How Many Times Should You Expect to Redraw Your ADU Plan Before It's Right?

By Buz Artiano, BuildX | November 2026

Watch: Behind the Build: ADU Construction Walkthrough

You're on the fourth version of the plan, or maybe the fifth. You've changed the budget twice, the plan for the bedrooms has changed walls and now the drawing you're looking at is nothing like it was when you were so excited about it. So you start to wonder if all this is happening because you kept changing your mind or is it because the builder isn't getting it right?

My name is Buz Artiano, founder of BuildX. We've built dozens of ADUs in Massachusetts, mostly on the South Shore and in Plymouth County, and we do the design, permits, and construction all in the same place. So we're there every time the plan has to be redrawn and we have to make the final one work for your lot with a real septic system, setbacks, and your actual budget. We've seen people worry about this during the design part all the time.

George Barber is a BuildX client. We built his two-bedroom, 900-square-foot ADU in Plymouth, and part way in the construction he went through the half-finished unit with us on camera. We asked him about the process for his floor plan and he counted it out loud: four, five, six different plans and different budgets before the one that got built.

You'd think a builder would tell stories about families who had a good experience and George is one that did. We're telling his story because the number he said is one that most builders don't want to hear. Four to six times seems like a problem. But for George's ADU it was a process that was working.

Is It Normal to Go Through Four, Five, or Six ADU Plans?

Yes. Several tries at plans and budgets are something that's normal in the design part for a custom ADU. George's four to six is just what happened to him and not a quota or an industry comparison. It shows how that process can actually look. When he was standing in his half-finished ADU he said: "We've gone through four, five, six different plans, different budgets, and the fact that this worked, which is what we wanted to do in the first place, is huge."

Here is what part of this surprises people. The plan that got built wasn't a big change from where we started. It was just a better version of it. We told George when we were at the ADU that day: "that was full circle because we started day one with kind of close to what we have today... we had a rough plan of what we're doing today." By the end, how the plan and the property went together well enough that we said "this lot was tailor-made for this plan, or we made the plan for the lot."

That kind of ending is the moment during the design part that families get wrong. They see it and think they wasted all that time just to find out the first idea was fine. They didn't because the first plan was a guess. The last plan was a decision. Those two things can look almost the same on paper and you're thinking about them completely differently because by that time you've tested all the choices and know why you didn't like any of them.

What Did the Redraws Actually Change in George's Plan?

One change on George's project is worth talking about because it shows what a useful redraw is like.

The first layout was what George called "the shotgun style," which is when both bedrooms are on one side and the kitchen and dining room on the other. It's a simple plan and easy to draw. The plan that got built had the bedrooms so they face each across the ADU. In his words: "we opted for the two bedrooms facing each other. That way, we could maximize the kitchen and the living room space." His feelings about it: "I thought that was the best layout after seeing it."

For George's ADU that change worked better for floor area. In the first shotgun plan, the hallway for both bedrooms went along one wall and didn't do anything else. When the bedrooms were across from each other, that extra space was added to the living area, so the kitchen and living room went the whole width and didn't stop at the hallway. In his 900 square feet, that meant that two people could cook in the kitchen instead of one person having to step aside. With a different ADU, the comparison might be different so think of that layout with bedrooms facing each other and just one to test for your plan, and not the rule.

Notice what the order is here. The layout that got built wasn't being thought about at the beginning. It came up later because the first plan got drawn, looked at, and rejected for a certain reason. You can't go directly to the right plan. You have to draw the wrong one first.

When Do My Revisions Stop Being Cheap to Make?

This is the issue that matters more than the numbers of changes and it's one families ask about last but should ask about first.

While the plan is still just on paper, a change will cost the very least it ever will. You can move a wall, change a window, take space out of a bedroom, and the main cost is mostly just time to fix the drawing and re-price it. That's not always the whole bill. A change can also mean updated engineering, doing a new permit if plans were already filed, or putting in a new order for materials. That's why early in the design process is the best time to make changes, before any of those steps have to be done.

Once construction starts, the same change will cost something completely different. Framing's where the floor, wall, and roof actually get built, and by then the plan has been priced, supplies have been ordered and there's a schedule for all the work to be done. To move a wall then means undoing work, re-ordering materials, and causing delays for everyone. The change gets handled as a change order, which is a written change to a signed construction contract, and it has its own price and delays in the schedule.

We want to tell you this exactly here. because this is where families get an idea that can cost them later. We're not telling you that changes are unlimited or that every builder will make them for no charge. Design agreements are not the same and some have a set number of changes you can make. Ask your builder, in writing, how many changes their agreement will give you and what happens after that. Then use what you have.

Is a Long Design Phase Right for Every Family?

No, and we will tell you that before you sign anything.

Some families don't want six rounds. They just want a proven plan, a fixed price, construction to begin sooner and there's nothing wrong with that. If speed matters to you more than a floor plan for how your family lives, a standard plan with very few changes will get the ADU built fast and with less worry. We're a custom design-build company and our process uses repetition and that takes time. If that seems like a burden not a benefit, then we're not the right company for you and you should know that early.

There's also a part of this that is a warning sign. If you're on plan number five because each new version leaves out something that you already asked for, then there's a communication problem and more changes won't fix it.

How to Tell a Productive Redraw From a Red Flag

At the end of the design part you should be able to know what you've fixed or made better. If you can say it, then the changes worked. If you can't, those rounds weren't progress. Judge each new drawing by these four things: as it comes back.

• Each revision answers a question you had, not something the builder preferred.
• Each revision comes back with an updated cost, so you're choosing between prices and not sketches.
• Each revision narrows the field, meaning there are fewer options instead of more.
• Each revision is something you can explain to your spouse without using the drawing.

When the new plan gets there and it doesn't pass two of those, it's not because you're being picky. It's because there's something wrong with the process, and not the drawing in front of you.

Ready to Put a First Plan on Paper?

George's ADU took six rounds to get right, and the plan that got built ended up close to what it was from the first. That's what a healthy design phase is. The count isn't how to measure it. Convergence is.

Draw the first one knowing it won't be the last one. That's the only way to get to the one you actually want to build.