Design Your Own Home Free Tutorial

Module 2 — Zoning Laws

This is Module 2 of the design your own home, free tutorial. These modules are best read in order. This tutorial covers complete house design from initial site analysis through to creating construction drawings. If you are just starting out, go to the:

Design Your Own Home Online tutorial introduction or see our Tutorial Site Map to go through the tutorial in order, or to jump around it as it suits you.

Residential Home Design — Zoning Laws

Before you can start to design your own home you must investigate your local residential home design zoning laws to determine exactly what you are allowed to build on your land. You don’t want to spend hours on a house design you could never get approved to build.

There are a few ways of finding your local zoning regulations.

• Contact the building inspector at your local city hall or regional office.
• Search online for published residential zoning laws for your city or region.

Your local zoning by-laws will state:

• Required setbacks from the street, rear and side lot lines.
• Any height restrictions.
• Any restrictions on the percentage of land your home and outbuildings are allowed to cover.
• Any restrictions on the style of home you are allowed to build.
• Any restrictions on operating a business out of your home.

Add Zoning Regulations to your House Design Site Map

Now, on your site map,

• Draw the setback lines for the front, rear and side lot lines. The setback distance refers to how far from each property line (front, side, and rear) that you are allowed to build your home. Remember that the setbacks usually pertain to decks, porches and even roof overhangs. The zoning regulations will state what must lie within the setbacks. Sometimes corner lots have different setbacks for the street side lot line.

Next, on the margins of the map:

• Write out any other restrictions for the land. For instance, if the house can only cover 30% of the available land, write this down. If the lot is small or size restrictions may be an issue, calculate roughly what size house you can build.
• Note any height or style restrictions your community may have.

Next Module – Planning Outdoor Spaces

With your map in hand, now it’s time to:

Plan Your Outdoor Spaces—Tutorial Module 3

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