People in this thread misunderstanding what architectural drawings are, who owns them, and the legalities around them. Let me provide some clarity. 1. When you hire an architect, you're purchasing a service, not drawings. The drawings are called "instruments of service" and are owned by the architect. Architects didn't make this up, this is law. 2. If you've engaged an architect, you have a limited license to use the drawings they create to do the project. You are not allowed to take those drawings to another site and recreate the same building. Architects didn't make this up, this is law. 3. If you didn't engage an architect, and you want drawings for a building they did (that wasn't your building), you are *not* entitled to a copy of the drawings. Some architects will provide an outline set or "marketing plans" as a courtesy. 4. If you engage an architect, you are *not* entitled to the software program files of the project. This is *incredibly* risky for an architect to share these. Again, these are instruments of service. You're not entitled to the contractor's tools or the dentist's chair. 5. One of the main things you're purchasing from an architect is liability protection. Their stamp on the drawings means they are taking significant liability on their shoulders *on the your behalf* - and as such, they are entitled to protect that liability. 6. If you don't like any of this, you can find architects who can be bullied into providing stuff outside the legal/ethical bounds of the profession, but any reputable architect won't risk their livelihood and expose themselves to that much risk. 7. Architects are *personally* liable for their work. Personally. 8. If you engaged an architect and you'd like PDF or hard copies of the drawings of a project you worked on together, hell yeah, you can have them! As owner, you've paid for the service, and you, as part of your limited license to use the instruments of service, may have a copy. There is *a lot* of case law backing this stuff up. If you're a new developer or architect and you don't understand how this stuff works, get on it. This is real, and it's not just architects being worryworts. Also - none of this is legal advice. Things are different in different jurisdictions. Check with a lawyer *who understands architects and construction law* in your jurisdiction for more information.