Find out what you can build on your Massachusetts property.
A free preliminary zoning check for ADUs, additions, garages and decks. Six questions. A written summary within one business day.
No cost. No obligation. We do not sell your details.
Reviewed by a licensed firm Research and review provided by Lebra Engineering & Design, LLC.
Your town’s own bylaw text Every statement is cited to the section it came from, with the date it was checked.
State law and local rules ADUs are by-right statewide. What your town layers on top is where projects actually fail.
The free check
What arrives in your inbox.
Written for a homeowner, not a developer. General to your town and your build type, not a calculation about your specific parcel. That distinction is deliberate.
| 01 | What state law allows for your build typeM.G.L. c.40A §3, as amended 2024 — cited |
| 02 | What your town bylaw layers on topSection number, link, and the date we checked it |
| 03 | The permitting sequence for your scope, in order |
| 04 | A realistic timeline range |
| 05 | Planning-level soft costsBallpark ranges, clearly labelled as such |
| 06 | The three things that most often get a project rejected in your town |
Products
How far you want to take it.
Research is ours. Conclusions are Lebra’s. The line below is not a marketing decision — it is where informational research becomes the practice of engineering, and it is who signs for it.
| Stage | What you get | Price | Provided by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00 | Free checkJurisdiction-level, cited, emailed | $0 | MFPS |
| 01 | Property & Zoning SnapshotOne parcel, one build type. The public record compiled and explained. 1–3 pages, human-reviewed. | $150 | MFPS |
| 02 | Parcel ScreeningThe same across five addresses in one town. For buyers comparing lots before they commit. | $450 | MFPS |
| ↓ Below this line the work states conclusions about your property, so a licensed engineer signs for it — and someone visits the property. | |||
| 03 | Verbal walkthrough inspectionA licensed engineer on site, answering what the record cannot. Credited against anything below. | $800 | Lebra |
| 04 | Full inspection and written report | $1,500 | Lebra |
| 05 | Design and permitting | $3,500+ | Lebra |
Stages 01 and 02 are credited toward anything below them. Lebra Engineering & Design, LLC is a Massachusetts engineering firm; MF Project Solutions LLC is not, and does not offer engineering services.
What a report is, and what it is not
A report from MF Project Solutions tells you what the public record says about a property and a kind of project, gathered in one place, with every source named and dated so you can check it. It is the document you read before you spend money on drawings, and its job is to tell you whether the project is worth drawing at all.
It is research, not engineering. We read records and report what they say. We do not visit the property, measure anything, draw anything, or state a conclusion about what you can build. Those are engineering questions, they require a licensed Professional Engineer, and they are contracted with Lebra Engineering & Design, LLC.
Use it to
- Decide whether to keep going, before spending on design
- Understand which rules apply and where they come from
- See the permitting path and a realistic calendar
- Brief an architect, engineer, contractor or lender
- Test what a listing or a seller has told you
Do not use it to
- Decide a purchase, a price, or a financing application
- Confirm that a specific building fits on the lot
- Start construction or file for a permit
- Substitute for a survey, a design, or legal advice
- Predict how any board will vote
Nobody from MF Project Solutions visits your property at any stage. If you need an answer the records cannot give, the next step is a verbal walkthrough inspection — a licensed engineer from Lebra on site.
Why now
ADUs are by-right in Massachusetts. Your town still gets a say.
Since February 2025, a “protected use” accessory dwelling unit is permitted by right in any district that allows single-family dwellings in the Commonwealth, Boston excepted. The cap is 900 square feet, or half the gross floor area of the principal dwelling if that is smaller. For a conforming unit your town may not require a special permit and may not require owner occupancy.
What it did not change is the other 351 sets of local rules. In the first six months of 2025, homeowners in 170 Massachusetts communities filed 844 ADU applications — and each of those communities reads the state law through its own bylaw, its own site plan review, its own building department.
That gap is where projects stall: not on the state law, which is now permissive, but on a setback, a separation distance, a septic capacity finding, or a driveway width nobody mentioned until month four.
Figures: Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, ADU permitting data, January–June 2025.
Before you ask
The questions people actually ask.
Is this an engineering opinion?
No, and it says so on every page. The free check and the $150 snapshot are informational research — the public record, compiled and explained. They are not sealed, they do not create an engineer-client relationship, and your building department remains the only authority on your property. Work that does state a professional conclusion is contracted with Lebra Engineering & Design, LLC and signed by a licensed engineer.
Who actually does the work?
MF Project Solutions LLC, a Massachusetts company, compiles and writes the research. Lebra Engineering & Design, LLC provides the professional review and performs any engineering, design or permitting work. Marcelo owns MFPS and is a partner in Lebra alongside George Atallah, P.E. We say so plainly, and the price list names the provider on every line.
Why do you need my address for a free check?
To identify your zoning district and your town bylaw. The free check answers what the rules are where you live; it does not calculate anything about your specific lot. Your address is stored encrypted, is never put in a web address or an analytics record, and is not sold or shared.
What if I already have plans, or a denial?
Say so on the form and skip the queue. A denied permit is a live problem with a clock on it, and it goes straight to a person rather than into an email sequence. Bring the denial letter — the reason given on it usually determines whether this is a two-week fix or a different project.
How long does the free check take?
One business day. A person reads every one before it is sent, which is why it is a day rather than a second. The $150 snapshot takes two.
Six questions. One business day.
Start with the build, not the address — we ask for that last.