You do not need a new design. You need a better way to build the one you have.
The most common reason people assume a panelized system is not for them is that they already have drawings. In most cases those drawings are exactly what we need. A panelized system is a change in where the work happens, not a change in what gets built.
Where is your project right now?
Best case. Full flexibility on panel sizing and layout.
In most cases, 80 to 90 percent of typical residential design details carry straight over.
If it is a stud package, it is the same building method your drawings already describe. Wall thickness, layout, openings, rooflines, and finishes stay yours. What changes is that the cutting and squaring move into a plant and arrive at the site already done.
Where a detail does not convert cleanly, we identify it during the drawing review, before anyone commits. On the rare occasion a design is a poor fit for panelization, we say so at that stage rather than three months into production.
- Room layouts, unit plans, and circulation
- Rooflines, elevations, and facade treatment
- Window and door locations and schedules
- Interior finishes, cabinetry, and fixtures
- Large openings, point loads, headers, and long spans
- Lateral load path and connection details
- MEP chases, penetrations, and service walls
- Panel sizing against transport route and site access
If you have not broken ground, you can still switch.
The foundation is the hinge. Before it is poured, moving to a panelized system is a drawing and engineering exercise. Panel layouts get generated, the base plate layout gets set, and the foundation is designed to receive panels from the start. Nothing gets torn out, because nothing has been built.
After the foundation is in, a switch is often still possible. An out of square or inherited foundation can frequently be compensated for in the base plate layout. It is simply cheaper and cleaner the earlier it is caught.
- Drawings done, no permit yetBest case. Full flexibility on panel sizing and layout.
- Permit in hand, no foundationStill straightforward. The building does not change, so most permits are unaffected, though your jurisdiction should confirm.
- Foundation pouredUsually workable. We review the as-built dimensions before any panel is cut.
- Framing startedCase by case. Talk to us before ordering more material.
Canada published a free national design catalogue. We build from it.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's Housing Design Catalogue offers more than 50 standardized, free to use housing designs, covering detached accessory dwelling units, rowhouses, townhouses, fourplexes, and sixplexes. Each design is tailored to regional climate, building codes, site conditions, and construction methods, and the technical packages include full drawing sets in PDF, CAD, and BIM along with energy reporting and accessible layout options.
For a manufacturer, that combination is unusually useful. These are exactly the housing types panelization suits best, they are designed to be repeated across many sites, and the drawings arrive in formats that go directly into panel layout and production. A design that is intended to be built hundreds of times is a design worth building efficiently.
Detached accessory dwelling units
Garden suites and laneway units. Small footprints where a complete wall and roof package can arrive on one truck.
Browse at CMHCRowhouses
Repeated party walls and unit plans. The layout panelization suits best.
Browse at CMHCTownhouses
Multi-storey runs with shared walls and repeated stair packages.
Browse at CMHCFourplexes
Stacked units where SIP roof assemblies and staircases arrive with the wall package.
Browse at CMHCSixplexes
The largest catalogue type. Repeated floors, repeated panels, planned lifts.
Browse at CMHC
How we work with catalogue designs
- 01Send us the catalogue design you are using, or tell us which one you are considering
- 02We review it for panelization and recommend a wood stud or SIP approach, or a combination
- 03We produce the panel layouts, cut lists, and the wall, roof, and stair package
- 04Your qualified professional completes the derived design for your site, as the programme requires, and we build to that
What we do not do
- We do not replace the licensed architect, engineer, or BCIN designer the programme requires to adapt a catalogue design to a specific site
- We do not handle zoning, servicing, or permits
- We are not affiliated with or endorsed by CMHC. We manufacture panel packages for the people who choose to build these designs
Send the plan you already have.
A catalogue design, a set of permit drawings, or a concept sketch. We will tell you what converts, what needs a second look, and what we would need to quote it.