Snapshot
FreeInstant, for one address.
- Zoning district and overlays from county GIS
- Lot area, GIS and deeded
- Buildable envelope estimate on the map
- The top constraints and three headlines
About ten seconds. Name and email required; phone optional.
Fairfax County, Virginia
What you can build on your lot, from public records.
Two reports for one address. Expansion Rights: setbacks, easements, floodplain, RPA and zoning limits, 45 items. Home Check: permits against what is on the lot, septic and well files, structures against yards and easements, utilities and tank indicators, 30 items. Every item cited to the record it came from, with a confidence level and the professional who confirms it.
Informational only. Not a survey, zoning determination, legal opinion or engineering opinion. Verify with Fairfax County Zoning Administration and a licensed professional before relying on it.
01
What you get
Three tiers. Every one carries the same citations, confidence levels and disclaimers.
Full Report
$149All 45 items, A to G.
- Citation and confidence level on every item
- Interactive map with parcel, envelope, RPA, floodplain, easements
- Sources table with retrieval times
- Action plan for your goals: approvals, fee lines, next professional
- Share link and PDF
Verified Report
$1,490Full Report, then a licensed professional.
- Recorded plats, easements and covenants pulled from the land records
- Each affected finding confirmed, edited or rejected by the reviewer
- Signed addendum scoped to the findings it covers
- Concept sketch of your project inside the net envelope
- Septic As-Built placed on the map where the county has one
Preview pricing. Placeholder prices. Change here, never in code.
02
How it works
Address in, cited report out. No site visit, no login.
- 01
Enter an address
We match it in the Fairfax County Master Address Repository, resolve the parcel PIN and confirm that county zoning, not a town or city ordinance, governs it.
- 02
We pull the records
58 county, state and federal sources for that parcel: parcel geometry, zoning and overlays, easements, floodplain, RPA, soils, permits, plans and more. Each request and its retrieval time is kept.
- 03
Read the report
Every item shows what the record says, how much to trust it, the citation, and who confirms it. Share the link or the PDF with your architect, surveyor or agent.
03
What we check
45 items in seven groups. Each reports what the public record shows: no constraint found, a constraint applies, prohibited under the cited rule, or not determinable from public data.
A.Identity & ownership
items 1–6Who and what the county says the parcel is.
- Parcel ID, legal description, lot
- Lot area: GIS vs. assessment record
- Owner, deed reference, last sale
- Zoning jurisdiction
- Recorded plat on file
B.Zoning envelope
items 7–20The ordinance values for the district, applied to the lot as an estimate.
- District and overlays
- Minimum lot size and conformity
- Setbacks, height, coverage / FAR
- Buildable envelope and remaining area
- Accessory structures, ALU eligibility
- Home business, parking, tree canopy
C.Recorded encumbrances
items 21–27What the county's easement layer shows; recorded instruments flagged for review.
- Utility easements
- Storm and sanitary sewer easements
- Access and conservation easements
- Covenants and HOA declarations
- Plat building restriction lines
D.Environmental & site constraints
items 28–34Mapped hazards and protected areas clipped to the parcel.
- FEMA and county floodplain
- Resource Protection Area
- Wetlands, steep slopes, marine clay
- Dam inundation, sump conditions
- Stormwater and impervious thresholds
E.Infrastructure & permits
items 35–39Services, permits and the existing structure.
- Sewer service area vs. well / septic
- Septic As-Built drawings on file
- Permit history and approved plans
- Year built, living area, construction
- Street classification and right-of-way
F.Neighborhood & future changes
items 40–44What is planned around the lot.
- Comprehensive Plan designation
- Rezonings and variances within 1,000 ft
- Historic district or landmark status
- Airport noise and special overlays
- Road widenings and public projects
G.Action plan
item 45For each goal you name: a screening verdict, the approvals it would need, the county fee lines, and the professional to engage next.
- Addition, second story, ADU, detached garage, pool, deck, lot split
03b
Home Check: what we check
30 items in eight groups for the home you own, are buying, listing, lending on or insuring. Each reports what the record shows: on record with no issue found, attention, or a human to settle it. The report never calls anything illegal; it says what record was and was not found, and who can close the gap. Built for homeowners, buyers and their agents, lenders and appraisers, inspectors and insurers.
A.Your home's history on record
items 101–107What the county has on file for the house, and whether the improvements it taxes have a permit record.
