Site plans are the foundational graphic documents that communicate a property's legal boundaries, physical dimensions, zoning constraints, and existing or proposed features. For the PA exam, you need to analyze these drawings and evaluate what they tell you about development potential, regulatory compliance, and site programming feasibility.

Boundary lines define the legal extent of a property. They're established through professional surveys showing bearings and horizontal distances between property corners, which are marked by permanent monuments. Dimensions on the site plan tell you lot area, frontage on public rights-of-way, and the precise shape of the parcel.

Setback lines are different from boundary lines. They represent the minimum required distance between a structure and a property line, as dictated by zoning ordinances. The area between the property boundary and the setback line is the setback zone, where building placement is restricted. The buildable area shrinks further when you account for front, side, and rear setbacks.

Feature documentation captures everything on and adjacent to the property: existing buildings, proposed structures, easements, water courses, utilities, vegetation, topographic contours, and soil or wetland boundaries. A well-documented site plan connects regulatory requirements to physical site conditions and gives you the data to evaluate whether a proposed program fits the parcel.

The ability to analyze these graphical representations, comparing what the plan shows against what the program requires, is the core skill NCARB tests at the A/E cognitive level for Objective 3.3.