Site Plan for a Building Permit: What It Must Show

A building department reads a site plan to answer one question before it looks at anything else: does the work fit on this lot? The plan shows the lot's boundaries and everything on it, drawn to scale, so a reviewer can measure the distance from a new deck, shed, addition or pool to each property line, see whether it lands on an easement, and add up how much of the lot is covered. The three city lists below are the ones this guide read; a city that is not on it publishes its own, and the department's list governs over any general guide.

What is a site plan for a building permit?

It is a drawing of the whole lot seen from above, at a stated scale, with the proposed work placed where it will be built. Austin's residential application and Phoenix's example call it a plot plan; San Diego's bulletin calls it a site plan. In Austin it is not the same thing as the city's site plan process, a separate review under the Land Development Code for larger developments: a house or an addition goes through residential plan review with a plot plan instead.

What does every site plan show?

The three lists share a core: a north arrow and the drawing scale; the property lines, with their dimensions; the buildings that stand on the lot and the ones proposed, with the distances between them and to the lines; the easements; and the address with the legal description or the county's parcel number. Phoenix points to the recorded subdivision plat for the property's dimensions and easements, and San Diego strongly recommends getting a title report before drawing the easements. The easements guide explains what can be built in one, and the setbacks guide what the distances to the property lines are measured against.

What does Austin's plot plan need?

Austin's Residential New Construction and Addition Permit Application, in its June 17, 2025 edition, says a plot plan is drawn to a standard scale and includes, among other items: the property address and legal description, a north arrow, the drawing scale, trees in the right-of-way and trees 19 inches or more in diameter on the property or immediately next to it, the property lines, the building lines of existing and proposed improvements, easements, the required zoning setbacks and roof overhangs, the water meter and wastewater cleanout locations, every overhead and underground electric facility, and the size and material of the water and wastewater lines. The electric facilities are what Austin Energy reviews for its required clearances from new structures and pools.

All drawings are to a scale the city can verify; its Building Criteria Manual lists the acceptable scales. If the work increases water demand or adds a dwelling, for example by adding a bathroom, Austin Water must stamp the plot plan and its service plan verification form before the application goes in. The application itself asks for the lot's building coverage and impervious cover, so the areas on the plot plan should add up to the figures on the form.

What does Phoenix's plot plan need?

Phoenix's Plot Plan, Single Family Example (TRT/DOC/00285, revised July 2026) asks owners to check the property's zoning, required setbacks and allowable lot coverage with the zoning section before drawing, and to upload the plot plan as a PDF with the rest of the residential submittal. The plan is drawn to scale and lists: the scope of work; the number of existing and proposed dwelling units and accessory dwelling units; the address and the county assessor's parcel number; a project data table; the zoning district; a north arrow and scale, 1 inch to 20 feet suggested; every property line, labeled and dimensioned; the adjacent streets and alleys, with the rights-of-way dimensioned to their centerlines; every easement; every existing structure that stays and every proposed one, labeled and dimensioned; the required and the provided setbacks; the required and the provided parking; and the location and height of existing and proposed fences, walls and gates.

It ends with a lot coverage table: the lot area, the allowed coverage in percent and square feet, and the proposed coverage broken into the primary structure, attached shade such as a patio cover, and detached accessory structures, totaled as area under roof divided by net lot area. The example notes that the first three feet of a roof overhang can be left out of the area under roof. Its second page is a blank template laid out on a typical lot with an alley, a pool and a detached building.

What does San Diego's site plan need?

San Diego's Information Bulletin 122, last revised in May 2026, lists twelve items: a brief statement of the scope of work; all property lines or site boundaries with dimensions; the exterior dimensions of existing and proposed buildings and structures, with their distances to the property lines and to each other, projections such as bay windows and fireplaces included; the public right-of-way, as the distance from curb or centerline to the property line, the alley width and the paving type; existing and proposed public improvements such as curb, sidewalk, pedestrian ramps and driveways; the dimensions and locations of recorded and proposed public and private easements; the owner's name, address and phone number; the site address; the legal description and assessor's parcel number; a north arrow; the drawing scale; and brush management zones.

A vicinity map goes with it, showing the project's place among the major streets, with at least two major cross streets, every road leading to the site and a north arrow; it need not be to scale but should be proportional. Where the site plan shows property lines, easements and other fixed works within the practice of civil engineering, a licensed land surveyor seals, signs and dates it, or a current topographic map and boundary survey bearing a surveyor's seal goes in with the plans.

Can you draw a site plan yourself?

Often, for a house lot. Phoenix publishes a blank template for its plot plan, and Austin accepts exhibits that no architect has sealed, though it says plans not sealed and signed by a Texas-registered architect or certified building designer get only a limited technical review, which does not catch every code requirement. San Diego is stricter about the boundary: a plan that shows property lines and easements as civil engineering work needs a land surveyor's seal, or a sealed survey alongside it. Either way, take the lot's lines from the recorded plat or a survey rather than from a fence, which may not stand on the property line.

Los Angeles's building department and Houston publish their own submittal lists, which this guide has not read; ask either city for its plot plan checklist before drawing. The permit process guide covers what follows once the plans are in, and the pool permit brief and the other permit briefs say which backyard projects need a permit at all.