Planning Circular 3/2013: Development management procedures

Annex D: Plans and Drawings

1. All applications should be accompanied by a location plan and almost all will require a site plan. Where the applicant owns some or all of the "neighbouring land" (see paragraph 4.15 of the main circular), a plan showing such land must be included. The following are not statutory requirements but an indication of what planning authorities can reasonably expect by way of a minimum of information on these plans:

Location plan - this must identify the land to which the proposal relates and its

situation in relation to the locality: in particular in relation to neighbouring land. Location plans should be a scale of 1:2500 or smaller.

Neighbouring land owned by the applicant - where required, this could be incorporated into the above plan or on a separate plan of similar scale.

Site Plan - this should be of a scale of 1:500 or smaller and should show:

• The direction of North;
• General access arrangements, landscaping, car parking and open areas around buildings;
• The proposed development in relation to the site boundaries and other existing buildings on the site, with written dimensions including those to the boundaries;
• Where possible, all the buildings, roads and footpaths on land adjoining the site including access arrangements;
• The extent and type of any hard surfacing;
• Boundary treatment including walls or fencing where this is proposed.

2. The range of other plans and drawings will depend on the scale, nature and location of the proposal. Planning authorities should consider providing guidance on the levels of information expected in different types of case. The following plans and drawings will not be required in every case, but the list indicates the sort of minimum information which should be included where necessary:

Existing and proposed elevations (at a scale of 1:50 or 1:100) which should:

• show the proposed works in relation to what is already there;
• show all sides of the proposal;
• indicate, where possible, the proposed building materials and the style, materials and finish of windows and doors;
• include blank elevations (if only to show that this is in fact the case);
• where a proposed elevation adjoins another building or is in close proximity, the drawings should clearly show the relationship between the buildings, and detail the positions of the openings on each property.

Existing and proposed floor plans (at a scale of 1:50 or 1:100) which should:

• explain the proposal in detail;
• show where existing buildings or walls are to be demolished;
• show details of the existing building(s) as well as those for the proposed development;
• show new buildings in context with adjacent buildings (including property numbers where applicable).

Existing and proposed site sections and finished floor and site levels (at a scale of 1:50 or 1:100) which should:

• show a cross section(s) through the proposed building(s);
• where a proposal involves a change in ground levels, show both existing and finished levels to include details of foundations and eaves and how encroachment onto adjoining land is to be avoided;
• include full information to demonstrate how proposed buildings relate to

existing site levels and neighbouring development;

• show existing site levels and finished floor levels (with levels related to a fixed datum point off site), and also show the proposals in relation to adjoining buildings (unless, in the case of development of an existing house, the levels are evident from floor plans and elevations).

Roof plans (at a scale of 1:50 or 1:100) to show the shape of the roof and specifying details such as the roofing material, vents and their location.