Site Location Plan Requirements: Complete Checklist

National minimum and local validation requirements

For planning applications in England, national guidance says a location plan is the minimum plan. Additional drawings are usually needed and the authority can require proportionate information through its published local list. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland use their own procedural rules and guidance.

Do not rely on a generic checklist alone. Confirm the application type and read the receiving authority's current validation list before preparing the final pack.

Use a current, legitimate map base

The map should be up to date, clear and licensed for the intended planning submission. If it uses Ordnance Survey mapping, the finished sheet should carry the required Crown copyright acknowledgement and licence details. A screen grab, photocopy or Land Registry title plan is not an equivalent planning-map product.

• Current topographic detail
• Readable roads, buildings and site context
• Appropriate planning-use licence
• Copyright and licence information on the sheet
• No stretching, tracing or low-resolution screenshot

Use a suitable scale — typically 1:1,250 or 1:2,500

A 1:1,250 plan is a common choice for a normal urban or suburban site. A 1:2,500 plan covers four times the ground area on the same sheet and often suits a large, rural or unusually shaped site. Whichever scale is used, the exact site must remain easy to identify.

The sheet is normally prepared at A4 or A3. Enlarging a finished PDF to make the boundary look bigger changes the printed scale, so select the scale and paper size before export.

Show enough location context

The authority should be able to find the site without relying solely on its address. Show sufficient adjoining roads, buildings or recognisable features. Planning Portal's review guidance uses two named roads where possible, or a named road and a landmark where that is a clearer rural solution.

Draw the application and ownership boundaries correctly

Use a continuous red line for the application site and include all land necessary for the proposal, such as access, parking, visibility splays, landscaping or open areas where relevant. Show other nearby or adjoining land owned by the applicant with a blue line where required.

The boundary must remain visible over the map and at the intended print size. Avoid gaps, pale colours, accidental clipping and a line drawn only around the proposed structure.

Information the finished sheet should carry

A submission-ready sheet should identify its scale, paper size and direction of north. A scale bar is particularly useful for electronic documents because it gives the reader a visual check if a PDF is displayed or printed at the wrong size.

• Plan title and site address
• Identified metric scale and original paper size
• North point
• Linear scale bar
• Drawing number, revision or date where used in a wider drawing set
• Copyright acknowledgement and map licence number where applicable

Final validation check

Open the final file rather than checking only the editing screen. Confirm that all labels are readable, the full boundary is visible, north and scale information are present and the file name describes the document. If printing, use actual size or 100% and measure the scale bar before sending the paper copy.

UK nation and authority differences

The familiar checklist is useful across the UK, but it is not a substitute for the rules in the relevant nation and the receiving authority's local list. For example, Scottish guidance describes location plans at 1:2,500 or smaller and site plans at 1:500 or smaller, while individual Welsh and Northern Irish authorities publish their own presentation and validation detail.