Plain-English guides to the questions that arise most often: what can be built without permission, how an application works, what the new Act changes, and how to make a submission or an appeal.
Choose the works proposed, an extension, garage, shed, porch, attic conversion, wall or solar array, and see the exempted development criteria that apply. The extension calculator works from the dimensions. A declaration from the planning authority is the only formal answer in a borderline case.
Short, plain-English guides, kept current.
The 2000 Act and the 2024 Act side by side: applications, outline permission, altering a permission, appeals, judicial review, enforcement. Read from the Act text, section cited on every line.
Compare the Acts → CommencementWhat Part 4 changes on the day, set out separately for applicants, for third parties and for permissions already granted; which Act governs a file already in the system; and three things widely briefed as changes that have been law for years.
Read the guide → ConsultationThe amended draft National Planning Statement of 4 September 2026 read in full: the eight National Planning Policies and Measures, floor areas, dual aspect, the 0.25 ha infill relaxations, and what binds a development plan.
Read the review → ReferenceMinimum apartment sizes, the 16 metre separation distance, car parking maximums, cycle parking, building height and density ranges. The figures that apply everywhere in the State, and where, on our reading, they take precedence over the county development plan.
See the standards → The New ActOnce Part 4 commences, a submission must be on the prescribed form, keep to seven format rules or risk being invalid, and carry a signed section 588 declaration. What Form No. 5 asks for, what, on our reading, can no longer be attached, and the €20 fee and five weeks that stay.
Read the guide → GuideSince 31 December 2025 an improper communication with a councillor about a planning function is an offence under section 575. Separately, communications about development or zoning are lobbying, with no size threshold. What each regime requires.
Read the guide → TrackerEvery 2026 planning circular, statutory instrument, Act and commencement order, with a line on what each does and a link to the source. Checked monthly.
Open the tracker → ToolThree questions decide whether a file is governed by the 2000 Act or the 2024 Act after Part 4 commences, with the section cited.
Answer the questions → ToolEvery deadline on a file from its planning reference: submission, decision due, appeal, observations and judicial review, under either Act.
Open the calculator → ToolExtensions, garages, sheds, porches, walls, driveways and solar, the exempted-development limits, interactively.
Open the checker → GuideThe full journey, public notices, the 8-week decision, the appeal window and An Coimisiún Pleanála, with the timelines that matter.
Read the guide → ToolEnter the house type and any previous extensions to see how much can be added within the 45 m² exempt limit.
Try the calculator → ToolWorks inside the roof that do not materially change the outside can be exempt, and since 27 July 2026 so can a side or rear dormer of up to 30 m³ and up to two front rooflights, subject to conditions. The conditions explained.
See the rules → GuideWho can appeal, the 4-week window, what makes a strong appeal to An Coimisiún Pleanála, and the fees.
Read the guide → GuideExempt since 27 July 2026 for a 32–45 m² auxiliary dwelling, with a 14-day notice to the council and other conditions. What the exemption requires.
Read the guide → GuideWhat a planning authority can and can't take into account when it weighs an application or a submission.
Read the guide → ReferenceExempt, retention, material contravention, Section 5, LRD: the terms explained in plain words.
Open the glossary → ReferenceThe official Irish planning resources: OPR, Citizens Information, An Coimisiún Pleanála and the legislation, with a note on each.
Open the library →Official sources worth bookmarking: the Office of the Planning Regulator guides, and Citizens Information. Our explainers add a practitioner's read on top.
These guides and tools are published as a public service and are kept to the primary legislation. They are not a free advice line, and individual queries are not answered by email or phone. For a general question about a particular property, the planning authority's planning department and Citizens Information are the starting points, and a declaration under section 5 is the formal answer. Where a matter needs professional work, the practice takes instructions on a fee basis: from developers, landowners, investors and public bodies, and from private clients, for example on retention or regularisation of unauthorised development or a change of use, and occasionally a one-off house, subject to capacity.