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Part 1 — The Site Plan: Before the First Brick | Sheet by Sheet

Every house starts with a site plan. Not a foundation. Not a floor plan. The site plan. Before anything gets built, someone has to answer one question: where exactly does this house sit on this lot? Get that wrong and everything built on top of it is wrong too. What It Actually Shows A bird's-eye view of the entire lot — not just the house: Lot lines, setbacks, and the house footprint within them Driveway location and garage entry Utilities — water, sewer, gas, electric Grading and drainage direction Impervious surface area One sheet. Every decision about how the house sits on the land. Where Builders Get Burned Setbacks . Corner lots, cul-de-sac lots, lots near open space — each can have different requirements. Copy-pasting the standard setback across every lot is a fast way to a permit rejection. Driveways on slopes . A garage that works on flat ground can become a grading nightmare on a sloped lot. Site plan and grading plan should always be r...
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Part 3 — CD & Permit Sets: Drawing It the Way It Gets Built | Blueprint to Build

Most permit rejections aren't about design. They're about documentation.
The CD and permit set is the package that gets the house approved and built. It speaks to three audiences at once — the permit reviewer, the contractor, and the builder's team. Miss what any one of them needs and the project stalls.
 
Missed Part 2? Read Lot Sets: Same House, Different Story here. 

What a complete set covers:
• Site plan, floor plans, all four elevations
• Building and wall sections
• Roof plan and framing notes
• Energy compliance documentation
• Door, window, and finish schedules
• Structural callouts per local code

What makes it actually work:
Dimensions that don't need interpretation. Details that reference back to plans. Notes that are specific, not generic. Energy compliance calculated, not assumed.

When a contractor builds without calling the office — good set. When the permit clears first submission — great set.

Part 4 — AutoCAD vs. Revit: Which, When & Why
 
Blueprint to Build Series:
Part 1 — The Master Set: Where Every Home Begins
Part 2 — Lot Sets: Same House, Different Story
Part 3 — CD and Permit Sets: Drawing It the Way It Gets Built (you are here)
Part 4 — AutoCAD vs. Revit: Which, When and Why 
 
All images in this post were generated using AI (ChatGPT / DALL-E) based on custom prompts created for this article. They are used for illustrative purposes only. 
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