United Kingdom · guide · 5 September 2026
How to read a UK planning decision notice: pre-commencement vs during works vs pre-occupation vs compliance-only
The expensive bit of a decision notice is not finding the conditions. It is working out which ones stop the first spade, which stop a later stage of the works, which stop occupation, and which you simply have to keep. This guide shows DecisionBrief’s four timing labels, with real wording patterns from a live York sample.
This page is informational. It is not planning advice, not discharge-application writing, and not a substitute for reading the sealed notice or speaking to the local planning authority. Public sector information on the York sample is reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Why the trigger wording matters
Local planning authorities may grant permission subject to conditions. The Planning Portal summarises three familiar groups: details confirmed before the permission is implemented (often called pre-commencement), restrictions during the works, and restrictions on use once the development is complete. GOV.UK guidance on the use of planning conditions (paragraph 024) also recommends ordering decision notices so that time limits and approved plans come first, then pre-commencement, then pre-occupancy or other stage conditions, then post-occupancy monitoring.
In practice, notices mix those ideas on one page. “Prior to commencement” is not the same as “prior to construction above foundation level”. “Shall not be occupied until” is not the same as “shall at all times be obscure glazed”. DecisionBrief reads the trigger in the council wording and classifies each numbered condition into one of four labels. We do not invent conditions, and we do not tell you whether to start on site.
DecisionBrief’s four labels
- Pre-commencement — the wording stops development (or “works”) until something has been submitted and approved in writing.
- During works — approval is required before a later stage, not before any start on site.
- Pre-occupation — occupation or “coming into use” is stopped until the thing is done.
- Compliance-only — no discharge application is described; you must simply do what it says (time limit, build to the plans, keep a window obscure, and so on).
Those labels are DecisionBrief’s reading aid. They are not a substitute for the sealed notice, and they are not legal advice about whether a particular start would be lawful.
Wording patterns to look for
The patterns below are taken from the published officer report for City of York Council 25/01211/FUL, 45 Hempland Lane (committee 7 May 2026; sample dated 3 September 2026). Quotes are shortened; the full text and sources are on the Hempland sample.
Pre-commencement
Typical triggers: “No development shall take place until…”, “prior to the commencement of the development…”, “prior to the commencement of works…”, or archaeology wording that bars evaluation and development until a written scheme of investigation is approved.
“Prior to commencement of the development, a Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) … shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority.”
On the York sample, true pre-commencement items include the CEMP (expressly covering demolition), the landscape and ecological management plan (LEMP), the biodiversity enhancement plan, the construction traffic / method-of-works statement, and the archaeology WSI limbs that say no evaluation or development until approval. The sample also classifies the statutory biodiversity-gain plan under Schedule 7A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (informative 3 on that report) with the pre-commencement set, because the report itself says development cannot lawfully commence until that plan is approved.
GOV.UK (paragraph 007) flags wording such as “no development shall take place until…” or “prior to any works starting on site…” as the classic pre-commencement form — and says such conditions should only be used where the timing is fundamental. That is policy guidance for authorities, not a reading of your notice.
During works
Typical triggers: “prior to the commencement of the construction … above foundation level”, “within three months of commencement”, “prior to the installation of any new external lighting”, or a statement due before a later construction stage.
“…samples of the external materials to be used shall be submitted to and approved in writing … prior to the commencement of the construction of the development above foundation level.”
On Hempland, materials samples, the 75% carbon statement limb (if 75% is not achieved), the landscape scheme due within three months of commencement, and the lighting design plan before installation are all during works. Demolition or foundations may already be in play under the face of those conditions; superstructure, lighting, or the timed landscape submission is what they bite.
The Planning Portal’s plain-language note often groups “approval of the materials to be used” under pre-commencement. DecisionBrief does not. If the council’s own sentence allows work before that approval, we refuse to pretend it is a “no development until” condition.
Pre-occupation
Typical triggers: “shall not be occupied until…”, “prior to occupation…”, “prior to the development coming into use…”, “no part of the site shall come into use until…”.
“The buildings shall not be occupied until the areas shown on the approved plans for parking and manoeuvring of vehicles, and storage of cycles and refuse have been constructed and laid out … and thereafter such areas shall be retained solely for such purposes.”
The York sample’s highway, visibility, surfacing, junction, turning, and (conditional) private waste-management strategy conditions sit here. Several use “coming into use” rather than “occupied”; we still label them pre-occupation because the barrier is use, not start on site.
