Blog · 11 October 2026

Drawing a site plan for a council or development application

Small projects (a shed, a carport, a verandah, a deck, a granny flat, an extension) often start with the same question from council: can you send us a site plan? For many minor works you can draw it yourself, if you know what it needs to show and you draw it to scale.

First: do you need approval at all?

Every state has a route for small structures that need no approval, or only a simpler one, provided they meet set limits on size, height and distance from boundaries. In South Australia, check on the PlanSA portal; in NSW, look up exempt and complying development; in Victoria and Queensland, ask your council or a building surveyor. The rules change and depend on your zone, so check before you draw.

What a site plan usually shows

The property boundaries, with their lengths.
Existing buildings and structures, and the new work clearly marked as proposed.
Setbacks: the distance from the new work to each boundary, and to other buildings.
A north point and the scale (commonly 1:100 or 1:200), plus the street name.
Site details: the address and the title reference (plan and allotment or lot numbers).
Often also: driveways, trees that might be affected, easements, and where stormwater goes.

Most applications also need a floor plan of the new work with dimensions, and elevations (side views) showing heights. Councils publish their own checklists; follow yours.

Producing it in Plotlay

Start a map project at your address and run Map → Suggest site boundary. In SA, Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania this draws your parcel from the state cadastre, with the plan and allotment numbers in its notes.
Add the house. Scan it room by room with Plotlay Scan, trace it over the aerial, or pin your existing floor plan with control points.
Draw the new work on its own layer (for example "Proposed shed"), so it can be styled differently from what exists.
Measure the setbacks with the measuring tool, from the new work to each boundary, and label them.
Export → Plan. Choose the sheet (A4 to A1), a scale such as 1:100 or 1:200, and north up. The PDF has wall lengths, room areas, a legend, a measurement schedule, a north arrow and a title block for your project details; add the address and title reference. A DXF goes to a drafter if you need one.

Be honest about accuracy

The online boundary is not a survey: it is usually within a metre or so, sometimes more (see find your property boundary). If the new work is close to a boundary, or the setback is near a limit, have a licensed surveyor confirm it and say so on the plan. Mark the boundary as "from the state cadastre, not surveyed" unless it has been.

Elevations and sections

Export → Elevations & sections draws each side of the building, and cuts through it along lines you draw on the plan, from the rooms' heights, the doors and windows, and a roof you describe (gable, hip, skillion or flat, with its pitch and eaves). For a room you are changing, Plan & elevations of this room gives the plan with dimensions and each wall straight on, with what stands against it.

They are drawn from measurements and settings, not a survey, so check heights on site. For larger work, many councils expect plans prepared by a qualified designer, and building rules require engineering for structures that carry load.