A validation self-check before you press submit

Most invalid applications fail on four things: the fee, the ownership certificate, a drawing that was referred to but not uploaded, and a description of development that does not match the plans. A planning validation checklist that catches those four costs twenty minutes and saves a fortnight, because an invalidation letter usually arrives a week after submission and the clock does not start until the problem is fixed.

Build the check from two sources and nothing else. Article 7 of the Development Management Procedure Order 2015 for the national requirements, and the council's own published local list for the rest.

Building the checklist from the council's own local list

Download the local validation list as a PDF and read its date. Authorities are expected to keep lists up to date and to review them, and a list from 2016 will ask for documents under superseded policy names.

Then do three things with it. Extract only the rows that apply to your application type and your constraints, put them in a table with a column for the file name you will upload against each one, and note any requirement you regard as unreasonable for this scheme so you can say so up front.

That last point matters. A requirement can only be insisted on where it is published, reasonable and related to the development. If a list asks for a transport assessment on a two dwelling infill, submit a short note explaining why a transport statement is proportionate instead of arguing after the invalidation letter arrives.

Form, fee and certificate checks

1. Application type. Householder, full, outline, reserved matters, listed building consent, prior approval or section 73. Getting this wrong means the wrong form and the wrong fee.
2. Fee category and calculation. Check the category against the fee regulations, and remember fees are indexed annually, so use the current schedule rather than a figure from a previous job.
3. Payment. Confirm the payment reference matches the application and that the amount is exact. A short payment is an invalid application.
4. Ownership certificate A, B, C or D, with notices served and dates recorded, plus the agricultural holdings declaration.
5. Every question on the form answered, including the ones about trees, foul drainage, parking, materials and site area.
6. The biodiversity net gain questions, stating whether the gain condition applies and which exemption is claimed if any.
7. The levy additional information form where the authority charges the Community Infrastructure Levy.
8. Applicant and agent details, and the declaration signed and dated.
9. Site area, stated in hectares, consistent with the red line on the location plan.

The site area is the item people fill in from memory. Measure it off the drawing, because it determines the fee on some application types and the major or minor status on others.

Drawing checks that officers actually make

Every drawing needs a title, a drawing number, a revision, a scale stated in words and a scale bar. Plans need a north point. The location plan needs the site edged red and any other land in the applicant's control edged blue, at a scale that shows two named roads.

Then run this list:

• Scales consistent with what the council asks for, usually 1:1250 or 1:2500 for location, 1:200 or 1:500 for site plans, 1:50 or 1:100 for floor plans and elevations.
• Existing and proposed as matched pairs at the same scale, on the same sheet where possible.
• Every elevation shown, including the ones facing a boundary nobody can see.
• A section where levels change across the site or where a roof form is hard to read.
• Roof plan where a flat roof, plant or rooflights are proposed.
• Boundary treatments, bin and cycle storage, and hard surfaces shown and labelled.
• Existing and proposed levels and a stated datum on any site that is not flat.
• Trees shown with accurate canopy spread, and the root protection areas where a tree survey exists.
• A block plan for a flat or a unit within a larger building, showing where in the building it sits.

Check the drawing numbers against the schedule in your covering letter. A revision letter that changed on one drawing but not in the schedule is the single most common cause of a confused case officer.

Existing and proposed as a matched pair

This deserves its own check because it is where errors hide. Put the existing and proposed elevations side by side at the same scale and look for the differences you did not intend: a window that moved, a chimney that vanished, a boundary wall drawn at two different heights, a floor level that shifted by 150mm between drawings.

Officers compare them this way, and so do neighbours. An unexplained change between the pair invites the assumption that something is being slipped through, and it takes one email to lose the goodwill that a careful submission earns.

Documents referred to but not uploaded

Open the planning statement and search it for every document name. Then tick each one against the upload list.

Cross references that dangle are usually the result of a late decision to leave something out. If the drainage strategy for a minor scheme was descoped to a drainage note, the statement has to say drainage note. If the ecology appraisal is being provided after submission by agreement, say that explicitly and name the date agreed.

The same check applies to appendices. An appendix list with six items and five appendices attached is the sort of thing that gets found on day one.

Levy, biodiversity and the other forms

Three separate regimes each want a form, and none of them is part of the planning application proper:

The levy additional information form, where the authority has a charging schedule. Submit it with the application, because an authority cannot issue a liability notice without it and some will hold validation.

The biodiversity position, stated on the form. The Biodiversity Net Gain Assessment and the gain plan follow later as the condition is discharged, but the statement on the form has to be right at submission, including the exemption claimed where one applies.

Any statutory notice or certificate arising from the ownership position, with proof of service kept on file.

A final read of the description of development

Do this last, with the drawings open. The description has to cover everything the application seeks and nothing it does not.

Test it against four questions. Does it name every element shown on the drawings, including outbuildings, walls, hardstanding and demolition? Does it avoid describing anything not shown? Is it precise enough to be enforceable as a permission? And would a neighbour reading it on the site notice understand what is proposed?

Cut phrases that cause trouble. "And associated works" invites argument about scope. "Change of use to commercial" is too vague where a use class is needed. "Retrospective" is not a planning term and belongs nowhere on a form.

Illustrative example. A description reading "Single storey rear extension" on a scheme whose drawings show a rear extension, a rebuilt boundary wall, a new dropped kerb and the demolition of a garage. Three of those four elements are unpermitted by that description. The corrected version reads "Demolition of detached garage, single storey rear extension, rebuilding of side boundary wall and formation of vehicular access", and it takes one line.

Where heritage is involved, check that the description states the works to the listed building as well as the works around it, which is the discipline behind a heritage statement for a listed shopfront.

Keep a record of what you sent

Save the submitted files in a dated folder, with the submission receipt and the fee payment confirmation. If a validation query arrives asserting that a document was missing, the folder answers it in one email.

PlanScope drafts the Design and Access Statement and the other narrative documents in the bundle, and the guided flow shows which of the report types your application needs are likely to be triggered by the site constraints. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.

This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority before relying on it, and read the current local validation list for the authority you are applying to.