Many municipalities have complex setback requirements. This guide shows you how to create a contextual shell to help designers visualize these boundaries in 3D space.

1. Understand the Setbacks

Take a moment to read through your municipality’s code documentation to fully understand what the maximum boundaries of your project might be. Some considerations:

• Do the setbacks vary based on the frontages to different sized streets?
• Do the setbacks vary after a certain building height?
• Are there allowances for overhangs or cantilevers of a certain distance?
• Do setback requirements vary based on the type of construction or usage (commercial vs residential, wood-frame vs concrete)?
• Can or will you request a zoning variance to change the setback requirements to meet your needs?

<aside> 💡 You may wish to work with an Architect if you need help understanding your local zoning code requirements.

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2. Create a new Drawing Layer

Create a new Drawing Layer using the New Layer button in the draw palette.

Name the layer “Setback Boundary”

This creates a new layer and sets it to the 'Active Layer'. All geometries you create will be created on the currently active layer.

3. Create a New Usage