Permit & Drawing Services near you

Article 7 of the 2015 Order is the statutory floor. An application must be made in writing to the local planning authority on a form published by the Secretary of State and include the particulars specified in the form. It must be accompanied by a plan which identifies the land to which the application relates, and any other plans, drawings and information necessary to describe the development. Unless the application is submitted electronically or the authority asks for fewer, three copies of the form and three copies of the plans and drawings are required.

The Order also fixes two details that are easy to get wrong and fatal when you do: every plan must be drawn to an identified scale, and every plan must show the direction of north. A drawing with no scale bar and no north point can be rejected on that basis alone, regardless of how good the design is.

The article has been amended since it was made, including in 2024 to add information about the biodiversity gain condition for applications where it applies. Outline applications and applications under sections 73 and 73A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 have modified requirements. This is the English procedure order; Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own.

Beyond the national requirements, a local planning authority may ask for further information through a formally adopted local list, which the guidance says must have been published on its website less than two years before the application is submitted. Anything requested must be reasonable having regard to the nature and scale of the proposed development, among other things.

In practice this is why two neighbouring councils can want noticeably different packages for the same extension. One may routinely require a tree survey, a heritage statement or a parking layout; another may not. A drawing service that works across a region will know the difference; one that does not will produce a set that is technically complete under article 7 and still gets held at validation.

The right move is to check the current local list on the authority's own website before the drawings are finalised, and to ask the drawing service to confirm which local requirements they are covering. A two-year-old local list that has not been republished cannot be relied on by the authority, which is occasionally worth knowing when a request looks excessive.

Drawing fees follow the amount of survey work, the number of drawings in the set, and how much supporting material the local list demands. A single-storey rear extension on a modern semi is a small, repeatable set. A two-storey side extension on an irregular plot in a conservation area, with a heritage statement and a tree survey, is not. Ask whether the fee covers the submission itself, responses to validation and case officer queries, any amendments during determination, and whether a building regulations package is included or quoted separately. The planning fee payable to the authority is set nationally and is separate from anything the drawing service charges.

LokalMatch makes the connection and leaves the rest to you. Describe the application you need once, with your postcode, and drawing services and designers covering your area will be in touch. It is free for homeowners; the professionals pay for the enquiries they receive. LokalMatch does not prepare drawings, does not set fees and does not vet, rank or recommend anyone who responds.