Site plan, stamp, municipal approval and easements

A site plan is a scaled drawing of a property showing lot lines, the building, driveways, parking, planned meter and equipment locations, and any utility easements. A plot plan is typically a simpler drawing of the same lot, showing its boundaries and where the building sits. Utilities do not use the two names consistently. A National Grid construction checklist for apartments asks for an electronic site plan and a hard copy of a plot plan approved by the municipality, with a plan book and plan number.

Central Hudson's flyer for large electric projects lists a stamped, municipal approved site plan, supplied as a CAD file, first among the application requirements. The two adjectives refer to different things.

A stamp is the seal of a licensed professional who prepared or supervised the drawing, typically a professional engineer, architect or land surveyor. The seal carries the professional's name and license designation, and the state licensing law governs who may use one. In New York, the Education Law provides seals for licensed professional engineers and land surveyors, with wording such as "Licensed Professional Engineer." The stamp tells the reader that a licensed person stands behind the drawing.

Municipal approval typically means the local planning body, such as a planning board, has reviewed and approved the layout of the project. The approval is often recorded on the plan itself, with a signature block, a date and the name of the approving board.

A utility wants both because it designs around the drawing. The location of the building, the meter, the transformer pad and any easement all come from the site plan, and a layout the town has approved is less likely to change after the utility starts design. A CAD file lets the utility work from the drawing directly.

Which professionals may stamp which drawings, whether the stamp may be digital, and which board approves a site plan all vary by state, and often by town.

Easements

An easement is a legal right for the utility to run or maintain lines or equipment across land it does not own. The owner keeps title and agrees to a defined strip or location, such as the path of an underground cable or the ground under a transformer pad. National Grid's form for this is the Easement Information Form, and its checklist says the form is requested if the utility may need to place equipment on private property. A Massachusetts state document describing the connection process places easements after engineering and design, when the utility sends design sketches and obtains the rights it needs, and says the customer may need to execute or obtain easements as well.

An easement is typically recorded against the property, so it stays with the land when ownership changes.