Looking for plans?
To obtain copies of plans, please complete the online DCR Public Records Request Form
For current Bid Sets, please contact DCR’s Contracts Administration Department
For plans created using GIS data, please contact the DCR GIS Program
Disclaimer
Any plans or other records provided to you, as per your request, are copies from our files, duplicated with our reasonable efforts. DCR attempts to keep its records current and accurate but cannot provide a guarantee in this regard. DCR provides any plans or other records "as is" without any representations or warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, their accuracy, reliability, omissions, completeness, and currentness for conveyancing, surveying, or any other purpose. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts shall not be liable for any claim for damages, including lost profits or other consequential, exemplary, incidental, indirect, or special damages, relating in any way to the plans or other records provided to you. If an image in a plan or other record bears a book and page number, plan reference, document stamp or other official index number, one should not rely on the image as being a true and accurate copy of a record from the Registry of Deeds, Land Court, or other official source. Any reliance you place on records provided by DCR is therefore strictly at your own risk. If for any reason you require the official and most up-to-date version of a relevant record, you should secure a true copy directly from the Registry of Deeds, Land Court, or pertinent official repository.
Digital Collections
Comprehensive Digitization Project
The DCR Plans Library is currently working on a large-scale project to scan and catalog all the plans in its collections. This process began in 2023 and is expected to last several years. As a result of this process, Plans Library staff will be able to more efficiently locate copies of plans to support requests for plans from DCR staff and the public. Providing access to digital copies of plans will allow us to better preserve our most historic and fragile collections by minimizing handling of these important resources.
The Metropolitan Park Commission (MPC) and Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) Accession Logs, 1893-1980s (ca. 50,000 pages in 52 volumes)
The MPC and MDC accession logs document the plans produced or collected by the parks engineering departments of these two state agencies to create greater-Boston’s historically significant Metropolitan Park System. Typed and handwritten metadata include plan titles, plan accession numbers, location information (reservation, parkway, and city names), project information, plan types, dates that plans were created or accessioned, and names of plans creators. The logbooks include entries for plans that have since been destroyed, or which may no longer be part of the current collection. The Digital Commonwealth provided scanning services, and the volumes are available online through the Internet Archive.
Plans Transferred to Other Agencies
In 1984, the State Legislature created the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA), and the following year plans of MDC’s metropolitan sewerage and water distribution systems were transferred to that agency. For these plans, please contact MWRA.
When the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) was created in 2009, most of DCR’s vehicular bridges and several parkways were transferred to that agency. For vehicular bridge plans, please contact MassDOT Plans & Records.
Plans for tThe Stone Memorial Zoo and Franklin Park Zoo, previously managed by Metropolitan District Commission, have been transferred to and can be requested from the Massachusetts State Archives.
