A site plan is a drawing of the whole property seen from above: the property lines with their bearings and lengths, the existing and proposed buildings, the distances from each building to the property lines (setbacks), easements, driveways and parking, utilities, ground levels and drainage, with a north arrow and a scale. It shows how a project sits on its land, and it is usually one of the first drawings a planning or building department asks for. What exactly it must show depends on the jurisdiction: there is no single national standard in the US, so every city or county publishes its own checklist.

What a site plan shows

The City of Huntsville, Texas, for example, asks residential applicants for: a scale no smaller than 1 inch = 50 feet; the dimensions and bearings of all property lines and the lot area; a north arrow; existing and proposed structures with their distances to the property lines; driveways; all recorded easements, dimensioned; the adjoining streets with pavement, curb, sidewalk and right-of-way widths; septic system and well where present; existing ground elevations at the property and building corners; proposed finished floor elevations; drainage patterns; and parking. Most checklists ask for a similar core:

  • Property lines with bearings and distances, and the lot area.
  • Buildings, existing and proposed, with their footprint dimensions.
  • Setbacks: the distance from each structure to each property line.
  • Easements (utilities, access, drainage) and rights-of-way.
  • Access and parking: driveways, curb cuts, parking spaces, sidewalks.
  • Utilities: water, sewer or septic, power, gas, and their connections.
  • Levels: existing and proposed contours or spot elevations, and the finished floor elevation (FFE).
  • Drainage: arrows showing where water flows, and stormwater features.
  • Calculations: lot coverage, impervious area, parking counts, as the jurisdiction requires.
  • North arrow, scale and street names.

Site plan, survey, location plan and floor plan

  • A survey is a legal record of the property boundaries and features, prepared by a licensed land surveyor. A site plan shows the project on the property and is usually drawn by an architect or engineer from the survey data. As the Ontario Association of Architects puts it, a plan of survey "is an integral part of the survey, but is not a survey in and of itself".
  • A location plan shows where the site is in its surroundings, at a small scale. In England and Wales, the Planning Portal describes location plans at 1:1250 or 1:2500 and site (block) plans at 1:200 or 1:500.
  • A floor plan shows the inside of one floor of a building; the site plan shows the building as a footprint on its land.

Our guide to the key plan compares key plans, site plans and location plans side by side.

Who can prepare a site plan

That is set locally too. The City of Pittsburgh, for example, requires zoning site plans to be stamped, with a few exceptions, by an architect, surveyor or engineer; property owners may draw their own only for small items such as fences up to 6.5 feet, residential HVAC units and wall signs, and only when they know where their property lines are. Where property lines are disputed, a surveyor's stamp is required.

How to read a site plan

  1. Orient yourself. Find the north arrow, the street names and the scale.
  2. Trace the property lines. Each line carries a bearing and a distance, for example N 45°30'00" E 200.00': start facing north and turn 45 degrees 30 minutes towards east; the line runs 200 feet in that direction. A bearing never exceeds 90 degrees; one degree has 60 minutes and one minute 60 seconds.
  3. Find the buildings and read the setback dimensions to each property line. Compare them with the zoning setbacks, which the plan or the zoning code states.
  4. Look for easements and rights-of-way. Permanent structures in utility or access easements are usually restricted; check the easement terms.
  5. Read the levels. Contours connect points of equal ground elevation; existing contours are commonly dashed and proposed contours solid, but check the legend, as agencies differ. Contours close together mean steep ground. Spot elevations give exact levels at corners, curbs and walls, and the finished floor elevation sets the building's level against the ground.
  6. Follow the drainage. Arrows and slopes should lead water away from the building to a street, swale or drain.
  7. Check the numbers. Lot coverage, impervious area and parking counts, against the zoning limits.

Lot coverage and impervious area

These two are often confused, and jurisdictions define them differently. In some codes lot coverage is the share of the lot covered by buildings; impervious area adds every hard surface (driveways, patios, walks). Other codes calculate lot coverage from all impervious surfaces. Read the definition in your own zoning code before checking the number on the plan.

Civil and architectural site plans

On larger projects the site is drawn by several disciplines. In the US National CAD Standard's discipline letters, C is civil, L landscape and V survey and mapping, while the architect's sheets are A. The civil engineer typically produces site layout, grading and drainage, and utility plans; the landscape architect the planting and hardscape; the architect a site plan that shows the building in context. When you check a site, read them together: grading against finished floor levels, utilities against the building's connections.

Common scales

US site plans use engineering scales such as 1 inch = 20 feet or 1 inch = 30 feet; Huntsville allows nothing coarser than 1 inch = 50 feet, and other cities list 1 inch = 10 or 20 feet among accepted scales. UK site plans are usually 1:200 or 1:500. See our guide to architectural scales.

What a site plan costs

The cost depends mostly on whether you need a new boundary survey, on the size and slope of the lot, on how much detail your jurisdiction's checklist demands, and on whether the plan must be stamped. Commercial sites add parking, access, drainage and impervious calculations. Add the city's own review fee: St. Paul, Minnesota's published fee sheets, for example, list $357 for a residential site plan review (one or two units, which in St. Paul need review only on lots over one acre or in the tree preservation district) and $525 for a commercial site under 10,000 square feet. Fees change, so check the current schedule. Ask your jurisdiction first whether a drafted plan is enough or a stamped survey is required; that one answer decides most of the price.

Common mistakes

  • Property lines drawn without bearings and distances, or not matching the survey.
  • Setbacks measured to the wrong point (wall instead of roof overhang, or the other way round, depending on the code).
  • Structures or walls placed in easements.
  • No north arrow, no scale, or a scale that does not match the printed size.
  • Finished floor elevation set without checking drainage away from the building.
  • Lot coverage calculated with the wrong definition.

Frequently asked questions

What should a site plan include?

Property lines with bearings and distances, buildings, setbacks, easements, access and parking, utilities, levels, drainage, a north arrow and a scale. Your jurisdiction's checklist gives the exact list.

Who draws a site plan?

Usually an architect, engineer or surveyor; many jurisdictions require a professional stamp for anything beyond minor work.

Is a site plan the same as a survey?

No. A survey is a legal record of the boundaries by a licensed surveyor; a site plan shows the proposed project on the property, usually based on the survey.

What scale is a site plan?

In the US often 1 inch = 20 or 30 feet; in the UK usually 1:200 or 1:500. The jurisdiction may set a minimum.

What is the difference between a site plan and a floor plan?

A site plan shows the whole property with the building as a footprint; a floor plan shows the inside of one floor.

Ncored is the desktop PDF editor we built in our architecture studio for drawing sets from AutoCAD, Revit, and ArchiCAD, on Windows and Mac (Apple Silicon). Calibrate a site plan on its graphic scale or a known dimension, then measure setbacks, lengths and areas (metric units), mark questions with revision clouds and comments, and compare two issues of the site plan as a colour overlay. Markups are saved as standard PDF annotations that open in Acrobat, Bluebeam, Preview and other standard PDF viewers. 14 days free. No signup, no email, nothing to enter.

Related: north arrow on drawings, key plan, graphic scale on drawings.

All product names, standards and organisations mentioned on this page are trademarks or registered names of their respective owners and are used for identification only. Ncored is an independent product by Noir architects and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by any of them. Requirements and fees quoted from each jurisdiction's published pages; check your own jurisdiction. This page is not legal or surveying advice. Individual experiences may vary.