Does a desktop appraisal require a floor plan?

Yes. Fannie Mae requires a floor plan for every desktop appraisal, as it does for hybrid appraisals and property data collections. It must be software-generated, not hand-drawn, and show all exterior walls with dimensions to the nearest tenth of a foot, interior walls, doorways, staircases, exterior entrances and exits, room labels, every level and the area calculations. Interior dimensions are not required.

Does a desktop appraisal floor plan have to follow ANSI Z765?

No. Fannie Mae's desktop appraisal policy says ANSI Z765 is not required for desktop appraisals but is encouraged when feasible. Hybrid appraisals are different: they require a floor plan that conforms to ANSI Z765-2021, and so do appraisals with an interior and exterior inspection.

Can the floor plan for a desktop appraisal come from the listing agent or seller?

Yes, with a condition. Fannie Mae lets the appraiser accept data and floor plans from a party who has a financial interest in the transaction, such as the listing agent, if the information is verified from a disinterested source. A machine-generated floor plan can also be used to augment the data. Either way, the appraiser is responsible for the figures in the report.

What is the difference between a desktop and a hybrid appraisal?

In a hybrid appraisal, a trained and vetted third party (such as a real estate agent, home inspector, insurance inspector, appraiser or trainee) visits the property and collects the data and floor plan, and the plan must conform to ANSI Z765. In a desktop appraisal there is no property inspection: the appraiser works from records, data and a floor plan from other sources, and ANSI is encouraged but not required.

Can a desktop appraisal floor plan be hand-drawn?

No. Fannie Mae's definition of a floor plan requires it to be software-generated. It must show all exterior walls with dimensions to the nearest tenth of a foot, interior walls, doorways and staircases, exterior entrances and exits, room labels, all levels and the area calculations.

How do I check that a floor plan is to scale?

Measure a printed dimension on the plan and compare it with the number written on it, then check a second dimension the same way. If both agree to within an inch or two, the plan is to scale. If they don't, the plan was resized or drawn loosely: scale it from the printed dimensions, not the scale note, and treat any unlabeled walls with caution.

Guide

Floor Plans for Desktop and Hybrid Appraisals

Desktop and hybrid appraisals rely on someone else's floor plan. Where plans come from, how to check them, and how to measure GLA from one.

Updated October 12, 2026 · FloorFigures

Short answer

Fannie Mae requires a software-generated floor plan for every desktop and hybrid appraisal, showing all exterior walls dimensioned to the nearest tenth of a foot, interior walls, doorways, stairs, room labels, every level and the area calculations. ANSI Z765 is encouraged but not required for desktop appraisals and required for hybrids. Before you rely on someone else's plan, check its scale against two printed dimensions and its outline against the county record.

In a desktop appraisal, the floor plan is the inspection. Everything about size and layout comes from a drawing someone else made: a builder, a listing photographer, a scanning app or a data collector. This guide covers what Fannie Mae requires, where plans come from, how to vet one, and how to get gross living area from it.

Desktop vs hybrid vs traditional appraisals

Desktop, hybrid and traditional appraisals compared
	Traditional	Hybrid	Desktop
Who sees the property	The appraiser, inside and out	A trained, vetted third-party data collector	No inspection; the appraiser works from records and data
Floor plan	Required when the layout is atypical	Required	Required
ANSI Z765	Required	Required; the plan must conform	Encouraged when feasible, not required
Where the plan comes from	Commonly the appraiser's own sketch	The data collector	Other sources, verified by the appraiser
Fannie Mae policy	B4-1.3-05	B4-1.2-03	B4-1.2-02

Hybrid data collectors can be real estate agents, home inspectors, insurance inspectors, appraisers or trainees, as long as they are trained and vetted. Fannie Mae allows desktop appraisals on one-unit principal residences, for purchases only, with a loan-to-value ratio of 90% or less and a DU Approve/Eligible recommendation.

What must the floor plan show?

Fannie Mae's Selling Guide glossary defines a floor plan as software-generated, not hand-drawn, with:

all exterior walls, with dimensions to the nearest tenth of a foot,
interior walls, doorways and staircases,
exterior ingress and egress (entrances and exits),
a label for each room,
all levels, and
the area calculations.

Interior dimensions are not required. A floor plan is required for all property data collections, hybrid and desktop appraisals, and for traditional appraisals when the layout is atypical.

Where do desktop appraisal floor plans come from?

Source	Strengths	Watch for
Builder or architect plans	Precise printed dimensions; PDFs are often vector and exactly to scale	Drawn as designed, not as built: options, changes, finished basements added later
Listing floor plans	Recent and show the current layout	From a party with a financial interest; may lump the basement or garage into one total
Third-party scans (phone or camera)	Software-generated with dimensions and area calculations	Check the area breakdown follows ANSI; check who scanned and when
Property data collection (PDC)	Collected by a trained data collector to a standard format	Still check the classifications: below grade, garage, nonstandard areas

Fannie Mae lets the appraiser accept data and floor plans "from a party who has a financial interest" (a listing agent, for example) if the information is verified from a disinterested source, and allows a "machine-generated floor plan" to augment the data. For the tools that produce these plans, see appraisal sketch software.

