Building Application / Authority

Official site plan for a building application

An official site plan is the extract from the land register that the building authority requires for a building application – issued by the cadastral office or a publicly appointed surveyor. What it must contain, who prepares it, what it costs – and how to download the true-to-scale map and context base in minutes as PDF, DWG or DXF.

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Weißes Arbeitsmodell aus Karton mit fünf Baukörpern auf einer Grundplatte im Streiflicht — Design phase: at this stage you need a true-to-scale base map of the surroundings – the official site plan only comes in at submission.

Basics

Two Site Plans – One Building Application

Official Site Plan

The verified map base

An extract from the land register showing boundaries, parcels and neighbouring buildings. It is issued by a publicly appointed surveyor (ÖbVI) or the cadastral office and is the legally binding basis of the building application.

Qualified Site Plan

Your project on the plan

The designer adds the planned building, dimensions, setback areas and use figures to the official base. This is where we supply the true-to-scale vector and context base.

Note: the official site plan is issued by the surveyor (ÖbVI). We supply map, figure-ground and context bases – fast, true-to-scale, as vector files.

State comparison

What your federal state requires

There is no nationwide rule. Every state has its own building submission regulation, and they differ in exactly the points where a building application fails: 5 of the 9 states examined require at least 1:500, 2 are content with 1:1,000. In North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony the extract may be at most six months old, in Hesse usually two years. And in Hesse the document is not even called a site plan.

Country	Called there	Scale	Max. age of extract	Legal reference
Baden-Württemberg	Lageplan	1:500	neuester Stand	LBOVVO § 4
Baden-Württemberg — Wer den Lageplan aufstellt, muss darauf bestätigen, dass der zeichnerische Teil mit dem Katasterauszug übereinstimmt und vollständig ergänzt ist. To be prepared or certified by: Sachverständige nach § 5 LBOVVO.
Bayern	Lageplan	1:1.000	not stated	BauVorlV § 7
Bayern — Grundlage ist ein beglaubigter Auszug oder einer aus dem automatisierten Abrufverfahren nach dem VermKatG. Ein größerer Maßstab ist zu wählen, wenn die Beurteilung ihn erfordert. To be prepared or certified by: Katasterbehörde beglaubigt den Auszug.
Berlin	Lageplan	not stated	not stated	BauVerfVO
Berlin — Einziges geprüftes Land mit vorgeschriebenem Zeichensatz: es gelten die Zeichen und Farben der Anlage 1, ergänzend die Planzeichenverordnung 1990. To be prepared or certified by: Vermessungsstelle nach § 2 des Gesetzes über das Vermessungswesen in Berlin.
Brandenburg	Amtlicher Lageplan	1:500	not stated	BbgBauVorlV § 7
Brandenburg — Die Verordnung führt den Begriff „Amtlicher Lageplan" ausdrücklich und zählt seinen Inhalt in zehn Nummern auf – von Maßstabsleiste und Nordrichtung bis zu Baulasten und geschützten Landschaftsbestandteilen. To be prepared or certified by: Katasterbehörde oder im Land Brandenburg zugelassene ÖbVI.
Hessen	Liegenschaftsplan	1:500	in der Regel nicht älter als 2 Jahre	Bauvorlagenerlass, Anlage 2 Nr. 2
Hessen — Heißt nicht Lageplan. Wer in Hessen nach „Lageplan zum Bauantrag" sucht, sucht am amtlichen Begriff vorbei. 1:1.000 ist zulässig, wenn die Darstellung hinreichend klar bleibt.
Niedersachsen	Einfacher oder qualifizierter Lageplan	not stated	not stated	NBauO, BauVorlVO; Gebühren nach KOVerm
Niedersachsen — Der qualifizierte Lageplan geht über den einfachen hinaus: Aussage zur Verlässlichkeit und örtlichen Erkennbarkeit der Grenzen, Eigentümer der Nachbargrundstücke, Aussage zur Vollständigkeit des Gebäudebestands. To be prepared or certified by: Katasterämter der Regionaldirektionen oder ÖbVI.
Nordrhein-Westfalen	Lageplan, amtlicher Lageplan nur im Bedarfsfall	1:500	nicht älter als 6 Monate	BauPrüfVO § 3
Nordrhein-Westfalen — Der wichtigste Unterschied im Vergleich: ein AMTLICHER Lageplan ist nicht immer nötig. Er wird verlangt, wenn die Grenzen nicht festgestellt sind, sich Grenzen und Bestand nicht in einem einheitlichen System bestimmen lassen, Grenzüberbauungen bestehen oder eine Baulast auf dem Grundstück oder einem Nachbargrundstück liegt. To be prepared or certified by: Katasteramt oder ÖbVI, mit öffentlichem Glauben beglaubigt.
Rheinland-Pfalz	Lageplan	1:1.000	not stated	BauuntPrüfVO § 2
Rheinland-Pfalz — Grundlage ist die amtliche Liegenschaftskarte oder eine daraus abgeleitete Stadtgrundkarte. Bei besonderen Grundstücks-, Gebäude- oder Grenzverhältnissen kann die Bauaufsicht verlangen, dass eine nach § 5 Katastergesetz befugte Stelle ihn anfertigt. To be prepared or certified by: Erstausfertigung vom Katasteramt oder der Vermessungsdienststelle beglaubigt.
Sachsen	Lageplan	1:500	nicht älter als 6 Monate	DVOSächsBO
Sachsen — Einziges geprüftes Land mit vorgeschriebener Ausdehnung: der Auszug muss das Grundstück und die Nachbargrundstücke im Umkreis von mindestens 50 m zeigen, das Baugrundstück farbig hervorgehoben. To be prepared or certified by: Entwurfsverfasser oder Fachplaner; ÖbVI, wenn ein Katasternachweis der Grenze nötig ist.

