Site Plan for Permit: What to Show and How to Draw It

Model codes set the principle, and cities set the details. Several jurisdictions that adopt the ICC language ask for a scaled plan showing the size and location of new construction and existing structures on the site, with distances from lot lines and established street grades. Examples in search results include Massachusetts 780 CMR 107.2 and the Rhode Island plot plan statute. The section number for this requirement shifts between editions of the IBC, so cite your adopted edition rather than a number from a blog.

Public handouts then list what the reviewer wants to see. The table compares three, all from the issuing agency's own pages.

Sources: Monterey County, Metro Nashville drawing requirements, Ocean City, MD. A blank cell means the page text I could read didn't say, not that the city doesn't ask for it.

Read together, the common core is:

1. Lot boundaries with dimensions. Every property line, with its length.
2. North arrow and scale. A bar scale survives printing at a different size; a written ratio doesn't.
3. Existing structures. House, garage, sheds, decks, pools, anything permanent.
4. The new work. Drawn differently from what exists (heavier line or hatch) and labeled.
5. Distances from each structure to the property lines. Measured and written on the plan.
6. Streets, driveways and access. Including the street name.
7. Easements and utilities. Drawn and labeled with their widths where known.
8. Identifying data. Address, parcel number or legal description, owner, preparer.

1. Get the checklist first. Search your building department's site for "site plan requirements" or "plot plan." Some counties publish an example sheet. Sacramento County's GI-29 plot plan example is one. Its extracted text only partly shows what it asks for, so use the current version from the county.
2. Start from a boundary source. A recorded plat, a prior survey or a surveyor's drawing gives you true lot lines. Don't trace the lot from a satellite image.
3. Choose a scale and say so. A common choice is 1" = 20'. A Kitsap County, WA policy requires 1"=20' for its site plans. Another city may allow 1/8" = 1' or a different engineering scale. Pick the largest scale that fits the lot on your sheet size.
4. Draw the lot, then the existing structures. Dimension the buildings, not only the lot.
5. Add the proposed work. Show the footprint, including roof overhangs and steps if your jurisdiction measures setbacks to them. Ask which.
6. Dimension every setback. Measure from the structure to the property line and write that distance on the plan.
7. Add easements, utilities and access. If you don't know where an easement runs, your title report or plat shows it.
8. Label, sign, and size the sheet. Placer County, CA, for example, asks for 11x17 minimum and 24x36 for full review submittals. Check the sheet size your office accepts before you print.

The reviewer is mostly doing zoning math, not structural review. They compare the numbers on your plan to the zoning code for your parcel:

• Setbacks. The distance from each structure to the front, side and rear lines against the minimums for your zone. A sheet that shows the building but no measured distance usually draws a correction.
• Lot coverage and height. Footprint area against the allowed percentage, and the height you've noted against the limit.
• Easements. Building inside an easement is often restricted, so an easement that isn't drawn can hide a conflict until a reviewer finds it.
• Access and parking. Nashville's requirements, for example, call for parking including accessible spaces.
• Consistency with the floor plans. If the site plan says the addition is 20 ft wide and the floor plan says 22 ft, the reviewer will flag it.

Some jurisdictions route this through a separate zoning review before or alongside the building permit. Nashville's published guidance for decks suggests contacting the zoning office to confirm setback compliance before filing.

A site plan is not required for every permit. Nashville's requirements list site plans and building plans for new buildings and additions, but only building plans for renovations and changes of occupancy. Johns Creek, GA says a site plan is needed if any soil disturbance is involved.

A site plan and a survey are different documents:

Johns Creek is explicit about the line. Its guidance says a survey is required for new structures, additions, pools and retaining walls, or as requested by staff, and that a "full" site plan can't substitute for it. It also says a surveyor's signed survey can't simply be reused as someone else's site plan unless the surveyor's name and seal are struck and a statement added that another person drew it. Rules like this are local. If your lot lines are in doubt, or you're close to a setback, get a survey. See our guide on what a construction survey is and when you need one.

The same sheet serves many small projects, but the details change:

• Sheds. Exempt sheds still have to meet setbacks. See do you need a building permit to build a shed.
• Decks. Show the footprint and the distance to each line. See deck building permit requirements.
• Garage conversions and ADUs. Show parking replaced or lost and the distance to other structures. See garage conversion permits.
• Fees. Review fees can depend on valuation, not the plan, but incomplete plans cause resubmittal delays. See how much a building permit costs.

For rules in a specific city, see our Los Angeles permit guide for one jurisdiction we cover, and use your local building department's checklist as the final word.

• No scale, or a scale that's wrong after the PDF is resized.
• Setbacks shown by eye, not dimensioned.
• Existing and proposed work drawn the same, so the reviewer can't tell what's new.
• Easements and utilities omitted.
• The plan doesn't match the floor plans.
• A surveyor's seal on a plan the surveyor didn't draw, in jurisdictions that prohibit it.
• Wrong sheet size or not enough copies for a paper submission. Placer County, for example, asks for three copies with a construction permit application, and up to five with a septic system.

When a correction letter does come back, answer every comment with a revised sheet and a short note. See how to respond to a plan check correction letter.