- Year built, remodel year, living area, heating
- Every assessed addition: decks, garages, porches, finished space
- Permit and application records, oldest to newest
- Legacy plans and the scanned zoning file
- Certificates of occupancy
- Improvements with no matching permit record
B.Water, sewer, well & septic
items 108–111How the house is served, from the assessment record and the Health Department's nightly permit index.
- Water supply: public or well
- Sewer: connected, available, or outside the service area
- Septic permits and the county As-Built drawing
- Well permits
C.Survey & structures
items 112–115Where the structures sit relative to the lot lines the county draws.
- Recorded plat and subdivision
- Every structure the county has mapped
- Structures inside a required yard (GIS estimate)
- Retaining walls: slope indicators and the permit rule
D.Land, easements & environment
items 116–120Protected areas and recorded rights, and whether a structure sits in one.
- Resource Protection Area
- FEMA and county floodplain
- Every mapped easement with deed references
- Problem soils and marine clay
- Structures inside the RPA or floodplain
E.Underground & overhead utilities
items 121–125What is known about lines in the ground and overhead, and what only an 811 ticket can tell you.
- Utility easements by utility
- Transmission lines and major gas corridors nearby
- Gas service
- Virginia 811 process, step by step
- Structures built over an easement
F.Buried fuel tanks
items 126–128Buried oil and propane tank indicators from the assessment record, DEQ and permit files.
- Heating fuel on record
- DEQ registered tanks and release cases within half a mile
- Tank installation or removal permits
G.Items to verify
item 129The short list of things a human should settle before you buy, sell, refinance or build.
- Ranked flags, each linked to its evidence
H.What to do next
item 130What to order and from whom, in order, with the county fee lines that apply.
- Permit history search, house-location survey, tank sweep, septic file, 811 ticket
04
Why it can be trusted
It shows its work. Nothing in a report is asserted without the record it came from.
- 58 sources per parcel
- County GIS and open-data tables, FEMA, USGS and state records, queried for the parcel itself, not the address point.
- Every finding is cited
- Each item carries the exact request and the time it was retrieved. The sources table lists every dataset queried and its stated update frequency.
- Ordinance text is versioned
- Setbacks, height and coverage come from the zoning ordinance amendment in force (zMOD, amended through 2026-07-01), with the section cited next to the value.
- Envelope reproducible to the square foot
- The buildable envelope is computed from county parcel geometry with the district's yards applied per edge. Same inputs, same answer, labelled a GIS-derived estimate.
- Licensed review, scoped sign-off
- On the Verified tier a Virginia-licensed professional reviews the recorded documents and signs an addendum listing exactly which findings it covers.
- Septic drawings from county health records
- Where the county has a septic As-Built on file, the drawing is pulled and its tape-tie distances placed on the map as an approximate keep-clear area.
05
Questions
Is this a zoning determination?
No. Only the Fairfax County Zoning Administrator can issue one. LotRights reports what the public record shows, cites the record, and names the county office or licensed professional who can confirm each item. For a binding answer, contact Zoning Administration at 703-324-1314.
Does the Home Check tell me whether work was unpermitted?
No. It tells you which improvements the county taxes and which permit records exist in the searchable county systems, then lists what has no matching record. PLUS holds records from 2022 onward plus selectively migrated older ones; earlier permits are in Land Development Services paper and microfilm files. A missing record is a reason to ask LDS for a permit history search, not a conclusion.
Which addresses are covered?
Parcels under Fairfax County zoning. The towns of Vienna, Herndon and Clifton and the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church have their own ordinances and are not covered; the address check tells you before anything is generated. Other Virginia jurisdictions are not covered yet.
How current is the data?
Every finding shows when its record was retrieved. County GIS layers refresh on the county's own schedule, many daily, and the report's sources table lists the stated frequency for each. Zoning text is versioned to the ordinance amendment in force (zMOD, amended through 2026-07-01). A source older than its stated cadence drops one confidence level. A report is a snapshot; generate a new one for fresh data.
What about HOA rules?
HOA declarations, architectural review rules, covenants and deed restrictions are recorded instruments or private documents that do not appear in county open data. The Full Report lists them as needing review. On the Verified tier a licensed reviewer examines the recorded documents, and you can upload your HOA papers for the same review.
Can I share it with my architect?
Yes. Every report has a share link and a PDF with all citations intact. Treat it as a briefing: your architect, surveyor or attorney can check each item against the cited record, and anything you build on must still be located by a licensed surveyor and confirmed with the county.
Start with the free Snapshot.
One address, county records, about ten seconds.