RE: Designing or modifying plans using CAD
Check Google for a program called "Raster to Vector" or R2V. With it you can convert the scanned images (plans) from a Raster Image (like .bmp) into a 'Vector' graphic that Autocad, etc use.
Buy the shareware version of R2V, it is the best I have found for this purpose so far - never found any good freeware
Dennis