Must architectural/engineering plans be drawn and approved by the city before I apply for a construction loan?

I've talked to a couple of lenders, and they both want all the plans drawn and approved before I apply for the construction loan. I'm concerned about that, because what if I fork out 30,000$ for the arch/eng/approval process, and then don't get approved for the construction loan? I've read online that some lenders do what's called a "story loan," meaning I give them some preliminary information on my intent for the construction, and then they approve the loan based on what they feel the future value would be. Then I pay for the architect, engineer, and city fees out of the construction loan. Help?