custom architectural set — it gives you a layout built around you and around the plot — and order the structure separately or later. That is cheaper than a full set and safer than a stock plan dropped onto the site blind. Just do not build from architecture alone, without structural calculations.
Will a bank accept a stock plan for a mortgage?
Usually yes, if the set is supplemented with an estimate and fitted to the plot. Requirements differ from bank to bank, so ask for the document list before buying a plan rather than after.
Will a stock plan fit your plot?
Send us the cadastral number of your plot and a link to the plan you like. We will look at the boundaries, setbacks and relief and tell you straight: it fits as it is, it needs adaptation and how much of it — or in this case designing from scratch is cheaper. Free of charge.