Terms of service

1. About these terms

These terms govern your use of the Approved Plans website, the free planning check, and our paid drawings service. By using the site or instructing us you agree to them. If you do not agree, please do not use the service.

Approved Plans is a trading name of DINGIR LTD, a company registered in England and Wales, company no. 16645723, 86-90 Paul Street, London. Contact us at [email protected] or on 07942 343 800.

2. The free planning check

The check assesses your property against the public planning record, the permitted development rules and common constraints. It uses data from Ordnance Survey, planning.data.gov.uk, local planning authorities and our archive of 2,343,419 decided planning applications from 181 councils.

It is guidance from the public record, not a council decision and not legal advice. It is accurate to the best of our knowledge when you run it, but planning decisions are made by your local planning authority. Verify anything important with the council before spending money or starting work.

3. Accuracy of the data

No dataset is perfect. Errors can arise from out-of-date council records, local policy changes not yet reflected, unusual properties that do not match standard categories, and ambiguous addresses or postcodes. Where a council has decided fewer applications of your project type than our guard requires, the check withholds the rate rather than show an unreliable one. If you spot an error, email [email protected] and we will look into it.

4. The drawings service and the fee

Our drawings service is offered under a written fee agreement that sets out the scope for your project. The fee is fixed and charged in two stages: the £995 planning stage, paid only when you are approved, and the £885 building regs stage, paid only if you go on to build. Refused? No design fee to pay. The council application fee and the Planning Portal fee are paid separately at submission, and building control inspection fees when you build.

Non-standard projects, such as listed buildings, basements and new dwellings, are quoted separately and confirmed in writing before any work begins.

5. What approved means

Approved means a grant of planning permission, prior approval, or a lawful development certificate for the submitted scheme, with or without conditions.

A withdrawal made on officer advice and resubmitted counts as one application; the fee falls due on the approval, whichever submission earns it.

Appeals are outside the fixed fee.

Non-determination after the statutory period: the client may instruct us to appeal (outside the fee) or treat the application as refused (no design fee).

6. Payment

The planning stage invoice is issued on the date of the approval decision and is due within 14 days. The building regs stage invoice is issued when you instruct that stage and is due before the measured survey. Payment is by bank transfer or card. Any amount paid in error is returned to the original payment method.

7. Acceptable use

You agree not to use the service for anything illegal, not to submit false or deliberately misleading information, including a phone number or address that is not yours to give, not to scrape, copy or automate access to the check in bulk, and not to interfere with the operation of the site or any other user.

8. Liability

Our liability for any loss arising from your use of the free check is limited to the extent permitted by law. We do not accept liability for indirect or consequential losses, or for decisions you make on the basis of the free check alone. Our liability under a fee agreement is limited to the fee paid for that project. Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.

9. Intellectual property

The content on this site, including the text, design, code and data pages, is owned by DINGIR LTD or our licensors. You are welcome to share links and quote short excerpts with attribution, but please do not republish whole pages without permission. Drawings prepared under a fee agreement are licensed to you for the project they were prepared for once the fee for that stage is paid.

10. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. Material changes are flagged on the site. The date at the top shows when the current version was published. The terms in force when you instruct us are the terms that apply to that instruction.

11. Governing law

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and any dispute is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

12. Contact

Questions about these terms go to [email protected] or 07942 343 800.