Planning

What a planning application is

A planning application is the set of drawings and documents the council needs to decide whether your project can go ahead. For most jobs that means drawing the existing building and its surroundings for context, then the proposed design on top of it.

Planning drawings are prepared with the Building Regulations in mind, so the design does not have to change later to comply. Our planning package covers a measured survey or review of your existing building, existing and proposed plans, sections and elevations, a site location map and site layout plan, drawings of the surrounding buildings, the completed application form and drawing schedule, and support if the council asks for further information.

Some costs sit outside our fee and are paid by you directly: the council planning fee, the newspaper and site notices, any specialist reports such as ecology, traffic or flood risk, and any appeal. We will tell you early if your site is likely to need one.

Timing depends on the size of the job and how quickly we get the information we need from you. The council then sets its own decision period. Tick Planning Package in the quote calculator to see the price for your project type.

What goes into the application

• Site location map and site layout plan
• Existing floor plans, elevations and sections, so the council sees what is there now
• Proposed floor plans, elevations and sections
• The surroundings drawn for context, where the council needs to see the neighbouring buildings
• Completed application forms and the supporting documents for your project

The detail of the package is confirmed with you before work starts, because it depends on your site and on the council involved.

Before you apply: exempted development and pre planning

Not every project needs a planning application. Some extensions, garden rooms and family flats can be exempt, depending on size and site. Before preparing anything, I check whether your project is exempt, or whether pre planning advice from the council would be worth getting first.

After you lodge

The council checks the application, may ask for further information, and then decides within its own time limits. If the council has queries, I answer them, with revised drawings where needed, so you are not left working out what the council is asking for.

Where this fits

Planning follows design. Once the permission is in place, tender and construction drawings turn the approved scheme into something a builder can price and build.

Design Tender Construction