Program To Design Site Plan Draft

Im looking for a computer/iPad program to design a general site plan, ideally a program that allows you to design in scale and with measurements.

Im not after a professional or on going subscription service unless I really have to, this is specifically to help design a house layout on a block of land to determine different options and lay out before I go see a Draftsman...

CAD seems to be highly recommended but there 100 options through CAD and apparently quite excessively priced?

Any recommendation or do I have to continue using a pencil, ruler and rubber...

Cheers

Hi iBuild101
There are plenty of Free Floor Plan apps available
the problem arises when transferring and updating plans, ie data and dimensions in professional 3D Bim Packages as they use different file formats, eg Sketchup, Vectorworks, revit,etc as you move from sketch -> Engineering -> construction drawings, the drawings become messy and data often gets lost
On the other hand Drawings on graph paper on a scale of 1:100 still works you will need a scanners tho
Your designer can import the image or pdf and trace over your initial design
High lite each successive change in red pen take a photo and send it as a message your designer can update your 3D model and associated plans.
OT, Make sure there is a free viewer available for the finished model, it's useful on site during construction and visits

hth

https://www.canvasgfx.com/en/products/canvas-draw/

I use Canvas, used it since 1997, was a mac vector drawing program then bought out and not released for a decade, now re-released for mac, I can save all my drawings as Autocad so my engineer can add in details as needed. I also use the pdf layers feature to plan load paths etc between floors. Very good for creating A3 and A2 plans and drawing items to scale. Definitely good enough to do 2D plans but not 3D and all the features of pro software.

This isn't actually answering your question, but the below government website will be invaluable in designing a comfortable, energy efficient home.

https://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design

If you haven't already, get yourself educated about passive design. It would have been better to have this knowledge before buying a block.

Thanks for the response, to clear up I'm not really looking to create a floor plan of a house but more an overall site plan of the land showing fences, shed, house location etc etc...

Ive noticed a few of these apps only allow you to do a floor plan of a house...

Can't say that I've seen an app as such
Are you looking at doing your own contour survey as well?
Sounds like you need a civil or landscape Bim Software package ie,
Showing co-ordinate heights, cut and fill, Balance points, Detailing retaining walls, Fences, decking, outdoor structures,etc in 3D Space
Then are you setting out the data and dimensions from the plan/Model on site ( see Below Image) for DIY landscaping & construction?
If so you maybe in luck I use a combination of 3D Bim & Bosch GLL 3-80CG Pro Laser Tools
..more info require on your project
Cheers
Chris

Im not looking for anything that precise, basically I have purchased a few acres and want to do a scale lay out of fence line, trees, shed and house

Try enrolling in a educational landscaping short course
Student licences are free