From rough outline topermit-ready plan.
Plotdraft turns a sketch into a blueprint package in minutes, with your state's building, electrical, and fire code baked in — and an explicit checklist of every permit-stamp, soils report, and energy calc that still needs to land on your reviewer's desk.
- Minutes
- intake to draft
- IBC · NEC · NFPA · ADA
- applied
- Explicit
- what still needs a stamp
The flow
Four steps, no architect on speed dial.
The intake asks only what a plan reviewer would check. The state picker loads the right IBC edition plus local amendments. The rest is assembly.
- 01Drop in your sketchA backyard cottage footprint, a garage conversion, an in-law suite. Photograph a napkin drawing, mark it up in the browser, or paste rough dimensions — the intake reads them all.
- 02Answer the targeted intakePlotdraft asks only what your jurisdiction needs to decide: ceiling heights, egress windows, lot coverage, setback to the property line. Skip what does not apply, edit later.
- 03Pick your stateIBC, NEC, NFPA, ADA, and the local amendments for California, Texas, Florida, and the rest — applied where they bite, not stamped on every page for show.
- 04Receive a permit-ready packageArchitectural, structural, and site sheets assembled into a single file, with an explicit checklist of what still needs a stamped engineer, soils report, or Title 24 energy calc.
The package
Reviewer-ready, not investor-ready.
Sheets are sized to print at standard scales, with a cover page, code citation block, and drawing index the city reviewer expects on the first submission — closing the loop on the round-of-rejections that stalls first-time filings.
Code coverage
Cross-checked against the codesthat actually move review.
Not a glossy citation list. Every line below is wired to a check the AI intake runs on your sketch — so the resulting plan cites the rule, not just the acronym.
Each row is a code we apply. The package footer lists the edition + amendment year so the reviewer does not have to ask.
- IBC
International Building Code — base structural, egress, and fire.
- IRC
International Residential Code — used for one- and two-family dwellings.
- NEC
National Electrical Code — service size, panel, branch circuits.
- NFPA 13/72
Fire sprinklers and smoke alarm placement where triggered by sq ft.
- ADA
Habitable-space clearances and accessible entries when the local amendment says so.
- State amendments
CA / TX / FL / WA / NY layer-specific overrides applied to the IBC, not just listed.
No silent guessing
Every package ships with a remainders list.
Things we will not fake — even when a stamped engineer or a soils report would close the file. The list is on page A0 so the reviewer can mark it up alongside the plan, and so you know the cost of the last mile before you walk it.
Wet-stamped by a PE in your state when structural elements exceed prescriptive limits.
Needed for most new foundations; flagged when the project implies a new slab deeper than 4 ft.
Required in CA outright, optional-but-helpful elsewhere; the package tells your reviewer which regime.
Most jurisdictions require a recent boundary survey tied to GIS monuments before review.
Tracked separately from the city, but Plotdraft lists it so nothing falls between the two desks.
Common questions
What people ask before signing on.
If the answer below is the wrong one, write back — the product gets better every time someone points at a real case.
Ask something specificSend a sketch, get a draft packagein under an hour.
Drop a rough floor plan or a photo of a napkin drawing into the email — and the state you are building in. Plotdraft replies with a draft intake and a delivery window.