Building Process

The chart on your left shows the various stages in building a house.  The chart shows more of the people involved in the process.  This shows clearly the value of a engineer in building a house.

1. The owner starts the process and decides he/she wants to build a house.
2. An Architect is approached, who develops the building based on the owners requirements
3. Several engineers who form the backbone of the building are then hired to design the structure, electrical, mechanical etc.
4. The planning department (usually the county or City which has jurisdiction of the location) is approached for  permission to build the house.
5. Upon approval, the design is completed as a team effort by the members of the team.
6. Once the design is completed, the City is contacted for approval which make sure that all the local codes are enforced.
7. A contractor to build the house is selected by a process calling bidding where several contractors are requested to provide a estimate.
8. The owner with the help of the design team selects the contractor who then builds the house.
9. The Owner, City and the design team of Architects and Engineers oversee the construction to make sure that the contractor is building per their design.
10. Once the building is built the City issues the Occupancy permit when the owner moves in to the house.  The owner converts the house to a home.  

Here is a site which shows the various stages of construction of a house:
http://www.howstuffworks.com/house.htm