A validation checklist for a full planning application

A full planning application is validated against two lists: the national requirements set out in article 7 of the Development Management Procedure Order 2015, and the local list your council publishes and reviews at least every two years. Miss an item on either and the application is not registered, the eight or thirteen week clock never starts, and you find out by email a fortnight later. A planning application validation checklist that works has to cover both, plus the drawing conventions that get applications returned even when every document is present.

Work through it in the order below, because several items depend on decisions made earlier.

The national list and where it comes from

Five things are required nationally for a full application. The completed standard application form. A plan identifying the land, normally at 1:1250 or 1:2500 with the application site edged red and any other land in the applicant's control edged blue. Other plans and drawings necessary to describe the development. The correct fee. And the ownership certificate with the agricultural holdings declaration.

A Design and Access Statement is required for major development and, in a conservation area or World Heritage Site, for development comprising one or more dwellings or 100 square metres or more of floorspace. Listed building consent applications always need one. Where it is required it is a national requirement, so the council cannot waive it, and a thin Design and Access Statement that says nothing about access arrangements is a common reason for a request for further information.

Two more national items have been added in recent years and still catch people out. Applications must include a statement as to whether the applicant believes the biodiversity gain condition applies, with the pre-development biodiversity value information where it does. And applications for relevant high-rise residential buildings must include a fire statement under article 9A of the same Order.

Drawings, scales and title block conventions

More applications are rejected on drawing conventions than on missing reports.

Every drawing needs a unique drawing number, a revision letter, a stated metric scale, the paper size it was drawn at, a scale bar, and a north point on any plan view. Drawings marked "do not scale" with no scale bar will be refused, and so will drawings exported at a size that no longer matches the stated scale.

The usual set for a full application is a location plan at 1:1250 or 1:2500, a block or site plan at 1:500 or 1:200 showing the whole site with boundaries, levels and parking, existing and proposed floor plans and elevations at 1:50 or 1:100, sections where levels change, and a roof plan where the roof form is not obvious from the elevations. Show existing and proposed on separate sheets or clearly separated on the same sheet.

The red line is a substantive matter rather than a graphical one. It must include every piece of land needed to carry out the development, including access works, visibility splays and any drainage connection crossing third party land.

Ownership certificates and notices

Sign the certificate that matches the red line, not the one that matches the title you hold.

Certificate A covers the case where you owned all the application land throughout the 21 days before the application. Where the red line crosses a verge vested in the highway authority, a shared driveway, or a strip retained by an estate developer, you are on Certificate B and you must serve notice on those owners before submitting, recording the date of service on the form. Certificates C and D deal with owners you cannot trace and require a newspaper notice.

The agricultural holdings declaration is answered separately. Informal grazing arrangements can amount to a tenancy, so take advice before declaring that no agricultural holding exists.

Local list items and how to find them

The local list sits on the council's own planning pages, usually as a validation requirements document with a matrix of development types against documents. Read the version currently in force rather than a copy saved from a previous project.

Typical local requirements include a Planning Statement above a stated scale, a tree survey where trees are on or adjacent to the site, a flood risk assessment, a drainage strategy, an ecology report, a heritage statement for anything affecting a designated asset, a transport statement, a parking layout, a contaminated land screening assessment on previously developed land, an energy statement, a daylight and sunlight assessment for infill in dense areas, and photographs of the site and its context.

Items on a local list must be reasonable, necessary and relevant to the application. Where a council asks for something plainly disproportionate to the scheme, say so in writing with reasoning before submission rather than arguing after refusal to validate.

Fees and the errors that cause a shortfall

Fees come from the national fee regulations, were uplifted in December 2023 and are now indexed annually, so take the figure from the current published schedule rather than from memory.

The recurring errors are arithmetic rather than legal. Floorspace measured externally when it should be gross internal, or the reverse. Dwelling numbers counted wrong where a conversion creates a net gain. Site area rounded down. Category chosen as an outline application when the submission is full. Free go entitlement claimed when the earlier application was withdrawn rather than refused. A shortfall of a few pounds stops validation as effectively as a missing report.

In a charging area, the Community Infrastructure Levy additional information form is usually a validation requirement even where the development is not liable.

Documents that vary by constraint

Constraints drive most of the document list, and they can be checked before you draw anything.

Several of those reports require a licensed or competent professional as a matter of law, and land contamination and biodiversity net gain are among them. A Biodiversity Net Gain Assessment has to be completed by a competent person and approved by the council through a biodiversity gain plan.

A final pass before you submit

Ten minutes with this list saves a fortnight.

1. Every drawing has a number, a revision, a scale, a scale bar and a north point, and the drawing schedule in the covering letter matches the files uploaded.
2. The red line includes all land needed for access, visibility and drainage.
3. The certificate signed matches the red line, and notices were served before the application date.
4. The fee has been recalculated from the current schedule against the final floor areas.
5. Every local list item for this development type is either provided or addressed in a short written justification for omission.
6. The biodiversity gain statement is included and consistent with the ecology report.
7. File names are readable, files are under the portal size limit, and nothing is password protected.
8. The description of development matches the drawings and the fee category.

Send the covering letter with a document schedule. Validation officers work through lists, and giving them yours makes their job faster.

This is general guidance, not legal advice. Check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it.

You can browse the report types by category and draft the supporting documents from a postcode. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.