Guides › Pre-planning meetings
Pre-planning meetings in Ireland: what they are and what to bring
Before you apply for planning permission, you can ask your council for a pre-planning consultation with a planner.
It's a chance to find out how the council sees your site and proposal, and what it will want to see in an application.
The advice isn't binding, but it often saves a refusal. The more you know about the site going in, the more useful it
is.
How InSite helps
- One report gathers the site facts the planner will ask about: boundary and area, zoning, planning history, flood risk, archaeology, protected structures, nature sites, wastewater and services.
- Its map shows the plot with the flood extents, monuments, protected sites and nearby applications around it.
- Bring it, and spend the meeting on the questions only the planner can answer.
Free, from public data. Enter an Eircode or address:
or choose a location on the map
How it works
- Pre-application consultations are provided for in section 247 of the Planning and Development Act 2000.
- You request one through the council, usually with a form, a site location map and a short description of what you
want to build. Some councils hold clinics; others arrange a meeting or call.
- The law says the consultation can't prejudice the council's later decision. The planner can tell you about policy
and likely issues, but can't promise permission.
- Keep a note of what was said, and ask whether the council records its own notes.
What to bring
- The site: location map, the boundary from the folio,
photos, and the area.
- What you want to build: a short description, and sketches if you have them.
- Your own position: for a rural house, evidence of local need.
- What you already know about the site:
Questions worth asking
- Does the proposal fit the zoning or rural housing policy?
- What will the council want to see on the entrance and sightlines?
- Which reports will it expect: flood risk, AA screening, archaeology, landscape?
- Any design guidance for the area?
- Are there reasons previous applications on or near the site were refused?
Last reviewed 2026-10-02.
Check any site in Ireland
One free report from public data: terrain, flood risk, geology, archaeology, protected areas, radon, planning history and more.
or choose a location on the map
Related guides
- Before you buy a siteA checklist of what to find out about a site before you buy it: title, planning, access, services, ground and protections.
- Is my site buildable?The constraints that most often stop or shape a new house in Ireland, and how to check each one early.
- Septic tanks and percolation testsThe EPA Code figures: how percolation tests work, what passes, how big the percolation area is, and how far it must be from houses, wells and streams.
- Local need and rural housingWhy councils ask about local need for a one-off rural house, how the policy varies by county, and how to check yours.
- Connecting a new houseHow to get electricity, water, wastewater and broadband to a new house, and what to find out before you buy the site.
- Planning permission, step by stepFrom pre-planning to the final grant: notices, the eight-week decision, further information, appeals and conditions.
- Site constraints reportsWhat a site constraints or pre-planning report contains, where the information comes from, and what still needs a professional.
All guides →
