What to Do When Your HOA Requests a Plot Plan

Sometimes, a homeowner’s association may request a plot plan for a particular property that is part of the association. If you’re planning a change or addition and have already created a plot plan for the local government agency that oversees such things, that’s great. You can simply provide your HOA with a copy of that plan.

But what if you don’t have a plot plan on hand? What can you do?

There are three main options available to you.

How to Get a Plot Plan for your HOA

Track down the existing plan.

Most likely, one exists somewhere. Places you can check for a plot plan of your property include local government offices, title companies, the developer that planned it, the construction company that built it, or a state-certified surveyor or civil engineer.

Keep in mind that, in some cases, you may need to pay for the copy of your existing plot plan and/or go to pick it up in person, which can be costly and time-consuming.

Make one yourself.

That’s right. You can go ahead and create your own plan. You’ll need to make sure you include all of the required elements in the plan to avoid trouble. They vary from place to place, but most require:

• Accurate measurements of everything on the property
• Property boundary lines, as well as adjacent properties and structures, including roads
• The (correct) location of all structures and buildings
• A distance scale (e.g. 1 inch = 10 feet)
• A compass (or an arrow pointing north)
• Percentage of the property made up of buildings, green space, and impervious coverage
• Property legal description
• Contact info

Check to see if your area requires you to include any additional information.

Pay someone to create one.

The last option available is to pay someone to put together a plot plan for you.

Land surveyors or architects can do this for you, but their prices tend to be quite steep. Paying a surveyor to come out can be $1,000 or more. In some cases, their expertise may be legally required, and if you are in that situation, you’re just going to have to bite the bullet and cover the cost.

However, most plot plans do not have to be drawn up by surveyors or architects. Instead, you can use an online service, such as My Site Plan, that uses satellite imagery, GIS information, and county parcel maps to create a plan and then email it to you. This is much less expensive, typically ranging from $90 – $200, depending on your particular needs.