House Plans and Custom Drafting Across New York
Service Areas: New York
In December 2024, New York City legalized something the rest of the state still has not: accessory dwelling units, up to 800 square feet, in owner-occupied one and two family homes. Everywhere else in New York, housing policy gets written one municipality at a time. Apex Drafting Services draws permit-ready residential plans remotely for all of it, from a Buffalo double to a Long Island split-level to a brownstone-block backyard in Queens.
Drafting for a State Where Every Town Writes Its Own Rules
New York has no single playbook for residential permitting. Cities, towns, and villages each enforce their own zoning codes, their own submission checklists, and in many places their own variance boards. A drawing set that sails through one building department can bounce at the next town line. That is the defining fact of drafting work in this state, and it shapes how we build every set: we research your specific jurisdiction's requirements before the first line is drawn, then format the deliverables to match what your local plans examiner expects to see.
Because our drafting is 100% remote, your project is never limited to whoever happens to have a drafting desk in your zip code. You send photos, measurements, and any existing surveys; we handle the drawings, review them with you over video, and deliver files ready for your local submission process. New York is one of our four focus states, and you can see everywhere else we work on our service areas page.
New York ADU Law: One City Said Yes, the Rest of the State Has Not
Getting this right matters, because a lot of ADU marketing blurs it. Here is the accurate picture.
No statewide mandate exists
A statewide ADU bill has been introduced repeatedly since 2021 and has not passed. Governor Hochul's 2022 statewide proposal was withdrawn after opposition from suburban communities, Long Island prominent among them. Outside New York City, whether you can build an ADU is decided by your local zoning code, and the answer varies town by town.
New York City is the real legal change
The City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, passed December 5, 2024 as Local Laws 126 and 127, allows ADUs up to 800 square feet in owner-occupied one and two family homes, and the Department of Buildings has been accepting applications since September 2025. This pathway applies to New York City itself, not to Long Island, Westchester, or upstate metros. If your property is in the five boroughs, our ADU plans and design service is built for exactly this kind of code-constrained project.
New York Metro Areas We Serve
Every metro below has its own dedicated page with local permitting context. All drafting is done remotely, wherever your lot sits.
New York City
The only New York market with a citywide ADU pathway: City of Yes allows units up to 800 square feet in owner-occupied one and two family homes, with DOB accepting applications since September 2025.
Long Island
Nassau and Suffolk suburbs whose opposition helped stall the statewide ADU push. Here, additions and remodels are how households grow in place.
Albany / Capital Region
The seat of state government, where established neighborhoods keep addition and remodel drafting in steady rotation.
Buffalo
Western New York's largest city, where an older housing stock makes as-built documentation the natural first step for most remodel projects.
Rochester
Established neighborhoods where most projects start with what already exists, so measured drawings and remodel sets lead the work.
Syracuse
Micron's up-to-$100 billion four-fab project in nearby Clay, the largest private investment in New York history, is landing on one of the Northeast's most affordable housing markets, and Onondaga County housing permits jumped 173% in 2025.
Yonkers
New York's third largest city is in a building boom, with roughly $1 billion in private investment and about 2,100 new residential units approved through the Yonkers IDA in 2024, while $630K average home values on dense first-ring lots make additions the smart alternative to moving.
White Plains / Westchester County
Westchester's county seat grew 12% from 2010 to 2020, median sale prices now run $730K to $750K, and dozens of municipalities each enforce their own zoning code, so permit-ready drawings that anticipate local variance boards are the real bottleneck on high-value remodels.
Poughkeepsie / Hudson Valley
Town of Poughkeepsie home values jumped 19.1% in a single year as New York City remains the Hudson Valley's largest source of inbound households, and Dutchess County just posted its two biggest permit years of the past decade.
What New York's Legal Landscape Means for Your Project
The shape of New York law points most homeowners toward specific services. Because there is no statewide ADU mandate, the workhorse project outside the five boroughs is expanding or reconfiguring the house you already own: local zoning almost always has a pathway for that even where it has none for a second dwelling. Inside New York City, City of Yes has opened a genuine ADU lane for the first time. And everywhere in the state, the town-by-town nature of zoning means the quality and completeness of your drawing set is often the difference between a smooth approval and a resubmittal cycle.
Home Additions & Remodel Drafting
The default move for most of New York. When an ADU is off the table under local zoning, a well-drafted addition or remodel adds the space within rules your town already accepts.
ADU Plans & Design
For New York City owners of one and two family homes, we draft ADU plans sized and documented to the 800 square foot City of Yes framework and your borough's DOB submission process.
Permit-Ready Drawings & As-Builts
In a state of hundreds of independent zoning codes and variance boards, accurate as-builts and jurisdiction-tailored permit sets are what keep New York projects moving.
New York Drafting FAQs
Can I legally add an ADU to my New York home?
It depends entirely on where you live. In New York City, the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity (Local Laws 126 and 127, passed December 5, 2024) allows ADUs up to 800 square feet in owner-occupied one and two family homes, and the Department of Buildings has been accepting applications since September 2025. Outside New York City there is no statewide ADU mandate: a statewide bill has been introduced repeatedly since 2021 without passing, so whether an ADU is allowed comes down to your individual town, village, or city zoning code. We review the local code before any drawing starts.
Do my drawings need to be stamped by a New York architect or engineer?
Many New York building departments require plans to be sealed by a state-licensed architect or engineer before a permit is issued, and the exact requirement varies by municipality and by the scope of the project. We prepare the complete permit-ready drawing set and coordinate with a licensed New York professional for review and sealing whenever your jurisdiction requires it.
How does remote drafting work for a New York project?
The entire process is digital. You send photos, measurements, and any existing surveys or plans; we develop the drawings and walk through them with you over video; revisions happen the same way; and you receive files formatted to your local building department's submission standards. It works the same whether your property is in Brooklyn, Buffalo, or a Hudson Valley town.
How much do house plans cost in New York?
Stock house plans start at $799. Custom house plans, addition and remodel sets, and ADU packages are quoted per project based on scope and the requirements of your local jurisdiction. Requesting a free quote takes a few minutes and carries no obligation.
Get a Free Quote for Your New York Project
Tell us what you're building and we'll scope it, confirm the timeline, and give you a firm number before any drafting starts. Every plan set is drafted to your local jurisdiction's documentation standards.
Prefer to talk it through? Call (435) 668-1095.
Ready to Start Your New York Project?
Tell us where the property is and what you want to build. We will confirm what your jurisdiction requires and quote the drawing set, whether it is a Queens ADU, a Westchester remodel, or a new build near the Micron corridor.