What are drawings to scale?

When you submit a Building/Development Permit application, the Municipality requires your site plans and construction drawings to be “to scale”.

In simple terms, a scaled drawing is a mathematically accurate miniature of your project. It ensures that the proportions on your paper match the real-world dimensions of your land and buildings exactly.

You don’t need professional drafting software to create a scaled drawing, but you must use a consistent ratio and a ruler. Here are the two most common methods:

• For Site Plans (The Big Picture):

  • 1 inch = 20 feet: This is used to show your entire “parcel of land”. Every inch you draw on the paper represents 20 feet of your actual yard. This helps officials see how the project fits within your property boundaries.

• For Construction Drawings (The Details):

  • 1/4 inch = 1 foot: This is used for “incidental alterations” or building details. Every quarter-inch on the paper represents one foot of the actual structure. This is how you show where windows, doors, and interior partitions will be located.

Tip: Use graph paper to make this easy. Assign a value to each square (for example, 1 square = 2 feet). As long as you stay consistent throughout the entire drawing, your plan will be “to scale.”