Do I need a design or a building permit for a garage?

That depends on size, height and the rules of your country and municipality — check with your local authority before you start. For the builder, the drawings provide a clear reference for the agreed dimensions and materials.

Does Ruut24 sell ready-made garage drawings?

No. Each set is prepared from the source material the customer provides, so it is specific to the garage and, where relevant, the plot.

Garage drawings: which drawings you need, what to send and what it costs

Mar 23, 2025

5 min read

Garage drawings usually mean a floor plan, elevations and a section; for a building permit or building notice, a site plan and further documentation are usually added. This guide explains which drawings you need for a garage — for the builder, for the local authority or simply for a neighbour's consent — what to send us, what the price depends on and how the process works. The example is a real job: a 6.5 × 4 m garage we drew from the customer's hand sketch.

Which drawings do you need for a garage?

For the building work you need a floor plan, elevations and a section with dimensions and materials. For a building permit or building notice, a site plan and further documentation are usually added; your local authority will tell you exactly what is required.

Floor plan (usually at 1:50 or 1:100) — external dimensions, wall thickness, and the position and size of the garage door, other doors and windows.
Elevations of all four sides — building height, roof pitch, openings, facade material.
Section — roof structure, rafters and posts, foundation, levels referenced to the finished floor level (FFL).
Site plan (usually 1:500) — the garage's position on the plot and distances to the boundary and other buildings. Needed when you apply for a building permit or submit a building notice.

For the builder, what matters most is that dimensions, materials and heights are on the drawing, not in someone's head. The authority checks whether the submission meets the applicable requirements and may request further information if needed.

Does a garage need a building permit?

That depends on size, height and local rules — check with your local authority before you start. Requirements vary by jurisdiction, so check the rules that apply to your property. For a building permit application or building notice, additional documentation may be required; your local authority will tell you exactly what is needed. We explain how a small building project is put together step by step in the shed construction project guide — the same logic applies to a garage.

What do you send us?

A sketch, dimensions and materials — you need neither CAD nor drawing skills.

Sketch — even a pen sketch on squared paper, photographed or scanned. Our example project started with exactly such a sketch.
Dimensions — length, width, ridge and eaves heights, wall thickness, width and height of the garage door, other doors and windows.
Materials and structure — timber frame, roof covering, wall cladding, foundation type, and colours if you wish.
For the site plan — the base map or survey your local authority requires (obtained from the authority or a licensed surveyor), the intended position of the garage and the distances to the boundary and the house. We draw the site plan onto the base you provide; we do not produce an official site plan from a web map or satellite image.

If the garage already exists, no sketch is needed: measure the building (length, width, height, position and size of openings) and photograph each side — from those measurements and photographs, we draw the plan, elevations and section. If an old drawing exists, even only on paper, send it too.

The more accurate the source material, the fewer questions we need to ask. We mark any illegible or missing detail clearly on the drawing and ask you about it — we do not guess.

Real example: a 6.5 × 4 m garage from sketch to drawings

The customer sent hand-drawn sketches: a plan, four elevations and a section, all with dimensions and material notes.

The customer's hand-drawn garage sketch: plan, elevations and section with dimensions

From these we drew a set in AutoCAD: floor plan, four elevations and a section. The drawings carry levels referenced to the finished floor level (FFL), materials and colours (roof covering: translucent PVC sheet in bronze tone; cladding: brown OSB board; foundation: grey pier foundations), the structure (timber frame 50 × 100 mm, rafters 50 × 150 mm, battens 45 × 45 mm) and a 2,950 mm wide garage door. The building is 4.3 m high and has a footprint of over 20 m². This set contains the floor plan, four elevations and section prepared from the customer's source material; additional documentation may be needed for an authority submission.

Finished garage drawings: floor plan, four elevations and section with dimensions, materials and level marks

What do garage drawings cost and how quickly can they be ready?

The price depends on the number of sheets and the quality of the source material. Two simple elevations for a neighbour's consent are a small job; a full set with plan, four elevations, section and site plan is a bigger job. Send your sketch and dimensions — we review them and send a free quote with the delivery time. A single drawing or a couple of simple sheets can usually be completed within 3 working days; for a full set the deadline is agreed in the quote. You receive a PDF for printing and an editable DWG file.

What we do — and what we do not

We produce to-scale drawings from your sketch and dimensions — plan, elevations, section and site plan — as PDF and DWG, with the materials and dimensions you have chosen.

We have no ready-made standard plans or garage drawings for sale: every set is made for your plot and your wishes. We produce drawings that can serve as a basis for a permit application, but we do not submit the application, do not take the role of responsible designer, and confirm compliance with regulations only by separate agreement. Requirements vary between authorities and change over time — check them with your local authority before you build. The distinction between a drafter and a designer is explained in the building permit drawings guide.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a design or a permit for a garage? That depends on size, height and local rules — check with your local authority. For the builder, the drawings provide a clear reference for the agreed dimensions and materials.

Do you sell ready-made garage drawings? No. We prepare each set from the source material you provide, so it is specific to the garage and, where relevant, the plot.

Is a hand sketch enough to order drawings? Yes. We need dimensions and materials; we mark any illegible or missing detail clearly on the drawing and ask you about it.

How quickly can the drawings be ready? A single drawing or a couple of simple sheets can usually be completed within 3 working days; the deadline for a full set is given in the quote.