How to check a third-party floor plan before relying on it

1
Check the scale against printed dimensions
Measure one printed dimension on the plan and compare it with the number written on it. Then check a second one in the other direction. If both read true to within an inch or two, the drawing is to scale. If not, it was resized (a PDF printed "fit to page", a screenshot of a listing) and the scale note can't be trusted. See how to scale a PDF drawing.
2
Compare the exterior to the county record
Check the overall footprint and total against the assessor's record and aerial imagery. County and listing figures often use different methods, so a small difference is normal. A large one usually means a missing addition, a basement counted as living area, or a garage folded in. See why square footage numbers differ.
3
Look for missing or extra areas
Compare the plan with the listing photos and the exterior: additions, enclosed porches, bonus rooms, finished basements and ADUs are the usual omissions. Check that every level is drawn.
4
Check how each area is classified
Garage, porches and decks out of living area; any level partly below grade reported as below grade; two-story spaces counted once; rooms reached only through unfinished space flagged as nonstandard.
5
Ask about ceiling heights
Plans rarely show sloped or low ceilings. Attic rooms and basements are where ANSI's 7 ft and 5 ft rules change the figure, so confirm heights from photos, the data collector or the owner.
6
Verify the source and note it
If the plan came from an interested party, verify it from a disinterested source. When square footage is calculated from plans, ANSI Z765 requires a declaration saying so.

Measuring GLA from the plan in FloorFigures

FloorFigures is a free, browser-based tool for exactly this step: measuring a plan you already have. The plan is measured on your device and never uploaded, which matters for client files.

Open the plan: a PDF (each page becomes a sheet), an image or a photo of a printed plan.
Set and check the scale. On PDFs it reads the printed dimensions and scale note and warns when they disagree. On images, click both ends of a printed dimension. The scale check shows the error on a second dimension; stretched scans can take separate horizontal and vertical scales.
Trace. Shift+A traces the building outline and leaves out the garage and porch; A finds every room. Put each floor on its own level, mark below-grade levels, and cut out openings to below.
Read the ANSI totals: above-grade finished area, below-grade finished area, garage and unfinished areas, ceiling-height rules applied, rounded to the whole square foot.
Compare and export. The Compare tab sets your figure against the listed or county size with the percentage difference. The PDF report includes the plan with overlays, the scale check, the area summary and an ANSI statement, with your name as preparer.

What it doesn't do: draw a new floor plan exhibit for you, read text from scanned images (automatic scale and room names need a PDF), or send data into your report software. For the arithmetic behind the totals, see how to calculate GLA.

Sources

Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.2-02 Desktop Appraisals, B4-1.2-03 Hybrid Appraisals, B4-1.2-01 Appraisal Report Forms and Exhibits and the glossary definition of floor plan.
Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.3-05 (ANSI requirement).

Questions

Does a desktop appraisal require a floor plan?: Yes. Fannie Mae requires a floor plan for every desktop appraisal, as it does for hybrid appraisals and property data collections. It must be software-generated, not hand-drawn, and show all exterior walls with dimensions to the nearest tenth of a foot, interior walls, doorways, staircases, exterior entrances and exits, room labels, every level and the area calculations. Interior dimensions are not required.
Does a desktop appraisal floor plan have to follow ANSI Z765?: No. Fannie Mae's desktop appraisal policy says ANSI Z765 is not required for desktop appraisals but is encouraged when feasible. Hybrid appraisals are different: they require a floor plan that conforms to ANSI Z765-2021, and so do appraisals with an interior and exterior inspection.
Can the floor plan for a desktop appraisal come from the listing agent or seller?: Yes, with a condition. Fannie Mae lets the appraiser accept data and floor plans from a party who has a financial interest in the transaction, such as the listing agent, if the information is verified from a disinterested source. A machine-generated floor plan can also be used to augment the data. Either way, the appraiser is responsible for the figures in the report.
What is the difference between a desktop and a hybrid appraisal?: In a hybrid appraisal, a trained and vetted third party (such as a real estate agent, home inspector, insurance inspector, appraiser or trainee) visits the property and collects the data and floor plan, and the plan must conform to ANSI Z765. In a desktop appraisal there is no property inspection: the appraiser works from records, data and a floor plan from other sources, and ANSI is encouraged but not required.
Can a desktop appraisal floor plan be hand-drawn?: No. Fannie Mae's definition of a floor plan requires it to be software-generated. It must show all exterior walls with dimensions to the nearest tenth of a foot, interior walls, doorways and staircases, exterior entrances and exits, room labels, all levels and the area calculations.
How do I check that a floor plan is to scale?: Measure a printed dimension on the plan and compare it with the number written on it, then check a second dimension the same way. If both agree to within an inch or two, the plan is to scale. If they don't, the plan was resized or drawn loosely: scale it from the printed dimensions, not the scale note, and treat any unlabeled walls with caution.