What plans do you need for a 3D tour of a home that isn't built?
You need a floor plan for every level of every unique unit, the exterior elevations, and a scale or dimensions on the drawings. A site plan, your unit mix with square feet, renders, a finish schedule and a brand guide make the tour more accurate and on-brand, but they aren’t required to start.
Matan Assulin, Founder of UnbuiltUpdated · 3 min read
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The required list
These are the drawings we can’t build without. Almost every permit or marketing plan set already has them.
- A floor plan for every level of every unique unit. Ground, second, third, roof terrace, mezzanine: if people can stand on it, we need its plan. For townhomes and condos, one set per unique layout is enough. Repeats of the same plan don’t need their own drawings.
- Exterior elevations. Front, rear and sides. They give us window and door heights, rooflines, railings and the material breaks that make the exterior read correctly.
- A scale or dimensions. A written scale such as 1/4″ = 1′-0″, or enough dimensions on the plan for us to measure. Marketing plans that are “not to scale” are the most common gap.
- Your unit mix. Which plan each unit uses, with square feet. This sets the quote, since repeat units are priced at 30%.
Helpful, but optional
- Site plan. Lets us place buildings, pools, docks, parking and landscaping accurately for the aerial view.
- Building sections. Ceiling heights, stair runs and double-height spaces.
- Renderings. If you already have them, we match materials and mood so the tour and your brochure look like the same building.
- Finish schedule. Floors, counters, cabinetry, fixtures. Without one, we stage in a modern palette you approve.
- Brand guide. Colors and logo for the tour’s interface and lead form.
The gaps we see most often
- Unscaled marketing plans. Simplified brochure plans often drop dimensions. Send the architect’s set alongside them.
- Missing roof or terrace level. Roof decks sell homes in Florida. If buyers can go up there, send the roof plan.
- Mirrored units. Tell us which units are mirror images of a plan. We confirm in your quote how they’re counted.
- Old revisions. Check the revision date in the title block before you send. Changes after modeling starts are billed at $95 an hour, so locking plans first saves money.
- Scans of paper plans. These work, but vector PDFs exported from CAD are faster and more accurate to read.
How to send them
A single PDF per building or unit type is ideal, exported straight from the architect’s CAD or BIM software so the lines stay sharp. If you’d rather not share the address, you can crop the title block. We don’t need the address to build the tour, and public versions never show it.
Not sure whether your set is complete? Our plan checker reads your PDFs in your browser and checks for floor plans by level, elevations, a scale, room labels and unit areas. Nothing leaves your device until you choose to send it, and a person confirms the result within one business day.
What happens after you send them
We confirm the set within one business day and send a fixed quote by the square foot. Once plans and the 50% deposit are in, we model every unique plan floor by floor, stage and light it, and send you a private link to review. Essential tours take 2–3 weeks and Signature 3–4 weeks. Read the full process on how it works.
Questions
Can you build a tour from a PDF?
Yes. A PDF plan set is exactly what we work from. Vector PDFs exported from CAD are best, but scans work too.
Do I need renderings first?
No. Renderings help us match materials, but we can stage in a modern palette you approve without them.
Do you need a CAD or Revit file?
No. If you have one we’ll use it, but a PDF plan set is enough.
What if my plans aren’t final?
We can start once layouts are locked. Changes after modeling starts are billed at $95 an hour, so it pays to wait for the final set.
Is my plan set kept private?
Yes. The checker runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded until you press send. Public tours never show the address.