Drawing set for a permit explained

Site plan: your plot and the location of the building

The site drawing is the bird's-eye view of your plot. You see the plot boundaries, the existing buildings on the plot and the location of the new building element relative to those boundaries and the public road. The drawing is based on the cadastral base map or the Large-scale Topography Base Registry (BGT), so that the plot boundaries match the official registers.

The municipality uses the site plan to check whether the structure meets the distance requirements that the environment plan sets in relation to the plot boundaries and the road. Is the structure too close to the plot boundary or to the building line? Then the plan conflicts with the environment plan and a deviation procedure is required.

**What it shows:** plot boundaries with dimensions, the existing structures, the new structure (hatched or grey), the distances to the plot boundaries, a north arrow and a scale bar.

**Common scale:** 1:500 or 1:1000 for larger or rural plots; 1:200 to 1:500 for an average residential plot in a housing estate. The scale that is common depends on the size of the plot and the requirements of the municipality.

Floor plans existing and new: the layout per storey

A floor plan is a horizontal cross-section of a building storey, seen from above at approximately 1 metre height. You see the room layout, the position of walls (load-bearing and non-load-bearing), doors with swing direction, windows and fixed elements such as a staircase or kitchen.

For a renovation you always provide two versions per affected building level: the **existing situation** (how it is now, including what will be demolished) and the **new situation** (how it will look after the work). That comparison shows the municipality exactly what changes. Some drawing offices use colour coding: elements to be retained in grey, demolition in red, new construction in yellow or black. This makes changes immediately readable.

Dimensions are mandatory: both the external dimensions of the building and the internal dimensions of the rooms. If dimensions are missing, the drawing is incomplete for the municipality.

**Common scale:** 1:100 for permit drawings. Construction drawings with more detail go to 1:50.

Elevation views existing and new: for the aesthetic review

A facade elevation shows the exterior of the building in elevation, per facade side. You look straight at the front, rear, left, or right facade and see the height, width, window openings, roof form, roof pitches, and material indications.

Facade elevations are crucial for the municipality in the aesthetic review assessment. The aesthetics committee tests whether the design fits into the street scene and meets the municipality's aesthetic review criteria. Modern architecture in a historic environment, non-conforming materials, or an unusual roof shape are assessed through the facades.

Here too, for a renovation you always provide two versions: **existing and new**, for every facade that changes. For a rear extension, at minimum the rear facade and a side facade are relevant, plus the front facade if that affects the dimensional proportions of the property.

**What it shows:** height of the building (ground level to ridge), roof angle, window openings with dimensions, material indications (roof tiles, facade cladding, window frames).

**Common scale:** 1:100 for permit drawings.

Sections: heights, composition and construction height

A cross-section cuts the building vertically along a line indicated on the floor plan. You see the internal composition: floor heights per storey, the structural build-up of the upper floor and the roof, insulation packages, and the relationship between storeys.

The section is essential for the municipality to check against the minimum clear height requirements from the Bbl. How high is the clear height in the living space? What is the height of the structure from ground level to ridge? Does the roof pitch match what is shown in the elevations? The section makes all of that verifiable.

In addition, the cross-section shows the **structural height**: the build-up of the floor, beams and insulation. That is information the contractor and the structural engineer will need later for the execution.

For a renovation you also provide an existing and a new version of the cross-section, so that the changes in height and build-up are immediately visible.

**Common scale:** 1:100 for permit drawings.

Detail drawings: when do you need them?

Detail drawings zoom in on specific connections or structural points: the connection of a roof edge, a window frame connection, a lintel above a facade opening, or the transition from floor to exterior wall. They show how a structural or construction detail is actually put together.

For a standard permit application, detail drawings are not always mandatory. The municipality requests them when there is ambiguity about a specific building component, for more complex projects or for structural details that require further substantiation. The contractor will always need detail drawings later for execution.

**Common scales:** 1:20 to 1:5 for connection details; 1:1 for critical profiles.

Tekenpunt advises at the time of commissioning whether detail drawings are necessary or desirable for your specific application.

When does a structural calculation and 3D visualisation come into play?

The drawing set above covers the core of the permit application. For some building plans additional documents are needed or useful.

**Structural calculation** For structural interventions, the municipality (or the contractor) requires a structural calculation: a mathematical proof that the load-bearing structure is safe. You almost certainly need one when removing a load-bearing wall, installing a dormer with a load-bearing beam, building an extension that places greater loads on the foundation, or creating a large span without intermediate supports. The structural calculation is a separate specialism carried out by a certified structural engineer and is not part of the standard drawing set. Tekenpunt works together with a KIWA-certified structural engineer and arranges this as an add-on for your project.

**3D visualisation** A 3D visualisation is not a mandatory part of the permit application, but it can help during the aesthetic review as a supplement to the required 2D drawings. The aesthetics committee assesses whether the design fits into the streetscape; a spatial image sometimes makes that clearer than a flat facade elevation. A 3D visualisation never replaces the required floor plans, elevations, and sections: you cannot read dimensions from it and the municipality does not accept it as a substitute.

**In brief:** - Site plan + floor plans + elevations + sections = the mandatory set for a complete application - Structural calculation = mandatory for structural interventions (add-on at Tekenpunt) - Detail drawings = typically for construction, sometimes requested by the municipality - 3D visualisation = optional supplement for aesthetic review assessment

Example: the drawing set for a dormer

What does such a set look like in practice? For a permit-required dormer the application package usually consists of: - site plan with the plot and the position of the dormer; - floor plan of the attic storey, existing and new; - existing and new elevations of the facades where the dormer is visible; - section through the dormer with heights and roof pitch; - detail drawing of the junction with the roof plane; - structural calculation as soon as the roof structure is altered. For an extension or roof extension the set-up is the same, only the number of drawings grows with the size of the intervention. This way you can see per building plan which parts of this article apply to you.

Scale and dimensions: why that matters for the permit

All drawings in the drawing set must be to scale and the scale must be explicitly stated on the drawing, including a scale bar. A drawing that is produced at the correct scale but does not state that scale is already a reason for a correction request from the municipality.

In addition, the scales must be mutually consistent. Submitting a floor plan at 1:100 together with a facade at 1:200 gives contradictory dimensional impressions and leads to questions. Consistency across the entire set is a basic requirement.

**Common scales per drawing type (indicative):** - Site drawing: 1:500 or 1:1000 (larger plot or rural area), 1:200 to 1:500 (average residential plot) - Floor plans permit: 1:100 - Elevations permit: 1:100 - Cross-sections permit: 1:100 - Detail drawings: 1:20 to 1:5 or 1:1

The scales above are common practice for permit applications in the Netherlands. Municipalities may set additional or different requirements, depending on the type of project or the complexity of the structure.

Tekenpunt delivers all drawings as PDF in the correct paper format (generally A1 or A0) with a scale bar, so the scale remains verifiable even if the municipality prints the PDF on a smaller format. For the contractor and structural engineer we also provide DWG files.

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