What is a further information request on a planning application?

How it works in Ireland

Most one-off house applications draw a further information request, often called an FI or additional information request. Under section 34 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, if the council serves the notice within eight weeks of receiving a valid application, its next deadline runs from when you comply: normally four weeks after the notice has been complied with. The eight weeks is a deadline for the council to decide or ask for more. It is not a waiting period.

A request is a list of numbered items. Typical ones for a rural house are a revised site layout, a sightline drawing for the entrance, wastewater details from the site assessment, a landscaping plan, or evidence of your connection to the area. Answer each item in the order given and send drawings that match the numbering. A reply that skips an item can be judged incomplete.

Replies are normally due within six months. Do not treat that as the plan: commission the engineer or designer the week the notice arrives, because their lead times are what lengthen the project. If you need longer, ask the council about an agreed extension before the period ends rather than after.

If your reply contains significant new data, the council may require you to publish a new newspaper notice and site notice. The decision clock then runs from when those are complete, and neighbours and others get a further chance to comment. That is the usual reason a modest-looking request adds weeks.

The council’s response to your reply is a decision to grant, to grant with conditions or to refuse. A decision to grant is not yet the final grant of permission. Answer fully the first time, and do not count on a second round to fix gaps.

Keep a dated copy of the request, your reply, proof of delivery and any notices. If the council refuses afterwards, that record is what a planning consultant or the appeal board will want first.

A common mistake

Answering the easy items quickly and leaving the technical ones, such as wastewater or sightlines, until the last month. The long item sets the date. Start the item that needs a site visit or a specialist first, and let the rest follow.