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Top 10 Things You Must Finalize in a 2D Plan Before Laying the Foundation
Published Date: June 22, 2025
And until the first brick is laid, there is only one factor that can make or break a project of building your house, and this factor is an approved and correct, site-specific two-dimensional architectural plan. Although numerous homeowners are ready to start the process and are sure they will resolve everything in the future, the foundation phase is irreversible. The concrete is very strong once it has set, hence posing a challenge in making the need to replace the layout at that point costly, time-consuming, and of structural risk. Especially in areas like Bangalore, where plot sizes are limited and bylaws are strict, getting your building design 2D plan right from day one is essential. These are the seven best items you need to settle in the 2D plan before you begin the foundation.
1. Room Layout and Internal Dimensions
Internal layout of your house is the very first thing that has to be sorted down. All the rooms that include the living room, bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom, and even utility rooms should be positioned and have an accurate size on the 2D architectural plan. Account must be made of wall thicknesses and the arrangement of rooms must favor the daily routine, flow of movements, as well as your needs of privacy. Homeowners, in most instances, discover at the last minute that a room is too small or is positioned in the wrong location, yet the foundation has already been cast. In this case, any amendment to the plan would mean reworking the structure, which is not only costly but, at the same time, can severely postpone the project. Putting the layout at an early stage means that there will be no confusion among the owner, the contractor, and the architect during the actual construction.
2. Staircase Position and Design
The staircase is more than a vertical connector; it is a structural and spatial anchor point. Finalizing the staircase location in your building design 2D plan is crucial before laying the foundation, especially if you're planning for future vertical expansion. A staircase placed in the wrong position can block natural light, waste usable space, or interfere with bedroom layouts. It can also limit your ability to convert your home into a duplex or add rental floors later. Once the foundation is built, moving the staircase involves major demolition and redesign. That's why a professional 2D architectural plan must fix the staircase orientation and dimensions well in advance.
3. Setbacks and Permissible Built-Up Area
In Bangalore, what is not negotiable is having an insight into nature and usage of local bylaws when constructing a house. Depending on whether your plot is covered by BBMP, BDA, or Panchayat boundaries, all the areas have certain setback rules in place, which are the area required between your building and the boundary wall. These setback needs to be articulately indicated in your 2D architectural plan. Their violation may result in penalties, rejection of plans up to the issuing of partial demolition orders. In addition, natural ventilation, lighting, and access are drawbacks, and these have to be streamlined; they cannot be overlooked. A well-completed building footprint that is done under these legal clearances indicates that your foundation work will not be hit by any legal hitches.
4. Column and Beam Alignment
Alignment of columns and beams is one of the most significant structural aspects of any house. The 2D floor plan should be in coordination with the structural design, with column positioning at the correct areas that are not at the center of a room, in the direction where the door or window is to be, and not where the plumbing lines need to be. If your building design 2D plan doesn't factor in structural alignment at this stage, you’re inviting future conflicts between design and engineering. After the foundation, column shifting is not possible. Properly doing it makes your home secure, economical, and structurally stable.
5. Orientation and Entry Placement
A nice house does not consist only of walls and a room; it reacts to the surroundings. Depending on your Vastu choices, the direction of the sun, the movement of the wind, and access through the road, the orientation of your house should be settled before the construction of the foundations. East and north-facing homes are active in Bangalore, but not all plots have a natural inclination to these orientations. Your 2-dimensional architectural drawing would have to keep in mind the direction of the sun, lack of visibility in the street, and the position of entry in such a way that it is functional and comfortable. When you intend to do Vastu Shastra, then the positioning of the kitchen, master bedroom, and the key entry should be settled before work on excavation starts.
6. Bathroom and Kitchen Plumbing Zones
One of the things that incur a high cost after the start of construction is the plumbing layout. That is why all wet spaces, including the bathrooms, kitchens, and utility spaces, must be decided upon and captured in the 2D plan initially. This entails their locations, sizes, and closeness to the sump, septic tank, or borewell. Inadequate laying would make the drainage lines very long, with bad sloping, and in the long run, a leakage problem may occur. In such a multi-storey residential complex, vertical arrangement of bathrooms can provide plumbing facilities easily and also be less expensive to construct. These zones should be depicted in your 2D layout clearly so that your plumber and contractor can align their work at the foundation level itself.
7. Future Expansion or Rental Plans
With Bangalore being an urban area, a good number of the residents intend to construct a one- two two-story house as a start and build it to a higher storey in the future, either for their kids or even to make it a rental space. When you intend to do that, you must make sure that your 2D building planning considers the future vertical load. These could be leaving room for a lift that may be developed in a future situation, inserting a staircase capable of linking into future storeys, or laying out room to be converted into individual rental units. Unless you look at these possibilities early, the ground floor probably will not be able to bear vertical extension in the future, and you will be obliged to undertake the expenses of retrofitting/structure upgradation.
8. Electrical Point Planning and Load Distribution
Planning of electrical points is one of the details that are usually disregarded, although it is a very crucial factor. In your 2D architectural plan, you need to provide the location of switchboards, smoke and light points, AC cable, backup with an inverter, and high-load appliances such as geysers, ovens, etc. Unless you nail down these before construction, electricians will guess locations, a sure way to have those switches placed in inconvenient locations, and conduits showing on your walls. The electricity distribution will also be balanced and, with proper planning and arrangement, this can be across the rooms in the house, particularly where there is solar power or an inverter system of energy. Including this in your building design 2D plan ensures smoother execution and avoids post-construction rewiring hassles.
9. Parking and Vehicle Access Design
The movement and parking of cars has to be well planned in urban regions such as Bangalore, where plots are small and streets are narrow, and you cannot just put the foundation on the ground before thinking it out. Regardless of whether you are developing a 30x40 or a corner lot, your 2D plan will have to indicate how vehicles will move in, out, and park. It must also be left to store a scooter, a car, or even an EV charging station in case it is necessary. Most homebuilders are sorry that they did not allow more space for a turning radius or gated access. A completed 2D layout serves to assist your civil contractor in coordinating columns and compound walls without obstruction of movements.
10. Sump, Septic Tank, and Rainwater Harvesting Zones
The importance of water systems in a household cannot be emphasized enough, especially when looking at them literally. These should be shown in your 2D architecture plan clearly before foundation is undertaken, to include underground utilities such as the sump tank and septic tank, and the rainwater harvesting pit. These must not be imposed on the foundations or the loading points, and they must be open to repairs in the future. Unless well planned, such tanks will most likely end up being either below the car porch or too near columns, which poses a problem for safety and implementation of the project. Including these utility zones in the building design 2D plan saves major excavation and rework later.
Final Thoughts: The Foundation Starts on Paper
The concrete and steel of your home foundation may be the final step, but it starts on paper, with a thorough, accurate 2D architectural plan. At Arun Nirmaan, we specialize in creating custom building design 2D plans tailored for Bangalore’s bylaws, site constraints, and family needs. Our design team knows how to ensure that your plan is practical, legal, structurally safe, and suited to your needs. When constructing a house in Bangalore, it is paramount that you get the planning right- the cost of doing it wrong is far more than doing it professionally.
Arun Nirmaan is a well-established construction company that started in 2009. Being a leader in the industry, we help build better infrastructure spaces.