Site and regulation

Setbacks, terrain and paving

See the setback lines and the buildable area on the lot, build the ground from a survey, and draw driveways, walks and patios.

Show the setback lines

Press L for Layers and turn on Setbacks.
Plan and 3D draw each setback line dashed over a light fill of the buildable area, each labelled "<side> setback (provisional)".

The lines come from the lot's typed sides and the zone's setback rules, so no one draws them: change a rule value or a lot side and they move. While they show, the pointer snaps to their ends, middles and edges.

Limit. On a lot with a notch (not convex), the buildable fill is cut too far at the notch.

Image

the sample lot in plan with the Setbacks layer on: dashed setback lines over the buildable area, the house inside

Build terrain from a survey

Import the survey as an underlay. See DXF and DWG underlays.
Choose Terrain from Underlay… (⌥Z) and pick the underlay.
Tick the layers that hold heights, and say how they hold them: Contours (polylines at their elevation), points (3D points) or Spot elevations (texts).
Click Make Terrain.

3D draws the ground as a mesh on the Terrain layer; plan draws contours every foot. The agent can also make terrain from survey points you give it.

Draw paving

Choose Paving (⌥A, Tools › Site).
Click the corners of the area, with snaps. Tab cycles the kind: driveway, walk, patio, pool deck or gravel.
Click the first or last corner again to finish.

Limit impervious area

Impervious paving and the building's footprint make up the lot's impervious area. To check it against a limit, give it one with Set a value… (a percent) in the Regulation tab. The tab then shows it as Impervious area. See Lots and zoning.