Drawing schedule and revision register for a submission

The drawing schedule for a planning submission is a document control exercise, and its real audience is not the case officer. It is whoever has to discharge a condition in eighteen months, whoever prepares the appeal, and whoever buys the site. All of them will work from the list of approved drawings on the decision notice, and that list is only as reliable as the register behind it.

Get the numbering and the revisions right at submission and the rest of the project inherits a clean record. Get them wrong and you will be applying to amend a permission because a decision notice cites revision B of a drawing you superseded during determination.

Why the register matters after permission

Almost every permission carries a condition requiring the development to be carried out in accordance with a list of approved plans, identified by number and revision. That condition is what the council enforces against.

Three things follow. Building anything different from the approved drawings is a breach, which is why a non-material amendment under section 96A or a minor material amendment under section 73 exists. Discharging any other condition means referencing the approved drawings correctly. And a purchaser's solicitor will check that the drawings listed exist and match what was built.

A register that records every drawing issued, when, at what revision and to whom, answers all three questions in one place.

Numbering that survives the project

Use a numbering system with a fixed structure and stick to it from the first sketch. A simple and reliable form for a planning submission is a project code, a drawing type or series, and a sequential number: a 100 series for existing, 200 for proposed, 300 for details, each with a three-digit number.

Larger practices work to a structured convention derived from the industry information management standards, with fields for originator, zone, level and type. Either is fine. What matters is that the number identifies exactly one drawing for the life of the project.

The rule that prevents most problems: never reuse a number for a different drawing. If a drawing is abandoned, retire its number. A number that once meant proposed ground floor plan and later means proposed roof plan will cause an argument eventually, and it will happen at the worst moment.

Include the drawing title, the number, the revision, the scale and the paper size in a title block on every sheet, and make the title match the register exactly.

Revision conventions

Use a single sequence and label it clearly. Planning-stage drawings commonly run P01, P02, P03, with construction-stage drawings restarting under a different prefix. Alphabetical revisions work equally well provided the sequence is unbroken.

Each revision needs a date, a description of what changed, and the initials of whoever made it. A revision cloud on the drawing itself helps the officer see what moved, particularly on a resubmission after a refusal.

One revision per issue. Issuing two different files both labelled revision C is the most common failure in practice, and it happens when a drawing is tweaked after issue without bumping the revision. Lock the issued PDF and change the revision for anything that follows.

Scales, paper sizes and what validation expects

Councils reject submissions on drawing standards more often than on content, and the requirements are published.

The location plan needs a north point, the application site edged red, and any other land in the applicant's ownership edged blue. State the paper size the scale refers to, include a scale bar so that the drawing remains usable when printed at a different size, and mark dimensions on the critical points rather than relying on scaling.

Check the authority's local validation list before submitting. National requirements are common to all councils and the local list adds to them, and it is the local list that catches people out.

Listing existing against proposed

Keep existing and proposed as separate drawings, at the same scale and with the same orientation, so that they can be compared side by side. A single sheet showing both at different scales makes the comparison harder and invites questions.

Pair them in the register: existing ground floor plan against proposed ground floor plan, existing north elevation against proposed north elevation. Where an elevation does not change, say so in the register rather than omitting the drawing, because an officer will otherwise assume it was forgotten.

For a scheme involving demolition, a demolition plan showing what is removed, in a distinct convention, saves a great deal of correspondence. The same logic applies to a Design and Access Statement, which should reference drawing numbers rather than describing the drawings in words.

Managing revisions during determination

Drawings change during determination, and the change has to be handled formally.

Issue the revised drawing to the case officer with a covering email listing the new number and revision, the drawing it supersedes, and what changed. Ask explicitly for the superseded version to be marked as such on the public file. Portals retain earlier versions, and a decision notice that lists a superseded drawing is a problem that outlives everyone involved.

Material changes may trigger re-consultation, which adds three weeks. Where the amendment is being made to answer an objection, that is time well spent. Where it is a drafting correction, say so in the covering email so the officer can decide quickly.

Keep the register updated as you go, with an issue date column. Reconstructing the sequence afterwards from an email folder is a miserable job, and it is exactly what an appeal statement of case needs if the application is refused.

The approved drawings condition

When the decision notice arrives, check the list against the register before you file it. Look for the right numbers, the right revisions, nothing missing and nothing superseded.

Errors are common and they are usually the council transcribing from an out-of-date list. A wrong revision on the notice can be corrected, in some cases informally by the officer and otherwise through a section 96A application, and it is far easier to do in the week after the decision than two years later when the contractor queries it.

Note also which drawings are not listed. A drawing submitted for information but not conditioned is not approved, and building something shown only on it is not covered by the permission.

Handover and the record set

At the end, issue a final register listing every drawing at the revision approved, with the application reference and the decision date at the top, and archive the PDFs exactly as issued.

That single document is what the contractor works to, what the building control submission cross-refers to, and what the next consultant asks for. A short Planning Statement or covering letter at submission that reproduces the same list makes the whole package easier to check.

Browse the 66 PlanScope report types to see which supporting documents accompany the drawings on different application types.

PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.