SitePlanWorks

Site plan for HOA approval

Your association asks for a site plan with the architectural review form, and you do not have one. Most owners never do — a survey is done once, at purchase, and often not even then.

“We recently moved to a new home where the HOA is very strict and requires a site plan to be included with any exterior change request. Since we didn’t have a survey…”
MySitePlan customer review, 2026

Read your lot from the address

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If nothing new is being built, you are already done

A good share of these applications add nothing to the lot — the request is for a scaled drawing of what is standing today. That is what the reading produces from your address before you have chosen anything, and you can look at all of it for free. You pay when you want the file.

What the reviewer is checking

The recurring pattern, not any one authority’s list. Yours may ask for more.

  1. 01
    The property lines, dimensionedDrawn to a stated scale with a scale bar, so the committee can measure the drawing.
  2. 02
    The house and everything already standingExisting structures in dashed line — the committee is comparing before with after.
  3. 03
    What is changing, dimensioned to the lines it is nearThe distance from the new work to each property line it faces, not just its size.
  4. 04
    North arrow and the streetOrientation is how a reviewer who has never stood on your lot locates the change.
  5. 05
    Existing trees and fences that stayAssociations care about the boundary and the streetscape more than the building.

What sends these back

A picture instead of a drawing

The most common rejection here is not a rule violation — it is a screenshot from a mapping site with a shape drawn on it. Without a stated scale and a dimension to the property line, there is nothing for the committee to check, so it comes back.

Not in any photograph — have these ready

  • Recorded easements — associations and utilities often police the same strip of ground
  • Any covenant setback that is stricter than the city’s, which lives in your CC&Rs and nowhere else
  • The eave overhang, if the change tucks under the existing roof

If you are adding something

The categories that come through this door most often. Every drawing is generated by the engine — pick one and it goes on your lot, not on the demo lot below it.

Decks & patios

DECK 01Attached deckadds noneLevel with the back door, one step down to the yard. The default.DECK 02Wrap-around L deckadds noneTurns the corner of the house and joins the side yard to the back.

Patio covers & pergolas

COVER 01Attached patio coveradds noneFixed to the back wall, so the deck still works in the rain.COVER 02Freestanding pergolaadds noneFour posts out in the yard, clear of the house entirely.

Fences, walls & landscape

FENCE 01Rear yard fenceadds noneAlong the back property line. Height is what gets it refused.FENCE 02Side yard fenceadds noneSeparates the side yard from the front — front-yard height limits are lower.

Pools & water

POOL 01Rectangular pooladds noneThe standard one, laid along the long axis of the yard.POOL 02Lap pooladds noneNarrow and long, for a yard that has length but no width.

Sheds & backyard studios

SHED 01Tool shed+2.2%Mower-and-ladder size. Under the threshold in most places, so no permit.SHED 02Backyard studio+3.5%Nobody sleeps in it, but power runs to it — which is what triggers the permit.