What drawings does an ADU permit need?

Most building departments ask for a site plan showing the ADU, the main house, the setbacks and the distances to the lot lines; a floor plan with dimensions; exterior elevations; and often a building section. Many also ask for structural, energy and utility details that a designer or engineer prepares. Your city's ADU checklist says exactly what it needs.

Can I draw my own ADU plans?

Many places accept drawings made by the owner for a small accessory unit, and DrawPlans makes them to scale. Others require a licensed designer, architect or engineer to prepare or stamp some or all of the drawings. Ask your building department before you start.

How do I show setbacks for an ADU?

Draw the property lines in DrawPlans, turn on the site plan in the Plan panel and enter the front, rear and side setbacks. It draws the setback lines, shades the buildable area, measures the distance from each building to each lot line and shows any part inside a setback in red.

What scale should ADU drawings be?

Floor plans and elevations are usually printed at 1/4 inch = 1 foot (1:48; about 1:50 in metric) and site plans at a smaller scale such as 1 inch = 10 or 20 feet. DrawPlans prints each page at the largest usual scale that fits the paper and writes the scale on it, with a scale bar.

ADU permit drawings

An accessory dwelling unit (a backyard cottage, a garage apartment or a granny flat) usually needs a building permit, and the permit needs drawings: where the unit sits on the lot, its floor plan, and what it looks like from outside.

DrawPlans makes those drawings from the plan you draw, to scale, and exports them as one PDF set. Start from the backyard cottage template and change it to your design.

See pricing

Drawings usually requested

What building departments commonly ask for with this kind of project. Each links to how to make it in DrawPlans.

Site plan with setbacksThe lot from its property lines, the building on it, the setback lines and the distance to each lot line.
Floor plan with dimensionsEvery wall to scale with its length, the rooms with their sizes, doors and windows.
Exterior elevationsEach side of the building with its doors, windows, roof and heights.
Building sectionA cut through the building: wall and ceiling heights, the floor, and the roof.
Door and window scheduleEach door and window marked on the plan with its size, in a table.
A PDF set at a stated scaleThe drawings as PDF pages with a title block and a scale bar, or a DXF for a designer's CAD program.

For an ADU, the site plan usually matters most: the unit's distance from the main house and from each lot line, and how much of the lot the buildings cover. Draw the main house on the same lot.

Example drawings

Drawn by DrawPlans from the templates below, exactly as it exports them.

Floor plan of a 24' × 20' backyard cottage ADU drawn to scale: one bedroom, bathroom, laundry, kitchen and living room, with wall lengths and room sizes — Floor plan from the backyard cottage template, with every wall length and room size.

Front exterior elevation of the backyard cottage ADU with a gable roof added: doors and windows at their heights, level marks for the floor, eaves and ridge, and the overall width and height — Front elevation of the same cottage, with a gable roof added in DrawPlans.

Building section through the backyard cottage ADU: cut walls and floor slab shown solid, the gable roof with its overhangs, room names and level marks — Building section A–A across the cottage: walls, slab and roof at their real heights.

How to make the drawings

Start from the backyard cottage (ADU) templateOpen the backyard cottage (ADU) template, or draw your own building from scratch. It becomes your own plan, saved to your account.
Change it to your projectType your real wall lengths, move or resize the doors and windows, and add the roof in the Plan panel. The elevations and sections redraw from the plan.
Add the site plan and setbacksDraw the property lines from your survey, turn on the site plan and enter the setbacks: the distances to each lot line and the lot coverage are worked out for you.
Export the PDF setAdd the elevations and sections to PDF exports, then export one PDF with the floor plan, site plan, elevations, sections and schedules, each at a stated scale.

Which plan fits

14-day pass: $12.99 one time

For one quick project. Doesn't renew.

For one project of your own: draw it, then download the PDF set and any other files while the pass lasts.

Monthly: $9.99 per month · Yearly: $79.99 per year

For designers, builders and contractors with project after project. Also includes client proposals (PDF): your plan, AI renders, schedules and cost estimate in one branded document.

You can draw one plan and see it in 3D before paying. See pricing

Questions

What drawings does an ADU permit need?: Most building departments ask for a site plan showing the ADU, the main house, the setbacks and the distances to the lot lines; a floor plan with dimensions; exterior elevations; and often a building section. Many also ask for structural, energy and utility details that a designer or engineer prepares. Your city's ADU checklist says exactly what it needs.
Can I draw my own ADU plans?: Many places accept drawings made by the owner for a small accessory unit, and DrawPlans makes them to scale. Others require a licensed designer, architect or engineer to prepare or stamp some or all of the drawings. Ask your building department before you start.
How do I show setbacks for an ADU?: Draw the property lines in DrawPlans, turn on the site plan in the Plan panel and enter the front, rear and side setbacks. It draws the setback lines, shades the buildable area, measures the distance from each building to each lot line and shows any part inside a setback in red.
What scale should ADU drawings be?: Floor plans and elevations are usually printed at 1/4 inch = 1 foot (1:48; about 1:50 in metric) and site plans at a smaller scale such as 1 inch = 10 or 20 feet. DrawPlans prints each page at the largest usual scale that fits the paper and writes the scale on it, with a scale bar.

Templates to start from

Backyard cottage (ADU)24' × 20', one bedroom, bathroom and laundry, with a garden.