Am I covered?

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Am I covered?Six quick questions show the cover your build needs.

Used at Stage 2: Design and planning permission

When is your planning decision due?

Use the valid application date on the council’s letter.

Your dates stay on this device.

Example: change the numbers to see yours.

Normal council decision date

25 Nov 2026

The council normally has eight weeks to decide or ask you for more information.

Based on
How this date is counted
Council receives application1 Oct 2026
Count from that day56 days, with the starting day counted as day 1.8 weeks
Normal decision date25 Nov 2026

1 October 2026 is day 1 of 56; 25 November 2026 is the resulting deadline, with no end-date adjustment needed.

This is a decision deadline, not approval or a building start date.

What to do next

  1. Check the council’s online planning file and letters for the confirmed date; contact its planning office if the date passes without news.
  2. When the decision arrives, add its date here to calculate the appeal deadline.
  3. If permission is granted, wait for the final grant and meet its pre-start conditions before building.

While you wait, find out which insurance you need before construction begins.

See what cover I need

Confirm deadlines with the council or appeal body before you rely on them.

Your planning calendar

  1. 17 September 2026Normal notice window opensThe newspaper and site notices announcing your application normally need to be published within the two weeks before the council receives it, ending the day before receipt. Ask the council if a closure affected it. Keep the site notice up until the council tells you its decision.
  2. 1 October 2026Council receives a valid applicationThe receipt day counts as day 1, unless it falls in the Christmas exclusion.
  3. 4 November 2026Public submissions closeThe public normally has five weeks to send comments or objections to the council. Receipt is day 1; confirm the date and closing time with the council.
  4. 25 November 2026Council decision dueEight weeks beginning on receipt to decide or request further information. Confirm the deadline and closing time with the council; closures or an agreed extension may change them.
  5. 22 December 2026Calculated appeal day, if decided on the due dateFour weeks beginning on the decision day (day 1), excluding Christmas and adjusted for closed final days. Confirm the deadline in the official calendar of An Coimisiún Pleanála, the planning appeals body (pleanala.ie/en-ie/make-an-appeal), or call 01 858 8100 about exceptional closures. It must receive a valid appeal and fee by 5.30pm on the final day.

Which rules and exceptions apply?

Christmas (24 December–1 January) is not counted. Other weekends and public holidays count inside a period, but a closed final day moves forward. Council dates assume Monday–Friday opening; ask the council about Good Friday, days off in place of public holidays and other closures. Appeal dates include the appeal body’s regular closures; confirm any exceptional closure with it.

These dates cover an ordinary, valid house application. An agreed extension, a new public notice, an environmental impact assessment report (EIAR) or a Natura impact statement (NIS, a report about protected habitats) can change the timetable: use the council’s letter in those cases.

If more information is requested, you normally have six months to reply, or up to nine months if the council agrees an extension; enter the request date to see those limits. The tracker does not calculate when final permission will be issued.

A decision to grant permission is followed by time for appeals; any appeal must be resolved before final permission. Wait for that final grant and meet its pre-start conditions before building.

This calculator uses the Planning and Development Act 2000 timetable for ordinary house applications from 2021 onwards; ask your council whether it applies to your file.

Primary sources checked 20 October 2026: council decision periods, Christmas exclusion, closed final days, application and reply rules, official appeal calendar and the Department’s notice deferring the remaining Planning and Development Act 2024 rules, reproduced by IPI.

Guides that explain these figures

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