Compliance-only
Typical triggers: the standard three-year time limit; “shall be carried out in accordance with the following plans”; drainage already approved on the file; “shall at all times be obscure glazed…”; a contamination procedure that only bites if unexpected contamination is found.
“The development shall be begun not later than the expiration of three years from the date of this permission.”
No details package. No written approval step described on the face of the condition. You start in time, build the listed drawings, keep the window obscure, or follow the contingency wording. That is still a legal duty — it is just not a discharge application.
Worked example · one live sample
York 25/01211/FUL — how the counts fell
incl. statutory BNG
later-stage approval
or “coming into use”
That mix — CEMP and archaeology before any start, materials above foundation later, highway and waste before occupation, time limit and plans as compliance — is exactly why a flat list of twenty-two conditions is hard to programme from. Read the sourced sample, then decide whether you want the same reading for your own notice.
Do you need to discharge every condition?
No. A formal application for approval of details reserved by condition (often called a discharge) is for conditions that require details to be submitted and approved in writing. Compliance-only conditions usually do not describe that step. Pre-occupation conditions may need works on site rather than a paper discharge — parking laid out, sight lines kept clear — or they may need a written strategy (as with York’s private waste condition if the council will not collect). See the full discharge application reading checklist for wording patterns.
GOV.UK explains that requests for approval of further details required by conditions must be made to the local planning authority in writing, with the relevant details enclosed, and that authorities charge a fee for written confirmation that conditions have been discharged or satisfied (use of planning conditions, paragraphs 032–033). The Planning Portal hosts the national form route for that application. None of that means every numbered line on your notice needs a form.
DecisionBrief’s job stops at classification and citation. We do not prepare, lodge, or chase discharges. If you need that, instruct someone who does.
What a £79 DecisionBrief PDF is (and is not)
You paste the public URL of a named UK planning decision notice. We send a PDF in 24 hours that states the permission in plain English, lists every numbered condition we can source, classifies each with the four labels above, and cites the council wording so you can see the trigger. Neighbour personal names are redacted. If the notice is thin, the PDF says so. If we cannot read a public decision, we refund. We do not invent conditions.
What it is not
- Not planning advice. We do not say whether the permission is implementable, lawful, or a good idea.
- Not discharge drafting. We do not write the WSI, LEMP, CEMP, biodiversity gain plan, or waste strategy.
- Not a search engine. You already have the notice; we read the one you send.
Order a £79 sourced reading See the York sample first
Related guides
- Pre-commencement vs pre-occupation — reading those two triggers only.
- Which conditions need a discharge application — submit-and-approve wording checklist.
- Biodiversity net gain vs LEMP — separate ecology lines on the notice.
- Decision notice vs officer report — sealed notice first.
Questions
Do I need to discharge every condition?
No. Only conditions that require details to be submitted and approved in writing typically need a formal approval-of-details application. Compliance-only conditions describe a duty to do or keep something. Pre-occupation wording may require physical works, a written strategy, or both. DecisionBrief classifies the trigger; it does not write or lodge discharges.
Is “prior to construction above foundation” a pre-commencement condition?
Not under DecisionBrief’s labels. If the wording allows demolition or foundations before approval, we call it during works. True pre-commencement wording stops development or works until written approval is in place. The York materials condition is the worked example.
Where do informatives and statutory biodiversity net gain sit?
Informatives are notes, not numbered conditions. On the York sample we did not treat informatives 1–12 as extra numbered conditions. The statutory biodiversity-gain plan under Schedule 7A was flagged in informative 3 of that report; we classified it with the pre-commencement set because the report itself says commencement is unlawful until it is approved. Your notice may differ — we follow what is published.
Is this planning advice?
No. This guide and the £79 PDF are sourced readings of public notices. The council’s decision notice remains the legal document. If you need advice, instruct a planning consultant or solicitor.
Will you write the discharge applications?
No. We classify the conditions and cite the wording. We do not prepare or lodge an application for approval of details reserved by condition.
Who runs DecisionBrief?
Ellis Greensitt, sole trader, trading as DecisionBrief. English law. See terms and privacy. Email hello@decisionbrief.co.uk. No telephone.
Sources cited on this page: Planning Portal — conditions and obligations; GOV.UK — Use of planning conditions (including paragraphs 007, 024, 032–033); DecisionBrief sample for City of York 25/01211/FUL, 45 Hempland Lane (committee report and minutes as published). DecisionBrief is not City of York Council and is not the Planning Portal.