Kenya plot setback & coverage checker.
Enter your plot, county and zone setbacks and see the buildable envelope your house must fit — with the county coverage cap, the septic clearance, and the published plans already drawn for a plot your size. The same working rules our engine checks every plan against, applied before you brief.
3 m on every edge is the default our engine plans to when a zone schedule says nothing — your zone’s schedule overrides it, here and in a real brief. Road reserves and riparian lines add more.
The setback envelope is your binding limit: the ground floor cannot exceed 226 m² however little of the plot it covers. On septic, the tank and soakaway also need 3 m clearance from every boundary (Public Health Act, Cap. 242) — plan a service corner before the house takes the whole envelope.
Nairobi City County Zoning Regulations Schedule 3 — ground coverage ≤ 60%.
Setbacks and coverage, answered honestly
What setbacks apply to a 50 × 100 plot in Kenya?
Your zone schedule decides, and it is issued by the county, not by any calculator. As a working default, 3 metres on every edge is what our drawing engine plans to when a schedule says nothing — on a 50 × 100 ft plot that leaves a buildable window of roughly 9 × 24.4 m. Front setbacks are often larger on classified roads, and road reserves or riparian lines add more. Confirm the schedule for your exact parcel at the county physical planning office before you draw.
How much of my plot can the house cover?
Ground coverage is capped by county: Nairobi allows up to 60% of the plot area (Zoning Regulations Schedule 3); Kiambu and Kajiado apply 50% in residential zones; coastal counties commonly 60%. Coverage counts the ground footprint — a maisonette’s upper floor does not cover more plot. Your real limit is whichever binds first: the coverage cap or the setback envelope.
How far must a septic tank be from the boundary?
Siting practice under the Public Health Act (Cap. 242) keeps the septic tank and its soakaway at least 3 metres from any plot boundary — the same rule our engine checks every septic plan against. On a narrow plot this clearance moves buildings more often than people expect, so plan the service corner before the house claims the whole envelope.
Is this checker an official approval?
No. It applies the same working rules our drawing engine drafts and checks plans against — county coverage caps with their citations, per-edge setbacks, septic clearance — so you can see what a plot realistically carries before briefing. Approval itself comes only from your county, on a stamped drawing set, against your parcel’s own zone schedule.