Planning Professionals Directory Policy

Purpose and scope

The directory helps visitors discover planning consultants, architects, architectural technicians and businesses offering architectural services. It includes sole traders, micro-businesses and larger practices. Coverage does not mean we have identified every suitable business in an area.

A listing is informational. It is not an endorsement, accreditation, recommendation or assurance that a business is suitable for a visitor's project. Copla Ltd does not currently charge for inclusion or sell a higher search position.

Sources and business descriptions

Records may originate from a business's official website, RIBA, RTPI, CIAT and other relevant professional directories, public business listings, review-provider profiles and information supplied by the business. Wherever possible, the website link points to the business's own site rather than the source directory.

We prefer a short, factual description based on the business's own published homepage. Where that is unavailable, a clearly worded directory summary may identify the business type, source and area. We avoid presenting inferred specialties as verified claims. Search-card descriptions are shortened for display.

Logos, portfolio images and social links are included only where a source appears to identify the same business. Rights remain with their respective owners. A business or rights holder may ask for an image or mark to be removed.

How search results are ordered

Results are grouped in this order:

businesses that identify planning consultation, planning consultancy, planning consultants or town planning and have both a logo and website;
other businesses with a logo, website, a supported review link and a supported social-media link;
other businesses with a logo, website and supported social-media link;
all remaining businesses.

Within each group, an authority-area search gives priority to businesses that explicitly cover the selected authority, then broader country-wide coverage and then national coverage. Alphabetical order resolves a tie. Broken or suppressed links do not count towards a higher group.

Reviews, social profiles and professional memberships

A review link opens an independent provider such as Google, Trustpilot or Reviews.io. We do not treat the existence of a link as proof of quality and do not currently reproduce review text or calculate our own rating. Visitors should read the provider's context and recent reviews.

Professional-body logos or directory badges indicate that the business was found in, or linked to, the named body's source at the time checked. Membership can change. Verify current status with the professional body. Social content is supplied by the platform and is optional to load.

Checks, updates and limitations

Automated and manual checks are used to match sources, remove duplicate profiles, identify broken links and avoid unrelated websites. Automated checks can be wrong, and a live link does not prove that every published contact or service detail is current.

Profiles display source links where useful. Visitors should confirm service area, availability, qualifications, insurance and contact details directly before appointing a business.

Corrections, additions, removals and complaints

A business can request a correction, provide a preferred description, add an official link or ask for removal. Please use the listing-amendment contact route and identify the listing and requested change. We may ask for reasonable evidence that the requester represents the business.