How to read a site plan.

What a site plan is and why it matters

A site plan is a bird's eye view drawing of your property, showing the property boundaries, existing structures, and the location of your proposed addition. It's drawn to scale, which means distances and dimensions correspond to real world measurements at a consistent ratio.

The site plan is required in every building approval application because it shows the certifier exactly where the proposed structure sits in relation to property boundaries and existing buildings, how they verify setback compliance, site coverage, and the relationship to the street.

Without an accurate site plan, an approval application can't be properly assessed.

What a site plan typically shows

A well prepared residential site plan includes:

• ✓
  Property boundaries, the legal boundary lines of your lot, with dimensions showing the width and depth of each boundary.
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  North point, a directional arrow showing which way is north. Used to orient the drawing and understand solar access, street frontage and neighbour relationships.
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  Existing house footprint, the outline of the existing dwelling, garage, shed and any other approved structures on the property.
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  Proposed structure, the footprint of your new carport, deck or room extension, shown in a different line weight or hatching to distinguish it from existing structures.
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  Setback dimensions, the distance from the proposed structure to each relevant boundary, the numbers your certifier checks against the Queensland Development Code.
• ✓
  Easements and overlays, any easements shown on the title, and relevant planning overlays if they affect the site layout.

Understanding scale and dimensions

The scale of a site plan tells you the ratio between the drawing and reality. A 1:200 scale means 1mm on the drawing equals 200mm in the real world.

Most plans include a scale bar, a small ruler like graphic that lets you measure distances without doing the maths. All key dimensions should also be written on the plan as text labels, you shouldn't need to measure anything yourself to understand the critical numbers.

What to check on your site plan before approval

Is the proposed structure in the right location? Does the position on the plan match where you intend to build?

Are the setback distances correct? Do the labelled dimensions to each boundary match reality?

Are any easements shown? If your property has easements, they should appear on the site plan. Building within an easement typically isn't permitted.

If anything looks wrong on your Plan Draft drawings, raise it during the revision round, that's exactly what it's there for.

Common questions