9 of the 16 states are listed here because their regulation text was checked individually on 07.09.2026. The others are missing deliberately – a missing entry is information, a wrong one would be a mistake in your building application. What governs is always the version in force and the advice of your building authority.

Land register · Germany

Ready-made plan bases by federal state

The official site plan is based on the extract from the cadastral map (ALKIS) – with parcel boundaries and parcel numbers. Requirements and building-submission regulations differ by federal state.

Note: This information initially refers to Germany. Other countries have different rules and authorities – a country-specific guide will follow.

Building application outside Germany? A dedicated guide for Austria, Switzerland and other countries will follow.

Parcel

Look up parcels and property boundaries

For a building application you need the cadastral district, sector and parcel number. In the Flurkarten-Explorer you search for your address and read the details straight off the map – free and without signing up. If you need the certified extract, the way there is under Flurkarte beantragen.

What may be built on the plot is set out in the Bebauungsplan instead – type and extent of use, building lines, number of storeys. Find the Bebauungsplan for all 16 federal states

To the cadastral map explorer →

Zwei Hände legen ein Geodreieck auf ein leeres Blatt Transparentpapier am Zeichentisch — True to scale means measurable: five of the nine states examined require at least 1:500, two allow 1:1,000.

Checklist

What the site plan must contain

Scale & north arrow

Usually 1:500 (1:1000 for large plots), true-to-scale and with a north arrow.

Plot boundaries & parcels

Cadastral boundaries, parcel numbers and neighbouring buildings.

Planned project

Outlines of the building project with dimensions and distances to the plot boundaries.

Setback areas

Setback areas drawn under the Landesbauordnung of your federal state.

Use figures

Site occupancy / floor area ratio, sealed and planted areas, height data.

Access & utilities

Access roads, parking spaces, supply and disposal lines.

The exact requirements are set by the building submission ordinance of your federal state.

Setback areas: all 16 states compared

Obtaining it

Requesting an official site plan – in four steps

1 · Identify the parcel

You need the cadastral district, sector and parcel number – not the address. You will find both free of charge in our Flurkarte, without signing up.

2 · Find the responsible authority

The responsible body is the cadastral office where the plot is located, or a publicly appointed surveyor (ÖbVI). Both may issue it, and both charge under the same state fee schedule.

3 · State the purpose

State “for a building application” explicitly. That determines whether you get the simple or the qualified site plan – and, in North Rhine-Westphalia, whether it has to be an official one at all.

4 · Allow for processing time

At the authority it usually takes several weeks, at an ÖbVI mostly less. Allow for that time before the design is due at the building office.

Zusammengerollte Bauzeichnungen, Maßstabslineal und Zirkel auf einem Architektenschreibtisch — The same state fee schedule applies at the cadastral office and at the ÖbVI – it is calculated from the building value, not from the effort.

