Fence permit site plan

A fence permit site plan is a scaled, top-down drawing of your lot showing the property lines, the buildings already on it, and the fence you want to build — dimensioned, with a scale and a north arrow, and with the distance from the fence to each boundary marked. Your city may call it a site plan, a plot plan or a plan of survey. For a residential fence they are asking for the same sheet.

You can draw one yourself. Below is what a reviewer checks, item by item, what your options are for producing it, and where this tool stops.

Wondering whether you have to pay a surveyor first? We read every city fence code on this site to answer that — one of them requires a survey with the application.

The nine things a plan reviewer checks

A fence application is rarely turned down because the fence is wrong. It is turned down because the drawing does not answer one of these. Each row says what the reviewer is looking for, and what Fence Plotter does about it — including the two places it does not do the work for you.

1. 1.Property lines, dimensioned

   Every boundary of the lot drawn and labelled in feet, matching your plat or deed.

   ◐In supported counties the outline is the county's own parcel polygon, drawn dashed and labelled with the parcel ID and its source. Everywhere else you trace the boundary from the aerial photo yourself — accepted for a fence almost everywhere, but it is your tracing, not the county's.

2. 2.A stated scale

   A scale statement such as 1" = 20', and a drawing that is actually at that scale when printed on letter paper.

   ✓The scale is computed from your own drawing and printed in the title block of every page, and the printed plot plan also carries a graphic scale bar — the one a photocopier cannot silently invalidate. The sheet is laid out at that scale rather than fitted to the page after the fact.

3. 3.North arrow

   An orientation marker so the reviewer can match the sheet to the parcel map on their screen.

   ✓Drawn on the plot plan, oriented to the satellite image.

4. 4.The proposed fence, with lengths

   The new fence as its own line, each run dimensioned, plus a total length in feet.

   ✓Drawn solid, each side dimensioned, and the total length printed in the title block. Click any side to type its exact length instead of eyeballing it.

5. 5.Existing fence kept separate from proposed

   Fence that is already there distinguished from fence you are asking to build — many cities specify different line symbols for the two.

   ✓Existing neighbour fence is a separate grey dashed line with its own legend row, so the two never read as one continuous run.

6. 6.Height and material

   The finished height and what the fence is made of — the two facts the height ordinance is applied to.

   ✓Both printed in the title block, and the packet carries a side elevation showing the height, the panel count and the gates as they will be built.

7. 7.Gate locations and widths

   Where each gate sits and how wide it is — a walk gate and a driveway gate are reviewed differently.

   ✓Gate spans are drawn with their swing arc and labelled at their own width, e.g. 4' walk gate or 12' driveway gate.

8. 8.Setbacks from the line, sidewalk and right-of-way

   The distance from the fence to each boundary it is measured against — the single most common reason a fence plan is bounced.

   ◐Where your city's rule is loaded and county lot lines are available, the minimum setback is drawn as a band inside the property line, so building inside it is visual rather than arithmetic. The numbers themselves are listed on the ordinance page of the packet. Neither is available for a city we have not loaded.

9. 9.Existing structures and easements

   House, garage, driveway, shed and any recorded easement, so the reviewer can see nothing is enclosed or blocked.

   ◐Structures are there because the plan is drawn on the current aerial photo of your lot rather than a blank sheet — the reviewer sees the house and driveway in place. Easements are the real gap: we hold no easement data and do not draw them. If your lot has a utility or drainage easement, mark it on the printout by hand. The ordinance page states your city's easement rule where we have loaded it.

✓ covered · ◐ partly, read the row · ○ not covered. Real lot lines are loaded for 47 cities so far — see the coverage list. Everywhere else the tool still produces the sheet; you trace the boundary from the aerial photo.

Three ways to get one

How to make one in about two minutes

1. 1Type your address. The map centres on your lot. In a supported county the parcel boundary is fetched and snapped on; elsewhere you get the aerial photo and trace the boundary yourself.
2. 2Click the fence corners. Click around the lot to lay the fence where you want it. Every side is measured as you go, and you can click a side to type its exact length.
3. 3Set height, material and gates. Pick the height and material, then add gates where they go. Gate width drives the swing arc that prints on the plan.
4. 4Check it against the ordinance. For a loaded city the packet carries a compliance page with that city's height limits, setbacks, neighbour-consent rule and permit fee, checked against the fence you drew.
5. 5Download the packet. You get a PDF: plot plan with scale, north arrow and legend, the ordinance page, and a side elevation. Print it and attach it to your application.

Questions people actually ask

What is a site plan for a fence permit?

A scaled, top-down drawing of your lot showing the property lines, the existing buildings, and the fence you want to build — with dimensions, a scale, a north arrow, and the distance from the fence to each boundary. Building departments call it a site plan, a plot plan or a plan of survey depending on the city; for a residential fence they are asking for the same sheet.

Does it have to be drawn by a surveyor?

For a fence, usually not. Almost every US building department accepts an owner-drawn plot plan as long as it is to scale, dimensioned, and shows the fence relative to your property lines. Some cities do demand a stamped survey — one of the 55 whose codes we have read does — and a few want one only when the fence sits on the boundary itself. Surveyors price per lot and publish no rate card, so check your city's fence handout before you pay for anything.

Are county GIS lot lines good enough for a permit?

For a fence permit, in the cities we support, yes — it is the same parcel polygon the reviewer is looking at on their own map. It is not a legal survey, and it should not be used to settle where a boundary actually runs. If a foot matters at a disputed line, hire a licensed surveyor.

What does a fence site plan cost?

Fence Plotter is free and has no account. The paid services that rank for this search charge roughly $99–$259 with next-day or same-day delivery, and they draw it for you from your plat. The trade is turnaround and hand-holding versus doing the drawing yourself in a couple of minutes.

Why do fence plans get rejected?

In order: a setback measured to the wrong line or not shown at all; no scale, or a drawing that is not actually at the scale it claims; an easement the plan does not show; the fence drawn past the property line; and gates missing or undimensioned. Every one of those is a drafting failure rather than a zoning failure — the fence would have been approved as designed.

Fence Plotter prepares the drawings your application asks for. It does not file anything and it does not approve anything — confirm height, setback and material rules with your building department before you build.