Explainer · what is a site plan
What is a site plan?
By Saumyajit Maity · Published 17 Oct 2024 · Updated 19 Apr 2025
A site plan is the drawing that puts a building in its place. Instead of looking inside at rooms, it pulls back to show the whole plot — the building's footprint sitting within its boundaries, with the driveways, paths, parking, planting and levels around it. It is the drawing planners reach for to see how a development relates to its surroundings, and the one a builder uses to set the building out correctly on the ground.
This explanation covers what a site plan is, what it includes, how it differs from a floor plan and a location plan, the scales it is usually drawn at, and how to read one. Because dressing a site plan is exactly what plan-view landscape and external-works CAD blocks are for — trees, planting, paving and the like — understanding the drawing also shows why scaled top-view blocks make a site plan come together quickly and read clearly.
A site plan, defined
A site plan is a scaled, top-down drawing of an entire plot of land showing the building (or buildings) in position along with everything around them. Where a floor plan looks at the inside of one storey, a site plan zooms out so you see the building as a footprint or roof shape sitting within the site boundary, surrounded by its external works.
Its job is to show relationships at the scale of the whole property: how the building sits relative to the boundaries, where you enter, how vehicles and people move around it, and how the land is treated. It is the bridge between the building and the world it sits in, which is why it matters so much for planning, setting out and landscape design.
What a site plan includes
A typical site plan carries a recognisable set of elements: the site boundary, drawn as a clear line around the plot; the building footprint or roof outline; access points, driveways and footpaths; parking areas; hard landscaping like paving and walls; soft landscaping — trees, shrubs, lawns and beds; and levels or contours showing how the ground falls.
It also usually shows a north point and a scale, and may include drainage runs, services, and setting-out dimensions tying the building to the boundaries. Much of the landscape content is placed as scaled plan-view blocks: trees drawn as canopies seen from above, shrubs, paving patterns. Using true-scale blocks means the planting and external works on the plan are dimensionally honest, so you can check spacing against paths and boundaries.
Site plan vs floor plan
These two are easy to muddle because both are top-down, but they answer different questions at different scales. A floor plan shows the interior layout of one storey — the rooms, walls, doors and furniture inside the building. A site plan shows the exterior context — the whole plot with the building as a footprint among its boundaries and landscaping.
Think of it as a zoom level. The site plan is the wide shot of the property; the floor plan is the close-up of one level of the building. A drawing set usually has both: a site plan to locate and contextualise the building, and one floor plan per storey to describe what is inside. They share the building's outline so they coordinate, but the site plan rarely shows interior walls and the floor plan rarely shows the garden.
Site plan vs location plan
There is a third drawing people confuse with the site plan: the location plan. A location plan is even more zoomed out — it shows the site within its wider neighbourhood, often based on an ordnance or cadastral map, drawn at a small scale like 1:1250 or 1:2500, with the plot outlined in red. Its job is to say 'here is the property within the surrounding streets'.
The site plan, by contrast, zooms in on the plot itself at a larger scale (commonly 1:200 or 1:500), showing the building, boundaries and external works in detail. Planning applications often require both: a location plan to find the site on a map, and a site plan to show the proposed development on the plot. Knowing the difference avoids the common error of supplying one when the other is needed.
Scales and how to read one
Site plans are usually drawn at 1:200 or 1:500, occasionally 1:100 for a small plot or 1:1000 for a large one — scales chosen so the whole plot fits the sheet while still showing the building and external works clearly. The location plan sits further out at 1:1250 or 1:2500.
To read a site plan, start with the north point and scale, then find the boundary so you know the extent of the plot. Locate the building footprint and the access — how you get onto the site and to the entrance. Trace the paths, parking and any level changes, then read the landscaping to understand how the outside space is arranged. Setting-out dimensions, where given, tie the building precisely to the boundaries; everything else you can scale off. Reading it well is mostly about working from the boundary inward.
Dressing a site plan with CAD blocks
Much of what makes a site plan readable — and persuasive in a planning context — is the landscape and external-works content, and this is where plan-view CAD blocks do the heavy lifting. A row of street trees drawn as scaled canopies, shrubs along a boundary, paving patterns in the parking area, and planting beds around the building all turn a bare footprint into a legible, intentional scheme.
Because the blocks are drawn to scale, the canopies you place show the real spread of the trees, so you can check them against paths, the building and the boundary rather than guessing. Put the planting on its own layer and you can produce a clean technical site plan by freezing it and a full landscape site plan by thawing it, from the same drawing. Using top-view, true-scale blocks is what lets a site plan be both accurate and quick to dress — the planting reads correctly the moment it lands.
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Questions
Frequently asked
What is the difference between a site plan and a floor plan?+
A floor plan shows the interior layout of one storey — rooms, walls, doors and furniture. A site plan zooms out to show the whole plot: the building as a footprint within its boundaries, plus driveways, parking, paths and landscaping. One is the inside of a level; the other is the building in its grounds.
What is the difference between a site plan and a location plan?+
A location plan is more zoomed out — it shows the site within the surrounding streets on a map, usually at 1:1250 or 1:2500 with the plot outlined in red. A site plan zooms in on the plot itself at a larger scale like 1:200 or 1:500, detailing the building, boundaries and external works.
What scale is a site plan usually drawn at?+
Commonly 1:200 or 1:500, chosen so the whole plot fits the sheet while the building and external works stay legible. Small plots may use 1:100 and large sites 1:1000. The wider location plan typically sits at 1:1250 or 1:2500.
Which CAD blocks do I use on a site plan?+
Plan-view (top-view) external-works blocks — trees drawn as canopies, shrubs, paving and planting beds. Drawn to scale, they show the real spread of planting so you can check it against paths and boundaries, and on their own layer they toggle on and off for clean technical or full landscape versions.
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