In construction, a site plan is a blueprint of a proposed development work. It is a crucial drawing used by architects, engineers, and urban planners at the planning stage. It shows the entire extent of the proposed site and includes the minutest details such as type of soil and habitation. All future developments on a proposed site are made keeping in view these characteristics as indicated in the site plan. In a nutshell, site plan drawings are integral to all sorts of developments in all kinds of constructions.
What is a site plan?
A site plan is a diagram showing the proposed developments on a site. In other words, a site plan is a graphic representation of how a proposed building would develop with other integral parts like parking and landscaping. Site plans are made after multiple examinations of the site and discussions about the site’s characteristics.
AIHS 2022
Site plan: Details available
A standard site plan drawing would have the following key details. Note, this list is not exhaustive but indicative as sites have extreme variations and may require different details.
Project name
Author name
Drawing type
Scale used
Directional orientation
Key dimensions
Key materials
Structural plans
Site history
Site lines
Services site plans
Site topography
Ground conditions
Site boundaries
Delineation of adjacent properties
Location of the building in relation to their surroundings
Landscape
Trees
Parking areas with dimensions or capacities, traffic flow and signage
Access and traffic flows
Roads
Footpaths
Ramps
Pavements
Fencing
Easements
Required demolition
General extent of earthworks
General layout of external services like drainage, water, gas, electricity, telephone, manhole covers
Location of external components like bollards, fire hydrants, signage, and garbage disposal bins
General layout of external lighting
Site plan scale
Land is a vast area. Drawing it on a paper is difficult. Here, the site plan scale comes into the picture. Also referred as block plan, a site plan scale is a measure used to imagine the actual vastness of the proposed site. Depending on the size of the proposed site, a site plan scale may vary from 1:200 to 1:500. This means, when printed on paper, the site map would be 200 or 500 times smaller than the actual area. For smaller projects, larger site plan scales can be used. Similarly, for very large site plans, a much smaller site plan scale can be used.
Site plan architecture
Planners should be aware of the government rules such as building byelaws and local development laws, to draft site plans. All site plans need to be compliant with building bye laws of the specific area.
