What you need before you start
A site plan is a top-down drawing of a property showing the boundary, the structures on it, and the distances between them. To draw one you need three things: the lot dimensions, the footprint sizes of the main structures, and the measurements that locate those structures relative to the property lines.
Lot dimensions usually come from the property's plot plan, a purchase document, or municipal records. Structure locations you can tape-measure on site. Write the numbers down before you open any drawing tool — the drawing goes fast when the measurements are ready.
- Lot width and depth
- House and garage footprint dimensions
- Distances from structures to property lines (setbacks)
- Driveway, deck, shed, and walkway sizes
- The location and size of the proposed work
Step 1: Set up a scaled sheet
The single thing that separates a site plan from a doodle is scale. In a browser tool like SiteBuildHub Draft, the drawing grid is already scaled — one square equals one foot — so anything you draw is automatically proportional. Load the residential site plan template and you'll start with a property line, a house footprint, a driveway, and sample dimensions already on the sheet.
If you're starting blank, draw the property boundary first as a rectangle at the lot's true dimensions. Everything else gets positioned inside it.
Step 2: Place structures and features
Draw the house as a rectangle at its footprint size, positioned the measured distance from the front and side property lines. Add the garage, driveway, deck, shed, and any other features as rectangles and polygons. Snap-to-grid keeps edges aligned and dimensions honest.
Then add the proposed work — the new fence line, the addition, the concrete pad — and make it visually distinct with a label. The reader should see instantly what exists and what's proposed.
Step 3: Dimension and label everything that matters
Run dimension lines along the property boundaries, across structure widths, and — most importantly — on the setback distances from the proposed work to the property lines. Those setbacks are the first thing a permitting office or a neighbor dispute will care about.
Label each feature with the text tool: 'EXISTING HOUSE', 'PROPOSED DECK', 'GRAVEL DRIVE'. Fill in the title block with the project name, client, your company, and the date.
Step 4: Export and file it
Export the finished plan as a PNG for embedding in proposals or as a PDF for a standalone document. Save the drawing so the next job at the same property — the fence after the deck, the shed after the fence — starts from the plan you already made.
One caution: a drawn site plan documents your measurements; it doesn't establish legal boundaries. Where boundary accuracy matters legally, use survey pins or a licensed surveyor, and check what your local permitting office accepts before submitting any drawing.