One site. Every “Can I build this?”
Know what your lot allows — before you spend a dollar on it.
CanIBuildThis.com turns Massachusetts zoning into plain-English answers for any property — whether you want to add an ADU, put on an addition, build a new home, or buy a lot. Our feasibility reports read your town’s own bylaw against your property. When a plan breaks the rules, our special permit and variance research shows how it could still get approved. Not sure where to start? Try the free 60-second ADU check — a quick screen of state law, not a full report.
What are you trying to figure out?
Pick your project — each path starts in plain English, not at the permit counter.
Told no? That isn’t always the final answer.
Maybe the town turned you down, or your plan breaks a setback, the size cap or lot coverage. Many of those projects can still be built — with relief from the zoning board. We find the route and lay it out step by step, so you walk in prepared.
What the research tells you
- Exactly which bylaw rules your plan breaks
- Whether each one needs a special permit or a variance
- Which board decides, and what it will look for
- What your application has to show to win approval
Research only — the board makes the final decision, and nobody can promise its answer.
What's inside every report
The bylaw, read for you
Your town's zoning, line by line, against the state floor — in plain English.
The size math
The square footage you can actually use — not the headline number.
Septic & Title 5
Bedroom counts, system capacity, and what an upgrade would really mean.
Setbacks & coverage
Where a structure can legally sit on your lot, and how much lot it can take.
Wetlands & red flags
Mapped wetlands, buffers, easements — anything on record that bites.
The filing plan
What to submit, to whom, in what order — so nothing stalls at the counter.
For a new structure or an addition, the report also includes a photo-real aerial rendering of the proposed building on your lot — built from aerial imagery and your town's GIS parcel maps. ADUs inside an existing building get floor-area and code guidance instead.
See exactly what you'll get
A full sample report for an illustrative Holden property — verdict, size math, lot map and all.
How it works
Ask — free
Send the address and what you're planning. That's it.
We scope it
Within 2 business days, you get an email with the price for your property and a sample report. Nothing to pay yet.
You decide
Ready? Use the order link in that email, and the report lands with everything above in it.
Ask about a report for your address
This is a question, not an order. Within 2 business days you get an email back with the price for your property and a sample report — and a link to order if you want to go ahead.
- Priced per property — quote before you pay anything
- Covers ADUs, additions, new homes and lots — plus special permit and variance research
- Reply by email within 2 business days
Ask about a report
- Your request comes straight to Julieann.
- Within 2 business days, you get an email back with the price for your property and a sample report.
- Want to go ahead? That email has a link to order. No payment until then.
One small home. Three big reasons.
Most people add an ADU for one of these. Pick yours.
The free check
One ADU question, answered in 60 seconds. Nothing you type ever leaves your browser.
Try it nowThe law watch
Question 7 and the duplex provision could change what lots allow. We track both in plain English.
See what's comingBuilt in Massachusetts, for Massachusetts.
Zoning here is decided town by town — 351 of them, each with its own rulebook. Bircch reads Chapter 40A, Title 5, and your town's bylaw for a living, so the answer you get is the one the building department will give.
Meet the person behind Bircch →