What it costs

The fee is not negotiable and is the same at the authority as at the ÖbVI: every state has a cost regulation for official surveying that binds both – in Lower Saxony, for example, the KOVerm. It is calculated not from the effort but from the building value of the planned project and the type of plan.

That is why there is no price table here. The qualified site plan regularly costs a multiple of the simple one, and both amounts depend on a building value only you know. The only reliable answer is the one from the responsible body – it is free and takes one phone call.

What you don't need for it

For the design, the preliminary discussion with the building office, a competition submission or the presentation to the client you do not need an official site plan. A true-to-scale map and context base is enough – and that is available here as a vector file for instant download, with no waiting time and no fee schedule.

The official site plan only comes in once the application is actually submitted. The two do not rule each other out – they belong to different phases.

How SCHWARZPLAN.eu helps

The plan base – instant & true-to-scale

For design, presentation and competitions you need a clean, true-to-scale map and context base. That is exactly what we supply: figure-ground and site plans from official geodata – as a vector file you can use directly in CAD and QGIS.

→ True-to-scale as PDF, DWG, DXF and PNG
→ Generated from official geodata – clean and up to date
→ Instant download instead of weeks of waiting
→ Over 2,400 cities worldwide – or on request

Next Step

Get the plan base

All Site Plans Create a figure-ground plan yourself

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about the Site Plan

What is a site plan for a building application?

The site plan is a mandatory building submission. It shows the plot with boundaries, parcels, neighbouring buildings and the planned project – true-to-scale, usually at 1:500. A distinction is made between the official site plan (the map base from the land register) and the qualified or project-related site plan built on top of it, into which the designer enters the project.

Official or qualified site plan – which do I need?

For a building application you usually need both: the official site plan as the verified base and the qualified site plan that shows the project, dimensions and setback areas. Exactly what is required is set by the building submission ordinance of your federal state.

Who may prepare a site plan for a building application?

The official site plan is prepared by a publicly appointed surveyor (ÖbVI) or the cadastral office. The qualified site plan is drawn on that basis by the submission-authorised designer (architect). SCHWARZPLAN.eu supplies the true-to-scale map and context base for this – not the official site plan itself.

What scale must the site plan use?

1:500 is standard. For very large plots 1:1000 is permitted. What matters is that the plan is true-to-scale – which is why we supply every plan as vector data (PDF, DWG, DXF) that you can scale without loss and process further in CAD.

What does a site plan cost?

The official site plan from a surveyor usually costs several hundred euros, depending on the state and plot. The map and context bases from SCHWARZPLAN.eu, by contrast, are available as an instant download at a fixed price – and many outlines and geodata are even free.

What is in the neighbour register?

The written part of the official site plan lists the designation of the building plot and of the neighbouring plots as recorded in the land register, together with existing building encumbrances and easements. In Lower Saxony the qualified site plan additionally names the owners of the neighbouring plots – that is the basis for neighbour participation in the approval procedure.

Which symbols and notations apply in the site plan?

The states regulate this differently. Berlin is the only one of the nine states examined with an explicitly prescribed symbol set: there the symbols and colours of Annex 1 to the BauVerfVO are to be used, and the Planzeichenverordnung 1990 applies additionally. In Saxony the building plot has to be highlighted in colour. Where the regulation is silent, the legend accompanying the plan applies – an official site plan always includes one.

What does an official site plan look like?

It consists of a drawn part and a written part. The drawn part shows, to scale, the cadastral boundaries of the plot and of the neighbouring plots, the existing buildings, the adjoining public traffic areas and – in the object-related part – the planned project with its dimensions and setback areas. A scale bar and a north arrow belong to it. The written part contains the plot designations, building encumbrances and, depending on the state, statements on the reliability of the boundaries.

Where do I get an official site plan – can I do it online?

Only the cadastral office where the plot is located and publicly appointed surveyors may issue it. You can usually order from either by phone, by email or through an online form of the state; it is delivered certified. Nowhere is it available fully online and instantly – anyone promising that is selling something else. What you do get instantly is the true-to-scale map base for the design.

Can I create a site plan online?

The base, yes: you can download the context plan, figure-ground plan and true-to-scale vector maps directly online here and edit them further in QGIS or CAD. The legally binding official site plan for the building permit, however, is always issued by a surveyor (ÖbVI).

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